Judge stays charges in sex assault against teen girl, blames Crown Prosecution ‘dragged its feet’ in setting trial date, accused man’s charter rights breached By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 5:28 PM CDT Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023 Last Modified: 9:32 AM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023 Updates

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A judge has stayed charges against a man accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, ruling the Crown “dragged its heels” bringing the case to trial.

“I think this case personifies the defence doing everything it can to move the case forward and the Crown doing very little,” the 20-year-old man’s lawyer, Carley Mahoney, said Tuesday.

The then-18-year-old accused man was charged on July 21, 2022, with one count each of sexual assault and forcible confinement involving an alleged incident with a 16-year-old girl the previous October. The man was accused of sexually assaulting the girl in her home and restraining her with handcuffs after meeting her for the first time earlier that day. A trial in the case was not set to begin until February 2024.

The man’s trial date would have exceeded the 18-month time limit for provincial court charges to be resolved, as set out in the 2016 Supreme Court of Canada “Jordan” decision.

“Because of this, (the man’s) charter rights were breached,” provincial court Judge Julie Frederickson ruled in a July 27 written decision. “Accordingly, the remedy is a stay of proceedings.”

“(The man’s) charter rights were breached… Accordingly, the remedy is a stay of proceedings.”–Judge Julie Frederickson

Frederickson said a review of proceedings in the case showed it took four weeks and three messages from the defence before the Crown contacted the trial co-ordinator’s office to request trial dates, with the defence indicating early on that delay was an issue.

“The Crown dragged its feet in contacting the trial co-ordinator’s office to set this matter down for trial, only doing so after several prompts from Ms. Mahoney,” Frederickson said, noting prosecutors took no steps to see if earlier trial dates were available.

“The Crown failed to take steps, despite knowing that delay was an issue,” she said. “Delay was raised by Ms. Mahoney almost from the beginning.… And yet there is no evidence of a sense of urgency on behalf of the Crown’s office.”

Frederickson attributed none of the delay in the case to the defence. She rejected a Crown argument any delay attributed to it should be assessed in light of COVID-19–related court closures and trial cancellations.

Court closures ended several months before the man was charged and none of his court dates had to be cancelled or rescheduled, Frederickson said.

“The Crown failed to take steps, despite knowing that delay was an issue.”–Judge Julie Frederickson

The case involved an alleged victim under 18, the type of case the Crown was prioritizing during the pandemic, according to a Crown affidavit.

“Once (the accused man’s) matter entered the system, there is no evidence that his charges were flagged to give them this priority,” Frederickson said. “The file went through the hands of several Crown attorneys. Ms. Mahoney frequently expressed concerns with disclosure and delay, but the Crown’s responses do not suggest a reciprocal urgency or sense of priority.”

The Crown argued the case was “moderately” complex, and was made more challenging by an alleged victim who now lived out of province, justifying a “reasonable” delay.

“With respect, I cannot agree,” Frederickson said. “Given the use of and familiarity with video conferencing as a result of the pandemic, it is difficult to see how the complainant’s out of province residence made this any more challenging than setting up a meeting with a local complainant.”

NDP MLA Lisa Naylor said her heart goes out to the young woman and her family.

“She deserves justice.”–Lisa Naylor

“It’s an absolutely tragic story — the lack of justice available to her,” said Naylor, the member for Wolseley. “She deserves justice.

“We know that Crown attorneys have been sounding the alarm about dangerous understaffing for months and it’s horrifying stories like this — and this isn’t the only one — that tells the truth about (Premier) Heather Stefanson’s record. I’m sure you’ve heard the PCs are tough on crime but this shows us that she is not tough on crime, and we know she’s made deep cuts to justice and programs that keep people safe.”

Naylor noted that sexual assault victims have been turned away from the Health Sciences Centre ER when a forensic examiner was not available to gather evidence.

“Now we’re hearing sexual assault survivors turned away from the justice system because of mismanagement by how they govern,” she said.

— With files from Carol Sanders

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca