A man retried on a sexual assault charge as a result of controversial comments by the original trial judge shouted “Yeah!” as he left the courtroom Tuesday after being found not guilty a second time.
Alexander Wagar, 29, smiled as the verdict was delivered by Judge Gerry LeGrandeur, who said he was left with reasonable doubt that a sexual assault had occurred.
Watch below from Jan. 6: Justice Robin Camp is pleading his case after a panel recommended he lose his job for making controversial comments during a sex assault trial. Survivor advocates say Camp’s excuse is not good enough. Kim Smith explains.
The Calgary provincial court judge said neither the accused nor the complainant delivered completely reliable testimonies, but he found Wagar’s version more candid.
“The inconsistencies and evasiveness … in my view challenge the reliability and trustworthiness of her testimony generally,” the judge said.
“I do not consider his testimony, in particular what happened immediately preceding this incident or during the course of the incident, to be incredible or implausible.”
READ MORE: Alberta Justice Robin Camp in ‘knees together’ case admits ‘non-existent’ knowledge of criminal law
Wager was acquitted in 2014 by Judge Robin Camp, who ruled Wagar was a more credible witness than the 19-year-old woman who made the allegation. Camp called the woman “the accused” throughout that trial and asked her why she couldn’t keep her knees together.
The Alberta Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal and ordered a new trial.
Camp is now a Federal Court judge and waiting to see if the Canadian Judicial Council will recommend he be removed from the bench. A disciplinary panel of the council has already recommended Camp lose his job.
Watch below: Lawyer Joseph Neuberger weighs in on a report recommending Justice Robin Camp be removed from the bench for his infamous comment
LeGrandeur noted the earlier case drew a lot of interest from the community.
“There has been deserved sympathy engendered for the complainant … as a consequence of what was said and the fact that she had been required to publicly describe these difficult events a second time,” he said.
“The trial judge–and consequently the court and the administration of justice–have been criticized by some segments of society and many have asserted that the complainant has suffered an injustice by the manner in which the court process unfolded. I take no issue with any of those concerns.”
READ MORE: Alberta Justice Robin Camp apologizes at hearing over ‘knees together’ comment
But LeGrandeur said sympathy for the woman did not change the legal requirement that guilt be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The complainant, now a woman in her 20s, was not informed that the verdict was coming two hours earlier than scheduled. She arrived at the courtroom after it had concluded. She was too distraught to speak to reporters.
Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh said she was concerned about the verdict.
“We will definitely take it under advisement to see whether this is a matter we should take to appeal again,” said Walsh.
“Some of the judge’s comments certainly give pause for future cases of sexual assault.”
Walsh expressed concern the result will deter other victims from coming forward.
“This type of decision will have a cooling effect on other complainants coming forward. We have an unfortunate statistic in Canada that most complainants do not come forward.”
Wagar’s lawyer said his client is “the true victim.”
“I can advise you he’s been in custody now for over two years, twice waiting for trial on this matter. His mother passed away last month and he was unable to see her,” said Pat Flynn.
Flynn said Wagar is an innocent man.
“Society as a whole is ganging up on him. Gold-plated individuals have used this to advance their own agenda,” he said.
“The media, the Internet, public forums, everyone in effect has taken the complainant’s point of view, ignored Mr. Wagar, and Mr. Wagar has suffered dramatically because of it.”
Flynn also defended Camp whom he described as a “good judge.”
“It was unfortunate the comments he made. I don’t want to be flippant on this, but would you rather have your judge make the right decision and say something inappropriate or to be politically correct and get the wrong decision?”
READ MORE: A look at the legal career and trial that led to judge Robin Camp controversy
Comments