Police in London, Ont., are anticipated to offer an replace subsequent week on their investigation into an alleged sexual assault involving members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey workforce.
The replace is scheduled roughly two weeks after the Globe and Mail reported that 5 members of the 2018 workforce had been ordered to give up to police to face prices.
Since then, attorneys representing professional hockey participant Alex Formenton have stated he’s been charged in an allegation from 2018.
Listed here are solutions to some questions that may come up because the case progresses:
Is there a statute of limitations on sexual assault prices?
A statute of limitations is a window of time after which prices can’t be laid for an offence. Such deadlines exist for sure offences, sometimes much less critical ones, consultants say. There isn’t one for sexual assault, stated Hamna Anwar, a defence lawyer and founding government of the advocacy group Ladies in Canadian Legal Defence.
There are legal guidelines in place to guard sexual assault complainants, and the courts have acknowledged that “not everybody is ready to report a sexual assault when it’s dedicated,” she stated. “The thought is that it might take individuals years to course of and are available out in the event that they’re victims of sexual assault.”
Do individuals going through prices normally get time to show themselves in?
It’s quite common for police to offer individuals time to show themselves in, as long as there isn’t any concern that they’ll flee or endanger the general public, stated Chris Sewrattan, a Toronto-based defence lawyer and teacher on the Toronto Metropolitan College’s legislation faculty. “It’s a little bit of a win-win,” he stated. The accused individual can line up a lawyer, make private preparations and keep away from the potential embarrassment of being handcuffed in public, whereas police don’t need to ship out officers and expend assets to make an arrest, he stated.
The individual is given a “cheap” period of time to go to the station — normally a day or two, however probably longer if the circumstances name for it, he stated. In the event that they don’t present up, police will concern a warrant for his or her arrest, he stated. “Should you don’t do it the straightforward method, then police will make you do it the arduous method.”
When there are a number of individuals accused in a single case, have they got the identical lawyer?
Everyone seems to be required to have their very own lawyer due to the theoretical risk that they might level the finger at one another throughout trial, stated Sewrattan. “That may put a lawyer representing a number of accused in an inherent battle of curiosity. So to keep away from that, every of them wants their very own lawyer from a distinct legislation agency,” he stated.
Is it just one trial or one for every individual?
Severing a case with a number of accused into separate trials can occur in very restricted circumstances, Sewrattan stated. Nevertheless, in a case like this one, it’s “extremely unlikely” due to the general precept that the court docket doesn’t desire a complainant going via a number of trials, he stated.
What are some particularities of a trial with a number of accused?
Other than saving a complainant from testifying many occasions, having one trial also can save court docket assets, Anwar stated. Nevertheless, scheduling will be troublesome whenever you issue within the co-accused — assuming they aren’t in custody — their attorneys, the Crown and the court docket’s availability, she stated. “That simply makes it very advanced,” she stated. “It may possibly additionally make the trial very, very prolonged as a result of regardless that you’re saving time in concept, you additionally have to account for time for all 5 individuals to do cross-examination on a witness, for instance.”
Regardless that they symbolize totally different purchasers, the defence attorneys in such circumstances need to work collectively on cross-examination, Sewrattan stated. “No choose or jury needs to listen to the identical nature of questions 5 totally different occasions,” he stated. “So from the attitude of the complainant, it’s good and dangerous, since you’re going to essentially want a extra streamlined cross-examination … however on the identical time, if it’s executed successfully, you’re going through a harder cross-examination as a result of it’s co-ordinated.”
