Episode 4: His Majesty the King v. Robert Joseph DeSutter
His Majesty the King v. Robert Joseph DeSutter
The respondent was charged with multiple counts of sexual offences in relation to three separate complainants, and in addition was charged with one count of simple assault. At trial, he was found guilty of the assault, but acquitted of the sexual offences. The trial judge found there was reasonable doubt on whether the acts were for a sexual purpose, and whether there was an exploitative relationship between the parties. The Crown appealed two of the sexual offence counts, arguing that the trial judge erred in excluding images found on a USB of other women, who were mostly clothed or partially clothed, in relation to a sexual fantasy involving magic acts and sawing women in half. The Crown sought to introduce this evidence as a similar fact application per Handy, while the defence argued it was bad character evidence and would result in propensity reasoning. The respondent had asked the complainants if he could use his cardboard saw to pretend to cut them in half, or place it on their abdomen to take a photo.
The majority of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, and found that the Crown had not succeeded in its argument, and found no error with the trial judge’s decision to properly exclude the USB evidence. The dissenting justice disagreed and held that she would have allowed the appeal and would have ordered a new trial based on the errors made in the trial judge’s assessment of the probative value and prejudicial effect as it related to the USB evidence, and that the exploitative relationship between one of the complainants was not properly assessed. She reasoned that both errors would have also materially impacted the verdicts.