A Halifax cab driver who was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a female passenger has been charged with sexually assaulting a different woman.
Bassam Al-Rawi, 42, was charged in May 2015 after a Halifax Regional Police officer found a young woman passed out and naked from the waist in the back of his cab.
READ MORE: 121 complaints dismissed against Nova Scotia judge who said “clearly, a drunk can consent”
Details of the second sexual assault charge against Al-Rawi remain under a publication ban. His case is scheduled to return to court in July.
Al-Rawi was acquitted in March 2017, when Judge Gregory Lenehan stated, “Clearly, a drunk can consent,” sparking public outrage and groups calling for Lenehan’s removal as a trial judge.
Lenehan ruled that the Crown did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant didn’t consent to sexual activity with Al-Rawi.
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An independent review by the Nova Scotia Judicial Council into Lenehan’s comments dismissed all 121 formal complaints regarding his conduct.
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The complaints were received between March and May 2017 by individuals and organizations across the province, following Al-Rawi’s acquittal.
READ MORE: N.S. judge reserves decision at sexual assault trial of Halifax taxi driver
The Crown successfully appealed the acquittal in January 2018 and he is awaiting a new trial.
In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal said Lenehan “discounted the substantial body of circumstantial evidence and a lack of consent or capacity to consent.”
— With files from Rebecca Lau
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