Initial arrest of Al Potter a 'ruse' to collect clothing, defence says

Arresting Al Potter for murder in July 2014 was merely a "ruse" for police togain access to "his clothing without proper grounds," the defence suggested Monday.

Several police officers, including the lead investigator in Dale Porter's homicide, took the stand at Supreme Court in St. John's to outline their roles in the case, which has seen Potter, 55, on trial for first-degree murder.

Although he wasn't charged until September 2016, the court heard more detail about a morning in July 2014, when police arrested Potter in Cupids for murder, before releasing him without charges.

When he was booked into the RCMP's custody, his clothing and other items on him: a belt, coat, pants, cigarettes, wallet, cash, a ring, shoes and gloves, where taken and placed in a locker associated with him.

"The lockers have a tab for a lack of a better word that flips over to keep it closed but it's not locked," said Cpl. Stephen Barker, one of the officers who was at the Harbour Grace detachment when Potter was arrested.

We had indications to believe Mr. Potter was acting erratic and unpredictable- Sgt. Steven Burke

Though Potter was releasedlater that same afternoon, police had obtained a warrant to seize his clothing.

A DNA specialist has already testified that a grey hoodie belonging to Potter had the DNA belonging to Porter on it. It was detected in two separate locations on the sweater.

• 'I don't recall': Memories hazy, voices quiet as friends of Dale Porter testify

"He was released but some of his personal effects were not returned to him," defence lawyer Jon Noonan said. "Does that surprise you?"

Noonan continued by suggesting "this was a ruse in an effort to get access to Mr. Potter's clothes without grounds."

The primary investigator on the case, Sgt. Steven Burke, faced similar questions during cross examination.

"We had indications to believe Mr. Potter was acting erratic and unpredictable," said Burke, who called Potter around 4 a.m. to let him know police were coming to arrest him for murder.

"We wanted to assess if it was safe to have Mr. Potter on the streets. We didn't have enough evidence to lay a charge."

Potter was not arrested until after an uncover police sting in Ontario, the jury has heard, where the Crown says Potter confessed to murder.

On cross examination, defence lawyer Randy Pierceyasked why Burke decided to arrest Potter so early in the morning.

"Would you agree 4 a.m. is a very vulnerable time for somebody?" Piercey asked, adding it may be harder for Potter to reach a lawyer.

"No, not really. We had trouble tracking down Mr. Potter," Burke said. "He would have had access to a lawyer."

Piercey also questioned why Burke and other officers didn't examine Potter's entire body for injuries, with Burke stating he was only focused on his hands, face and head, where Potter showed no signs of assault.

"Was the whole point of this to get access to his clothes?" Potter's lawyer asked.

"Absolutely not."

Civilian told to return knife where he found it, jury told

Meanwhile, the officer who seized the purported murder weapon from a freshwater streamin Brigusalso took the stand.

"When I observed the knife in the water it appeared to be a folding knife with the blade closed," Cpl. Jason Butler told the court Monday afternoon.

"It was very close to the shoreline and, from my recollection, the water was no more than six inches deep."

Butler was alerted to the knife on July 3, 2014 four days after Porter was killed by a fellow officer.

Asked by defence attorney Jon Noonan why he wore a latex glove to collect the item, Butler explained it was to avoid any possible contamination.

But Noonansaid to his knowledge the knife had already been touched by the unknown civilian who discovered it and call it into police, but was told to return it to where he found it.

"You are aware of that now?" Noonanasked. "Yes," the officer responded, also confirming that it's possible it would have been "potentially" contaminated.

The knife in question was discovered about two kilometres away from the Vikings Motorcycle clubhouse, of which the court has been told Potter was a member, and was approximately 10-12 kilometres away from the crime scene.

The trial is being overseen by Justice Garrett Handrigan, and is expected to last four more weeks.

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Previous court coverage:

• Day 6:'I don't recall': Memories hazy, voices quiet as friends of Dale Porter testify
• Day 5:Efforts to save Dale Porter's life, DNA results revealed at murder trial
• Day 4:Potter jury sees autopsy photos, knife at murder trial
• Day 3:Dale Porter killed over making fun, disrespecting Vikings motorcycle club, says Crown
• Day 2:Al Potter's murder trial delayed, as sheriffs find new potential jurors downtown
• Day 1: Jury picked for Al Potter's 1st-degree murder trial