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One way or another, when Ontario Court Judge Tim Lipson walks into courtroom 125 at Old City Hall on Friday for the resumption of the gas plants trial, it will be to a case on the brink.

Lead prosecutor Tom Lemon may announce he’s dropping some of the six charges against David Livingston and Laura Miller. He dropped hints of that earlier this week.

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And regardless, the judge will hear argument on a defence motion for directed verdicts of acquittal, which could see him ultimately toss the lot.

Indeed just last month in Sudbury, presented with a similar motion in the Elections Act trial of two other Liberals, Ontario Court Judge Howard Borenstein dismissed the charges against Pat Sorbara, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s former deputy chief of staff, and local party fundraiser Gerry Lougheed.

Livingston and Miller, respectively the chief of staff and deputy chief of staff to then Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, are pleading not guilty to three criminal charges apiece, all tied to their alleged destruction of documents about the 2010 and 2011 decisions of the McGuinty government to cancel the two gas-fired plants in Mississauga and Oakville.