Russell Brown steps down from Supreme Court, halting probe into misconduct claim
CBC
Russell Brown announced Monday he's stepping down as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada effective immediately — a move that comes after the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) began probing a claim of misconduct directed against Brown related to an incident in the U.S.
Brown's decision to step down from Canada's top court means the CJC's investigation of an alleged alcohol-fuelled incident in Arizona will come to an end without any sort of report on the matter.
Under the federal Judges Act, the council has a duty to investigate complaints made against federally appointed judges. Now that Brown has stepped down, the council said, that work will stop.
Brown has been on leave for months since reports surfaced that the judge got into some sort of confrontation with patrons at a high-end Scottsdale-area resort at the end of January.
While accounts of the incident differ, it has been established that there was some sort of fight between Brown and a man at the resort, Jon Crump, a U.S. Marine veteran who was at the resort with a group of friends.
Crump alleges a drunken Brown was belligerent and harassed his drinking companions. He said Brown followed him and some in his group back to their hotel rooms. After a brief skirmish, Crump said he punched Brown after he wouldn't leave. Then, Crump reported the Stephen Harper-appointed judge to the CJC.
Brown has said Crump's version of events is false and instead claims the former Marine inexplicably punched him in the head.
In a statement, Brown said the CJC probe into the Arizona incident "may continue well into 2024," a delay he said is in "nobody's interests — the Court's, the public's, my family's or my own."
"I have therefore decided that the common good is best served by my retirement, so that a replacement judge can join the court in time for its busy fall term," Brown said.
Brown said he had hoped the CJC review would be "dispensed with quickly and would not significantly impact the court's business."
"Sadly, that has not been the case," the former top judge said.
Brown's lawyers, Brian Gover and Alexandra Heine, also released a statement calling his resignation a "regrettable result" because it was prompted by a "spurious complaint."
Brown's lawyers said Crump "weaponized Canada's judicial discipline process" to punish the judge.
According to a Paradise Valley Police Department report on the matter obtained by CBC News, Crump called law enforcement to report the altercation in the early morning hours of January 29.