THUNDER BAY -- The lone defence witness in a drug trafficking case testified that some of the drugs and cash made in a 2009 seizure belonged to her and not the defendant.
Marcel Breton, 48, is on trial at the Thunder Bay Courthouse for charges including possession of cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy for the purpose of trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, possession of a prohibited weapon and laundering proceeds of crime.
After a weeklong adjournment, the case resumed Monday with two more Crown witnesses before Crown attorney Vern Brewer rested his case.
Breton, who is representing himself, called Katlin Dorval to the stand. She testified that she's had an on-and-off romantic relationship with the accused for about 10 years.
Dorval identified a suitcase, two bags of marijuana, some cocaine and a couple of bundles of cash as belonging to her.
She said she regularly used cocaine at the time of the seizure in December 2009 and doesn't remember exactly where she left the items, but that she had several stash spots and got the cash by selling her artwork.
Dorval said she sold the paintings "under the table" because she wanted to avoid paying taxes. She said she believed the amount of money she stashed in the garage on the Mapleward property to be between $2,000 and $5,000 and said it was petty cash.
She testified she didn't come forward to the police when Breton was arrested because she didn't want to be involved and she didn't realize her belongings were part of the case.
Dorval said she would hide her money around the property when she resided there and didn't want Breton to know how much money she had or that she was using drugs.
She also testified that the garage on the property was generally unlocked and people would often come and go.
"He's a good person. He's helped a lot of people," Dorval said of Breton.
Breton chose not to testify in his defence.
Closing submissions are set for Tuesday morning. Brewer said his submissions would take about an hour.
"I'll be about five minutes," Breton said with a laugh.
Breton was arrested in December 2009 after a search of his Mapleward Road home and property resulted in the seizure of 120 grams of cocaine, 50 ecstasy tablets, 454 grams of marijuana and two grams of cannabis resin as well as $1.2 million in cash found buried in the ground.
None of the charges against the accused have been proven in court.
