A former Vancouver TV host charged with assaulting a police officer in a court mask-wearing dispute — and told by a judge to get a lawyer — says he’s called 469 of them.
Several lawyers have been fired, court heard Friday.
Marrett Alexander Green is charged with harming Vancouver Police Department (VPD) Const. Cain in an assault, assaulting that officer while they were engaged in their duty and attempting to take a weapon from an officer.
The charges relate to a Jan. 26, 2021 scuffle between a man allegedly refusing to wear a mask when entering the downtown Vancouver Law Courts. Court rules at the time mandated mask use to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Police were called when the man refused to comply.
In the incident that followed, one officer suffered a broken leg.
Green appeared before Vancouver provincial court Judge Jennifer Oulton on June 3. She warned him he needed to get a lawyer.
He appeared before Judge Ellen Gordon on June 10 — without a lawyer.
The court heard he has been approved for legal aid. Green told Gordon he received an extensive list of lawyers.
“I’m really surprised people are saying no to you,” Gordon said, noting she knows one "excellent lawyer" who has reviewed the file.
“I would suggest that you go with her,” Gordon told Green.
The judge warned him, saying legal aid does not pay lawyers to review files and give advice.
“You can’t expect people to work countless hours for free,” Gordon told Green.
Gordon wants him back before her in two weeks, with a lawyer, “or you will be facing a very angry Judge Gordon.”
At the time of the incident, VPD spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin called it senseless
“This was reckless. This was unnecessary,” Visintin said.
Green was a CKVU-TV news anchor from 1994 to 1999.
