Delays prompt judge to stay charges against man accused of sexual assault
CBC
Charges were stayed in Moncton provincial court Friday against a man accused of sexual assault, with the judge agreeing with the defence that the accused had waited too long to be tried.
Meanwhile, a group representing Crown attorneys saying staffing shortages in their ranks are at crisis levels.
Judge Paul Duffie stayed the charges while citing the accused's right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to be tried within a reasonable time.
There is a publication ban on the name of the complainant and any information that could disclose that person's identity.
The accused, a former dating partner of the complainant, cannot be named. He was charged May 28, 2021.
While announcing his judgment, Duffie said no delays were caused by the defence. Duffie described some of the delays as exceptional circumstances, but said some were the fault of the crown prosecutors' office.
Shara Munn, president of the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association, said it was a disappointing outcome but not a surprising one.
She said their members have been experiencing staffing problems for the last 10 to 15 years, and over the last few years the shortage has become a crisis.
"We've been trying to sort of raise this to government that we are on the brink of collapse," said Munn.
"I think that this decision today out of Moncton basically signals that unfortunately we were right and so here we are."
Duffie's decision effectively brings an end to the case.
Munn did not have statistics on how often judicial stays happen in New Brunswick, but said "surely one case is one case too many."
Attorney General Ted Flemming said in an emailed statement that the Department of Justice and Public Safety is talking with the New Brunswick Crown Prosecutors Association to get a better understanding of their perspective.
"In New Brunswick, court decisions to stay a charge because of an unreasonable pre-trial delay are very exceptional." he said in the statement.
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