An Ontario court judge may decide Tuesday whether lawyers for an alleged gang member who was swept up in the Project Traveller raids will be allowed to view a video that allegedly shows Toronto’s embattled mayor smoking from a glass pipe.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer asked for the video to be brought to court Tuesday so that, if necessary, he can watch it, too.

At a court hearing Friday, Muhammad Khattak's lawyers argued he has a relevant interest in the video - one of two seized by police during June raids - because it may help his defence against charges of drug trafficking and participating in a criminal organization.

The lawyers say Khattak has been dragged into Rob Ford's crack cocaine scandal because of an infamous photo and they want to view the video as part of their attempt to prove to the public that he did not possess or try to sell the video and that he has nothing to do with the mayor's troubles.

Gorham said speculation that Khattak was involved in the video scandal has been a “humiliating” episode for the 20-year-old man and his family.

Khattak's family frequently encounters people who think he is behind the sale of the video, Gorham told reporters after the hearing.

One of Khattak's lawyers, Nathan Gorham, urged Nordheimer, who is overseeing the matter, to watch the video and decide how to proceed.

If the lawyers' request is not granted, another option is for someone to watch the video and provide a sworn affidavit confirming Khattak is not present in it, Gorham said.

Crown attorney Grace Hession David, who opposes the request, told court she watched the video at police headquarters Thursday night and it is "totally irrelevant" to Khattak's case because he is not seen or heard in it.

She believes Nordheimer would also find the video is "irrelevant" to the case.

David said the video was discovered on the hard drive of a laptop computer seized from someone other than Khattak, and police are trying to confirm when it was recorded and when it was erased.

Nordheimer told the lawyers the only way for Khattak to clear his name would be to make the video public and he described that as a problematic situation.

The judge is concerned that publicly releasing the video may be prejudicial to people who appear in it.

Nordheimer said Khattak seems to be attempting to “leapfrog” the normal judicial process - waiting for the video to come out as evidence in a case - in an attempt to clear his name.

But Gorham argued the attempt to view the video is about protecting Khattak’s reputation and protecting his security.

Ford's lawyer, Dennis Morris, is not part of the court application.

Before the hearing, lawyer Daniel Brown said Khattak's legal team has no plans to share any video or videos with the public.

“Certainly that’s not our intention. What we’re here to do is defend our client. How other people use this video and how they choose to disseminate it that’s up to them," Brown told CP24 reporter Cam Woolley outside court. "Our goal here today is to gain access to this, to look at it and see how, if at all, it affects our client’s interests.”

Photo not from video: lawyer

Khattak, who is out on bail, has become a prominent figure in Ford’s scandal because he is one of the three young men who posed with Ford in a notorious photo taken in front of a Windsor Road home that police claim is a known crack house.

Gorham told reporters he doesn't believe the photo was taken when the video was recorded. He said the picture was taken during a “one-off chance” meeting with the mayor.

“They’re inextricably linked in the media,” Gorham said of the video and photo. “People think the picture is from the video … We believe the picture is separate from the video.”

“Somehow Mr. Khattak got pulled into all of this because his image was shown in a photograph with the mayor at the same time this video came out, so he’s had this hanging over his head for the last six months," Brown said. "He’s been concerned about it ever since then and he wants to know why that is. Why is he associated to this video?”

The photo has been widely circulated but the videos have not been seen by the public.

Police have denied Ford’s request to release the videos, saying the decision rests with the courts because the files, which were recovered from a hard drive, are evidence in a court case.

Ford admitted earlier this week to smoking crack cocaine “probably in one of my drunken stupors” about a year ago, but he is refusing to resign. He has not been charged with a crime.

Lawyers argue for release of censored information in Lisi document

In another court fight, media lawyers delivered written submissions Friday as they argue for the release of censored information within a court document in the case of Alexander “Sandro” Lisi, a Ford friend who has been charged with extortion for alleged efforts to retrieve a recording and drug offences that were laid as police monitored him and the mayor after the video’s alleged contents were reported by Gawker, a gossip website, and the Toronto Star in mid-May.

Last week, Nordheimer allowed the release of some of the information in the document, including details about what police observed while Ford and Lisi were under surveillance.

On different occasions, police watched Lisi place objects in Ford’s vehicle and they found discarded liquor bottles after meetings between the two.

In his earlier decision, Nordheimer allowed “non-essential information” to remain a secret.

Media lawyer Peter Jacobsen, one of the lawyers arguing for the “non-essential information” to be made public, said the judge will likely release his decision next week.

Lawyers are also seeking the release of police wiretaps from investigations into Ford and Project Traveller. Hearings have not taken place.

With files from CP24 reporter Cam Woolley and CTV Toronto police and crime reporter Tamara Cherry.

@ChrisKitching is on Twitter. For instant breaking news, follow @CP24 on Twitter.