A judge will rule later this month on whether to commit a former Halifax taxi driver to stand trial for sexual assault, as he awaits the continuation of his high-profile retrial in a separate sex assault allegation.
Crown and defence lawyers made legal arguments on Tuesday in Halifax provincial court in an alleged 2012 incident involving Bassam Al-Rawi.
READ MORE: Hearing underway for Bassam Al-Rawi, former Halifax taxi driver accused of sexual assault
Judge Amy Sakalauskas reserved her decision until Feb. 21.
Police had decided in March 2013 there was insufficient evidence to charge Al-Rawi, but they took another look at the file in 2017 and decided there were grounds for a sexual assault charge.
There is a publication ban in place on the evidence that was presented at the preliminary inquiry, which began Monday.
READ MORE: Halifax taxi driver Bassam Al-Rawi’s sex assault trial adjourned after four days of evidence
Al-Rawi is also facing a retrial on a charge of sexual assault in connection with a separate incident in May 2015, after an unconscious woman was found in the back seat of a cab naked from the waist down.