The former mayor of Thunder Bay is expected to learn his fate today as a judge is to render his verdict in the Keith Hobbs extortion trial.
Hobbs, his wife Marisa and co-accused Mary Voss are alleged to have extorted an over $400,000 house from an alleged victim who is protected under a media ban.
The three-week trial wrapped up on December 12th with closing arguments.
Crown Attorney Peter Keen told the court the accused were “driving the bus” in relation to allegations of extortion. His main focus for his argument surrounded the fact that Keith Hobbs drafted and read out the separation settlement detailing the purchase of an over $400,000 house. He also highlighted that text messages revealed that the alleged victim was concerned he was being extorted by Mary Voss and the Hobbses and that his concern only arose following the Hobbses involvement with a series of graphic videos. Keen feels text messages also show that the Hobbses were actively manipulating the alleged victim before they found out about those videos. The prosecutor also claims that the alleged victim was a drunken mess and wasn’t capable of “driving the bus” in this extortion case.
For the Hobbses defense, lawyer Brian Greenspan told the court that the alleged victim initiated the creation of an agreement to purchase a home. The defense lawyer says the alleged victim “willingly entered into this agreement- not because of any threats or inducements, and not because he was coerced into doing so.” Greenspan feels “the crown has not established beyond a reasonable doubt that either Keith or Marisa Hobbs threatened, or was a party to, a threat that coerced the alleged victim to enter into this agreement.”
Voss’ lawyer George Joseph also reviewed what he felt the major facts in this case were. In OPP videotaped interviews with Voss, the Thunder Bay woman continued to say she was innocent and had done nothing wrong.
