Seyed Mirsaeid-Ghazi let out a sigh of relief on Thursday afternoon after learning from a Supreme Court judge that he was being acquitted of sexual assault.
Ghazi — a former Halifax taxi driver — was accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger more than two years ago. The Crown alleged Ghazi picked up a woman in the area of Windsor and Allan Streets in October 2015 and while they were driving, they said he rubbed her leg and touched her breast.
Ghazi had a different story — that the only contact he had with the woman was to push her away after she attached herself to him.
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Wayne MacKay, Professor Emeritus of Law, says sexual assault cases are difficult and often a he-said, she-said situation.
“Because there is no third-party witness, very often in these cases you have two people saying exactly the opposite thing. The most recent case would be a good example of that,” said MacKay.
“The accused saying I didn’t do it or they completely misunderstood, all I was trying to do was push them over to the side and the person saying no, no, no it wasn’t like that, he was very deliberately touching me in a sexual way and was clearly invading my privacy. It wasn’t anything accidental like he’s saying.”
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Ultimately, the judge presiding over Ghazi’s case said there was reasonable doubt, and acquitted him.
But what exactly is reasonable doubt?
“It’s really a vital aspect of our criminal justice system because what it stands for really is the presumption of innocence, that a person is presumed innocent unless the Crown can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed the crime,” said MacKay.
“What it means is if the judge or the judge and jury is left with any doubt at the end of the day whether or not it happened, they have to acquit. It’s not really a choice in terms of what the law states.”
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As for Ghazi, his taxi license was suspended in April of 2016 and expired last year while his case was making its way through the courts. He can reapply, and it is possible that he could one day drive a taxi again in Halifax.
“Due to the fact his license is expired, he would go through the process of re-applying and at that point, a review would be done and that review is done when any taxi driver does re-apply,” said Erin Dicarlo, Halifax Regional Municipality spokesperson.
So far, the municipality says Ghazi has not re-applied for his taxi licence.