After two weeks of court proceedings, Michael Gordon Jackson was found guilty in the abduction trial Friday afternoon.
12 jury members debated Jackson’s innocence Friday, with the trial boiling down to one question: is Jackson guilty beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to deprive his ex-wife possession of the child?
Jackson was on trial for contravention of a custody order, after allegedly abducting his daughter in Nov. 2021 until Feb. 2022 to avoid a COVID-19 vaccine.
Deliberations took just over two and a half hours before they came to a decision naming Jackson guilty.
“In this trial I am the judge of the law, and you are the judge of the facts,” Justice Heather MacMillian-Brown told the jury.
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Crown prosecutor Zoey Kim-Zeggelaar said the decision will finally bring some closure to the family.
“I am grateful in this case, unlike perhaps some of the cases I have done in the past, that no physical harm came to this young child while she was with her father,” Kim-Zeggelaar said after the verdict.
When asked if she was happy with the decision, she said, “I am pleased at the end of the day there is an outcome that has generated some accountability.”
“I know the individuals involved, particularly the mother and the child… they have waited a long time to see this outcome happen.”
Jurors have heard throughout the trial, including from the accused himself, that Jackson took the girl to stop her from being vaccinated for COVID-19. He believed his ex-wife would have the child vaccinated which Jackson believed could cause harm.
The Crown argued Jackson’s goal of keeping his daughter unvaccinated meant that he purposely kept the girl away from her mother.
Throughout the trial, each of the crown’s witnesses testified Jackson had a very close relationship with his daughter, with one witness calling the relationship exceptional.
Jackson, who represented himself throughout the trial — was quick to leave the courtroom after the verdict and had no comment for the media at this time.
Jackson was released with conditions.
A sentencing date has not yet been set but is expected to happen within the next few weeks.