Crown's case winding down in Knowledge House fraud lawsuit

It appears absolutely nothing can be taken for granted in one of Nova Scotia's longest-running and most complicated legal cases the collapse of the e-learning company Knowledge House Incorporated in 2001.

To date, the case has generated nearly 60 individual court decisions, including one sentencing.

• Fraud charges in Knowledge House case

Two people, Robert Blois Colpitts and Daniel Frederick Potter, continue to fight tooth and nail against fraud allegations. Athird accused in this case, Bruce Elliott Clarke, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in April and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Thetrial has seen morethan 80 total days in court, spread out over the last few years.

Crown case winding down

The Crown's case against Colpitts and Potter is starting to winddown, butthey wanted to call one final witness: Langley Evans, manager of the Special Investigations Unit at the British Columbia Securities Commission.

The RCMP hired Evans to prepare a report on some of the financial transactions relating to the charges against Colpitts and Potter. The Crown want Evans qualified as an expert witness to offer opinion evidence on the case.

In normal circumstances, qualifying someone as an expert witness is relatively straightforward and involves reviewing the person's resume, experience and potential bias before a judge determines whether they should be qualified to give opinion evidence. The onus is on whichever side wants to introduce the expert evidence to prove the witness is qualified.

Judge's summary

However, nothing about the Knowledge House legal battle has been straightforward.

Lawyers for Colpitts and Potter opposed having Evans qualified as an expert and spent four days earlier this month arguing against having him testify.

• Knowledge House broker sentenced to 3 years for fraud

"They argue that his methodology is flawed and that he failed to consider materials they view as essential to his opinions," Justice Kevin Coadysaid, summarizing their arguments.

"They accuse [Evans]of tunnel vision and suggest he has become an advocate for the Crown."

Complicated case

The judge referred to how complicated this case has been.

"The evidence thus far in this trial involves institutions, terminology and practices not well understood by the non-investing community," he wrote.

"I count myself as one of that class."

In the end Coady agreed to have Langley Evans qualified as an expert witness.