Protest continues
The Crown is appealing the acquittal of a Halifax cab driver accused of sexually assaulting a woman who was found intoxicated, unconscious and partially naked in his car.
Denise Smith, deputy director of the province’s Public Prosecution Service, said Judge Gregory Lenehan made multiple legal mistakes when he found 40-yearold Bassam AlRawi not guilty.
The provincial court judge ruled last Wednesday the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the woman did not consent to sexual activity – a ruling that has prompted protests and much debate over how the courts handle such sensitive cases.
Smith issued a statement Tuesday saying the grounds for an appeal were “solid.”
She said the judge erred in law by:
concluding the Crown had offered no evidence of lack of consent from the complainant;
engaging in speculation about consent rather than drawing inferences from the facts proven in the evidence;
failing to give proper legal effect to the facts;
offering an erroneous interpretation and application of the test for capacity to consent;
failing to direct himself on Criminal Code provisions that deal with aggravated sexual assault;
failing to determine whether the accused had taken all reasonable steps to ascertain that the complainant was consenting.
The statement said a notice of appeal has been filed with the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.
A rally was held Tuesday outside Halifax City Hall, where protesters denounced Lenehan’s decision and welcomed the news of the appeal.
Roughly 300 people held signs and beat drums under cloudy skies as speakers spoke in front of an arch in Grand Parade Square.
At one point the crowd repeatedly chanted: “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”
The Halifax-based Avalon Sexual Assault Centre issued a statement saying the case demonstrates the need to clarify the law on consent in the context of intoxication.
“We need to address the laws, policies, and other systemic barriers that continue to fail victims of sexual assault,” said executive director Jackie Stevens. “We also need to make sure that supports and services are easily accessible for victims.”
The centre said victims of sexual violence rarely see their perpetrators held accountable by the justice system, citing statistics showing that between 2005 and 2014, only seven per cent of all alleged sexual assaults involving adults in the Halifax region resulted in a conviction.
“We need to change the legal system while also supporting victims through access to counselling and other resources,” said Stevens.
Also Tuesday, provincial Justice Minister Diana Whalen announced several sexual-violence initiatives.
She said the province will hire two special prosecutors to handle sexual assault cases and will provide specialized training for Crown attorneys; seek to work with Ottawa to give victims free independent legal advice; audit police services to ensure they have “the appropriate capability to investigate sexual assaults;” and open a new Domestic Violence Court in Halifax.
She said the province will seek to make the justice system’s response to sexual assault complaints “a priority agenda item” at the next meeting of Canada’s justice ministers.
Al-Rawi was charged after police found the woman, in her 20s, passed out and partially clothed in his car in the early hours of May 23, 2015.