Decision reveals N.S. judges divided on use of sexual history in Garnier case
Posted Dec 27, 2017 03:14:42 PM.
Last Updated Dec 27, 2017 03:43:20 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HALIFAX – A newly released court ruling reveals two Nova Scotia judges were split on whether the sexual history of police officer Catherine Campbell could be used as evidence in the case of the man who killed her.
Last week, a 12-member jury found Christopher Garnier guilty of murdering the off-duty officer, rejecting his claim that she died accidentally during rough sex.
As part of Garnier’s defence, lawyer Joel Pink had called a man who briefly dated Campbell to the stand to testify about her prior sexual activity.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Joshua Arnold permitted the testimony, instructing jury members that they may decide to use the witness’s evidence to determine whether Campbell had an interest in rough sex.
However, a decision by provincial court Judge Anne Derrick at the preliminary inquiry last July found Campbell’s prior sexual relationship inadmissible at that hearing.
In her written decision, released publicly today, Derrick noted that the use of prior sexual conduct to establish consent has been discredited.
