WINNIPEG - A lawyer for a senior Manitoba justice who faces removal because of nude photographs posted on the Internet says a disciplinary panel of judges should not view the intimate photos.
Sheila Block, who represents Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas, told the panel at a Winnipeg hearing into her client's conduct that the racy pictures should be returned to Douglas.
Block says viewing the photos or admitting them as evidence is a violation of the judge's privacy and hurts an innocent victim.
Block says the images were not released with Douglas's consent and are not vital to the tribunal's work.
The photos were taken by Douglas's late husband, who posted them on a website, and showed them to a client to try to entice him to have sex with his wife.
A disciplinary panel struck by the Canadian Judicial Council is examining whether the photos undermine the justice system and whether Douglas failed to disclose their existence before she was appointed a judge in 2005.
