The defence lawyer for a former principal of a private Christian school in Saskatoon told jurors Thursday that the five witnesses who testified during the assault trial were neither credible nor reliable.
Duff Arthur Friesen faces five counts of assault with a weapon for incidents between 1997 and 2007 during his time as an administrator of Christian Centre Academy, where he is accused of hitting students with a wooden paddle.
During the two-week-long trial, jurors heard from five former students, sharing testimonies on how they were paddled by the former Christian-school principal, some describing the paddles they were disciplined with.
Defence lawyer Daniel Mol told jurors Thursday that it is “unsafe” to convict his client based on the accounts of the five witnesses, saying some had their memories influenced by others not involved in the case, including that of a separate class-action lawsuit launched by former students against the school.
Earlier in the trial, Mol called into question the credibility of one witness, saying he gave testimony that differed from his 2021 statement to police.
Meanwhile, crown attorney Sheryl Fillo reminded the jury at the beginning of her closing arguments to consider each of the five counts separately, adding that an incident of paddling only had to take place once between the 20-year time span for it to be convictable.
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Fillo also re-visited the testimonies of the five witnesses, recounting what one former student said about wearing multiple pairs of underwear to school to prepare for the paddling.
Fillo closed her arguments by asking jurors to use common sense when analyzing evidence and making a decision.
Judge Daryl Labach is expected to present the jury with legal instructions Friday morning before the deliberations begin.
Last year, Friesen was found guilty of one count of assault with a weapon and not guilty of three other counts in a separate trial.
Friesen received a six-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.
Christian Centre Academy was later renamed Legacy Christian Academy and is now known as Valour Academy.
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