by Mike Caswell

The afternoon session of the trial of former senator Edward Lawson versus The Vancouver Sun's David Baines heard Mr. Lawson's lawyer, Roger McConchie, finish his closing arguments by asking for $100,000 in general damages. He claimed that Mr. Baines used misleading and calculated words when he wrote that Mr. Lawson was a close associate of stock fraudsters Ed Carter and David Ward. Mr. McConchie also asked for $25,000 to $50,000 in aggravated damages.

Mr. Lawson, 81, launched the case on June 19, 2008, when he filed a statement of claim against Mr. Baines in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. He said that a column by Mr. Baines unfairly linked him with Mr. Carter and Mr. Ward. Among other things, the story stated that Mr. Lawson had flown the pair on the Teamsters jet and had received shares in their companies.

Mr. Baines denies any wrongdoing, and says the facts of his story were true. He was writing about Arctic Oil & Gas Corp., a pink sheets listing that had Mr. Lawson on its board. The story was one of many that he has written about Vancouver-connected OTC Bulletin Board companies.

McConchie's closing arguments

The entire afternoon was devoted to Mr. McConchie finishing his closing arguments. He continued the attack on Mr. Baines's story that he began in the morning session, beginning with Mr. Baines's reporting of a lawsuit that the U.S. Department of Justice launched against Mr. Lawson and others in June, 1988. According to Mr. McConchie, the story omitted parts of the lawsuit that would have left readers with a more favourable impression of Mr. Lawson.

For example, Mr. Baines failed to mention that Mr. Lawson settled the case before the others, and that he did not admit to any wrongdoing. "This is a distorted and incomplete and misleading description of what happened," Mr. McConchie told the court.

Mr. McConchie also devoted part of the afternoon to further explaining why it was not appropriate to state, as Mr. Baines did, that Mr. Carter and Mr. Lawson were close associates. One of the pieces of evidence presented by the defence was a report prepared by Rupert Bullock, the former superintendent of brokers, which analyzed trading in several Carter-Ward companies. The report listed Mr. Lawson as a shareholder of one of those companies.

According to Mr. McConchie, the report does not prove that the men were associates. "To twist that into an assertion that Mr. Lawson was a close associate ... there is no basis," he said. The report stated that shareholder names were included simply for "easy reference."

Mr. McConchie further argued that there was no evidence that Mr. Lawson engaged in any insider trading or that he had any role in Mr. Carter and Mr. Ward's fraud. He was a director of one company for a short period of time, and had "tiny, peripheral involvement."

The court also heard how Mr. Baines's column, by being imprecise and by leaving out pertinent information, conveyed to the reader that Mr. Lawson had a role in the Carter-Ward stock bribery scheme. Among other things, Mr. Baines did not state who had received bribes in the scheme. (The court previously heard that a Texas fund manager, Carl Lazell, received $1-million to buy shares in Carter-Ward companies.) By not stating that Mr. Lazell was the recipient, Mr. Baines left it open to the reader to infer that Mr. Lawson could have received a bribe, Mr. McConchie argued.

In addition, Mr. McConchie said that Mr. Baines failed to provide sufficient details of Mr. Carter's criminal trial. Among other things, he did not indicate that Mr. Lawson was not mentioned in any of the charges. "There's no disassociation of Mr. Lawson from the heart of the case [which is a] complete distortion, omission of fact," Mr. McConchie told the court.

Discrediting witnesses

Another topic of the afternoon was how much weight the judge, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Sewell, could give the testimony of defence witnesses. One of these was Mr. Carter's former secretary, Shirley Rogers, who testified that Mr. Carter or Mr. Ward traded on accounts owned by Mr. Lawson. Mr. McConchie found it incredible that she could recall such details 25 years later, given that Mr. Carter and Mr. Ward used 120 different accounts in their manipulations.

He also questioned her credibility, as she had a role in the scheme. "This is a woman who ... participated in the falsification of documents," he told the judge. While Mr. Carter and Mr. Ward were under investigation, she came to work after hours and helped Mr. Ward destroy papers, Mr. McConchie said.

The other witness that Mr. McConchie discussed was Mr. Carter, who testified that he had been a passenger on the Teamsters jet. "Mr. Carter is a convicted criminal. What weight can be given his evidence?" Mr. McConchie said to the judge.

Damages

For the remainder of the day, Mr. McConchie covered the more technical aspects of the case. Among other things, he said that the story came from a significant media outlet, that nobody contacted his client and that his client had not received any apology.

Mr. McConchie also asked that the judge conclude that Mr. Baines was motivated by express malice. He said that in writing the story, Mr. Baines showed "reckless indifference to the truth." In addition to seeking general and aggravated damages, Mr. McConchie asked that the judge enter an injunction requiring The Sun to remove the story from on-line sources. He also asked that the judge hear argument on court costs after entering his final decision.

The hearing resumes Friday, with Sun lawyer Rob Anderson making his closing arguments.