BY KEITH LACEY
The Crown?s key witness in a botched armed robbery refused to testify Tuesday against two young Sudbury men who remain accused of participating.
Marcel Williams, 18, received a 15-month jail sentence in late 2003 after pleading guilty to participating in the armed robbery of a confectionery store in the city?s West End on Aug. 13, 2003.
At a preliminary hearing in January, Williams implicated Jason Tolkacz, 21, and Jordan Corbiere, 19, as the two men who participated with him in the armed robbery.
Tolkacz and Corbiere both pleaded not guilty to assault with intent to steal, committing an indictable offence using a dangerous weapon while wearing a mask and stealing a vehicle police say was used in the commission of the attempted robbery and using pepper spray while committing a crime.
On Tuesday morning, Williams refused to answer questions about his previous testimony or what happened the night in question. He declared his intention not to testify before a voir dire, or a trial to determine the admissibility of evidence within the trail.
When asked by assistant Crown attorney Philip Zylberberg about why he didn?t want to testify, Williams said he was afraid for his personal safety and for members of his family. When asked who he was afraid of, Williams said he was afraid of Tolkacz and Corbiere.
As a result, charges against Corbiere stemming from the robbery were dropped.
The investigating officer in the case, Sgt. Richard Waugh, testified Tolkacz was arrested 10 days after the incident on other charges, while Corbiere wasn?t arrested until after Williams came forward.
The voir dire concerned a series of letters between Williams, incarcerated in Brampton, and Tolkacz.
In the end, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Del Frate ordered Williams to turn over ?eight or nine letters? Tolkacz had sent him.
Waugh testified earlier the only evidence police have against Corbiere was the sworn testimony provided by Williams several months ago.
The store owner, Theresa Cerilli, testified she was about to close her store the night in question when a young man walked in a sprayed her in the face with what she found out later was pepper spray.
This left her blinded in one eye and gasping for air, she said.
As Cerilli struggled, two other young men entered the store.
All three men were wearing disguises, she said.
She managed to shove the one assailant, forcing the others and her son outside. A moment later, she heard a vehicle start and then saw a red minivan with three men inside speed away.
One of her eyes had cleared up enough for her to write down the complete license plate number, she said.
The two men who scuffled with her son each had knives. The man that peppersprayed her also stabbed her son, she said.
?He was plunging the knife into his back,? she said. ?I said ?no, that?s my son!?,? she said.
Her son only released one of the men he?d tackled after getting sucker-punched in the face, she said.
When police arrived, Cerilli insisted they look at the license plate number she?d jotted down.
When asked why she could remember details so well, the woman testified ?when a person is trying to kill you and kill your son, you remember what they look like.?
The defence counsel has been trying to prove their clients have been wrongfully accused.
Toffoli told the court a man who had given supposedly crucial information to police last year can?t be located now that the trial is underway. He also noted there were other suspects in the failed robbery.
Police had evidence Marcel Williams and his brother Blair were involved in the robbery. Charges against Blair Williams were dropped once Marcel implicated Tolkacz and Corbiere.
Sgt. Richard Roy of the Greater Sudbury Police Service agreed with Toffoli that Marcel Williams told his brother to ?keep your mouth shut? when questioned by police after implicating Tolkacz and Corbiere.
