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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A U G U S T 2 0 1 7 11 I n the opinion of the Alberta Court of Appeal, the judge's conduct of a jury trial in a first-degree murder case (R. v. Barton) was filled with error. The appeal court justices not only took the rare step of overturning a jury acquit- tal, they also issued an unusual call to "push the reset button for jury charges in this country for cases involving an alleged sexual assault." The appeal court made its decision against a backdrop of petitions and dem- onstrations calling for "justice" for the female victim in the case. The facts are stark. The accused, Brad- ley Barton, an Ontario trucker, testified that he arranged to have sex with the vic- tim, Cindy Gladue, in his Edmonton motel room. He further testified that during the encounter he penetrated the intoxicated Gladue with his entire hand. She began to bleed so he placed her in the room's bath- tub and went to sleep. Gladue bled to death during the night. Crown experts gave evidence that there was an 11-centimetre perforation inside Gladue's vagina. In their opinion, the cut could only have been made by a sharp object. But no such object was ever recovered. Defence experts attributed the injury to blunt force trauma. The defence argued that Gladue's death was an accident, the unintended conse- quence of rough but consensual sex. After detailed — and in the appeal court's view — flawed instructions from the judge, the jury acquitted Barton of first-degree mur- der. That verdict ignited protests across the country. Barton's Edmonton lawyer, Dino Bot- tos, explicitly states that he does not believe the appeal court was influenced by exter- nal forces in ordering a new trial. However, Bottos notes that the judges "read the newspapers . . . and if they looked out their courthouse windows . . . [they would see] . . . there was a hue and cry to have Mr. Bar- ton's acquittal overturned." Bottos differs sharply with the court's criticism of the trial judge's charge to the jury. In his view, the judge gave the jury the law "properly and fairly" and the appeal court's observations in the judgment are unfair. The Women's Legal Education and Action Fund and the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women were granted intervenor status at the Court of Appeal hearing. University of Calgary law professor Jennifer Koshan was a member of the LEAF/IAAW case committee. She points out that the trial judge improperly \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ P R A I R I E S \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP ALBERTA'S TOP COURT CALLS FOR 'RESET' IN SEX ASSAULT JURY CHARGES W E S T Continued on page 12 INCREASED EFFICIENCY MEANS "YOU CRUSHED IT" EVEN FASTER lexisnexis.ca/FUXVKHGLW Lexis Advance ® Quicklaw ® Now with advanced search forms for precision searching ntitled-5 1 2017-07-17 2:58 PM

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