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OTTAWA — Vice-Admiral Mark Norman’s legal team has raised questions about the independence of federal prosecutors after the Crown and lawyers from the department that supports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke several times last year about “trial strategy.”

Partially censored copies of notes taken by the Crown during those talks with lawyers from the Privy Council Office were submitted in court Monday, as Norman’s lawyers resumed their fight for access to thousands of government documents.

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In an email also filed in court, lead prosecutor Barbara Mercier explained to Norman’s lawyer Christine Mainville that the handwritten notes were redacted because they dealt with “trial strategy.”

“As I recall, the portions of the attached documents which have been redacted deal with trial strategy, not witness preparation or discussion about their evidence,” Mercier wrote.

But Mainville told the court Monday that prosecutors should not talk strategy with the Privy Council Office, which she called the “right arm” to the Prime Minister’s Office. The PCO first launched the investigation that ended with Norman being charged.