Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Crown Hasn't Proven Hawkes' Guilt, Toronto Lawyer Tells Nova Scotia Indecency Trial

The Canadian Press, 23 Nov, 2016 10:41 AM
    KENTVILLE, N.S. — Brent Hawkes' lawyer told his gross indecency trial in Kentville, N.S., Wednesday the evidence against the Toronto pastor is "weird."
     
    Clayton Ruby said in his closing argument to the judge that the entire case will be remembered as weird, amid "an abundance of evidence" that the testimony of witnesses is unreliable.
     
    He said the Crown has "many problems" meeting the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. 
     
    "I do not have the evidence to prove the witnesses are lying, but we do have evidence their testimony is unreliable," Ruby said. 
     
    "There is a lot of contradiction and unreliability between the Crown witnesses."
     
    A middle-age man testified Hawkes led him down a hallway naked during a drunken get-together at his trailer in the mid-1970s, and forced oral sex on him in a bedroom when he was about 16 years old.
     
    Ruby said two of the witnesses who testified about the party said they were very drunk, including the complainant, and that alcohol impairs memory and can lead to "imagination inflation."
     
    "What the alcohol does... is it produced contradictory and unreliable accounts of events," Ruby said. 
     
    Hawkes, a high-profile rights activist who was then a teacher in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley, has categorically denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to charges of indecent assault and gross indecency.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Indigenous Sexual Abuse Likely To Dominate Inquiry Into Murdered, Missing Women

    Indigenous Sexual Abuse Likely To Dominate Inquiry Into Murdered, Missing Women
    Sharon Acoose remembers being groped as a child by an uncle who paid her in pocket change for her trouble — the earliest roots of a life scarred by sex work, drug use and jail time.

    Indigenous Sexual Abuse Likely To Dominate Inquiry Into Murdered, Missing Women

    Indigenous Manitoba Legislator Shares Story Of Sexual Abuse, Ripple Effects

    Indigenous Manitoba Legislator Shares Story Of Sexual Abuse, Ripple Effects
    At eight years old, Nahanni Fontaine remembers waking up with her knees up and her panties down after family members built a place for her to sleep on the floor while guests were over.

    Indigenous Manitoba Legislator Shares Story Of Sexual Abuse, Ripple Effects

    Winnipeg Police Call Fentanyl An Epidemic As Suspected Overdose Deaths Mount

    Winnipeg Police Call Fentanyl An Epidemic As Suspected Overdose Deaths Mount
    WINNIPEG — Police in Winnipeg say fentanyl is an epidemic that is responsible for a growing number of deaths that now include two more suspected fatal overdoses.

    Winnipeg Police Call Fentanyl An Epidemic As Suspected Overdose Deaths Mount

    B.C. NDP Leader Makes Promises, Calls For Change Ahead Of May Election

    John Horgan spoke to supporters at a rally in Vancouver on Sunday, giving a preview of what issues his party will campaign ahead of the provincial election on May 9, 2017.

    B.C. NDP Leader Makes Promises, Calls For Change Ahead Of May Election

    Bains Brothers Abandon Sidhu's Front, Tie Up With AAP

    Bains Brothers Abandon Sidhu's Front, Tie Up With AAP
      The legislators, Balwinder Singh Bains and Simarjeet Singh Bains, announced the alliance of their Lok Insaf Party with the AAP for the upcoming assembly polls.

    Bains Brothers Abandon Sidhu's Front, Tie Up With AAP

    Newfoundland Driver's Alleged Failure To Signal Reveals $55,000 In Fines

    Newfoundland Driver's Alleged Failure To Signal Reveals $55,000 In Fines
    Patrol officers in St. John's say they noticed a car driving erratically with no licence plate just before noon on Sunday and tried to pull the driver over.

    Newfoundland Driver's Alleged Failure To Signal Reveals $55,000 In Fines