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	Priest Loses Appeal on Fraud Conviction By Louie Rosella Mississauga News October 21, 2008 http://mississauga.com/article/20159 October 21, 2008 02:08 PM - A Mississauga priest found guilty of defrauding an elderly woman and parishioner out of close to $100,000 has lost his bid to have his conviction overturned. The Ontario Court of Appeal today dismissed Mark Proctor's appeal bid. In the spring of 2007, a jury found Proctor guilty of fraud over $5,000 after taking $90,000 from 82-year-old Marita Archibald, of Mississauga. The two met at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Mississauga where Proctor served as a Melchizedek priest. He drove Archibald home on a regular basis, the appeal court heard. Archibald, who testified at the 2006 trial, gave Proctor $30,000 from a bank investment and another $60,000 from the sale of a condominium that she owned in Montreal. She testified that she believed that she gave Proctor the $30,000 to invest in real estate on her behalf and that she gave him the $60,000 so that he could purchase a condominium for her in a nearby complex. But Proctor used most of the funds for his personal benefit, court heard. Proctor appealed his case and argued that the trial judge failed to properly caution the jury on the dangers of relying on Archibald's testimony because there had been some prior inconsistencies. He submits that the judge didn't "go far enough in warning the jury" about the dangers of accepting her evidence, given how crucial her testimony was to the Crown's case. But the panel of Appeal court judges disagreed and ruled that the trial judge gave proper instructions to the jury before they began their deliberations. "The trial judge provided the jury with instructions on the assessment of credibility and reliability of witnesses generally, and on the law as it relates to prior inconsistent statements of non-accused witnesses," the Appeal court said in its ruling. "He identified and described the inconsistencies in (Ms. Archibald's) testimony and directed the jury on the effect of the discrepancies on (Ms. Archibald's) credibility." Contact: lrosella@mississauga.net
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