The Crown says it will not appeal the acquittals in former CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi’s sexual assault case.
A statement released by a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario says the Crown has concluded that there is “no legal basis” to appeal the decision.
“The Crown’s right of appeal from an acquittal is limited to errors of law, and does not include errors relating to factual matters,” the statement said.
“This was clearly a difficult case for everyone involved. I have full confidence in the job that our Crown prosecutors do in court every day, as well as all our justice sector partners.”
The Crown would not elaborate any further on its decision regarding the appeal due to Ghomeshi’s upcoming sexual assault trial in June.
“As Mr. Ghomeshi is scheduled to return to court in June on a related matter, it would be inappropriate to comment further about this particular case,” the statement concluded.
An Ontario court judge found Ghomeshi not guilty last month on all five charges he was facing in connection with sexual assault allegations involving three female complainants in 2002 and 2003.
In his decision, Justice William Horkins said the witnesses in the case were “deceptive and manipulative” in giving their evidence and were not a “trusted source of the truth.”
All three women testified that while on dates with the ex-radio star, he abruptly turned violent and assaulted them without warning.
In Horkins’ decision, he said the witnesses struggled to consistently remember details of the alleged assaults and deliberately withheld information from the court.
During the trial, Ghomeshi’s defence lawyer Marie Henein presented to the court a series of friendly and, in some cases, sexually suggestive correspondence, including emails and a love letter, the complainants sent to the accused in the days, weeks, months and even years that followed the alleged sexual assaults.
The defence’s evidence directly contradicted testimony given by all three women, who adamantly stated they had no interest in maintaining contact with Ghomeshi.
An email sent to Ghomeshi by the first complainant about a year after he allegedly assaulted her in his kitchen contained a photo of herself in a string bikini.
During her testimony in February, actress Lucy DeCoutere said she wanted nothing to do with Ghomeshi after he choked and slapped her in his bedroom in July 2003.
DeCoutere later admitted under cross-examination that she wrote Ghomeshi a letter shortly after the alleged assault where she tells the accused that she “loves his hands” and regretted not sleeping with him during their weekend together.
The judge criticized the third witness, who cannot be publicly identified, for waiting to disclose her post-assault contact with Ghomeshi until after the defence confronted the other two witnesses with emails they had sent Ghomeshi.
“I am forced to conclude that it is impossible for the court to have sufficient faith in the reliability or sincerity of these complainants,” Horkins said in a summary of his ruling.
Ghomeshi will return to court in June to face a separate sexual assault trial involving a complainant who used to work at CBC.
