Cross-examination of one complainant in Michael Haaima’s trial resumed Thursday, Jul. 30, 2026, after an unusual nearly two-month interruption in her testimony, caused by a legal application heard behind closed doors.
This complainant first began to testify on Tuesday, Jun, 2, 2026, with Crown counsel completing her examination-in-chief on Thursday, June 4. Immediately afterward, the defence brought a legal application under section 276 of the Criminal Code, prompting the court to move in camera to hear arguments that are subject to a mandatory publication ban.
The application was argued over the day on Friday, June 5, with Justice Robyn Ryan Bell delivering her decision on that application on Monday, Jul. 27, 2026. As a result, the complainant did not return to the witness stand until Thursday, July 30, when defence counsel Natasha Calvinho began her cross-examination. Questioning continued Friday, July 31, but was not completed before the trial adjourned for its August recess.
Rather than focusing primarily on the allegations themselves, Calvinho’s cross-examination centred on the evolution of the complainant’s statements to police over time.
Over the course of Thursday and Friday, the defence repeatedly compared the complainant’s initial statement to Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigators following Haaima’s arrest in April 2022, with a second interview she gave Kingston Police Detective Jesse Braun on Nov. 30, 2023, and with statements made at trial in June 2026.
Calvinho highlighted matters that were not included in the complainant’s first statement but appeared in the later interview; she also questioned differences in the level of detail the complainant provided during the two police interviews and in her testimony before the court.
The defence suggested the witness was able to recall many details during the November 2023 interview because it was conducted much closer in time to the events than her court testimony nearly three years later. The complainant agreed less time had passed, saying, “Things had a little time to process, settle down,” but she also maintained that her understanding of the relationship had changed as she reflected on what had occurred.
A significant portion of the cross-examination focused on the complainant’s own descriptions of the relationship during the 2023 interview. Calvinho reviewed passages in which the complainant described Haaima as attentive and supportive during parts of their relationship, including comments that he drove her to and from work, prepared lunches, and “took care” of her.
The complainant agreed she had made those statements to police, but testified that she now views those actions differently.
“He was doing everything he thought I needed to make me dependent on him,” she told the court. “That’s the whole cycle of domestic violence.”
The defence also questioned the complainant about incidents that she acknowledged were first disclosed during her November 2023 interview rather than in her initial statement to police, suggesting her recollection and description of events had evolved over time. The complainant maintained that while her understanding of the relationship changed, she continued to view Haaima’s conduct as emotionally manipulative.
“He would throw tantrums and play the victim,” she testified, saying she stopped raising concerns in the relationship because she believed she “wasn’t going to get the truth.”
Upon returning from the lunch hour break at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jul. 31, 2026, Calvinho advised the court she did not expect to complete her questioning before the trial’s scheduled August break, meaning the complainant’s evidence will resume when proceedings continue in September.
A more detailed examination of the complainant’s testimony and the specific issues raised during cross-examination will follow in a subsequent Kingstonist report.
The judge-only trial, which began in May 2025, sees Haaima charged with 98 offences ranging from sexual assault to forcible confinement to child pornography, and more. He has pleaded not guilty to all but two of the charges.
When it resumes in September, the trial will have been ongoing for nearly a year and a half.
By Michelle Dorey Forestell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Aug 02, 2026 at 13:15
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