Closing arguments in a B.C. Supreme Court case involving a man found guilty of marrying two dozen women are expected to be delivered today.
Winston Blackmore is a leader in the small community of Bountiful and was found guilty earlier this year of one count of polygamy after the court heard he had married 24 women, including three who were 15 years old at the time.
His lawyer Blaire Suffredine told the court yesterday that Blackmore didn't believe he could be charged with polygamy because a provincial attorney general in the early 1990s issued a statement that said such a charge would breach a person's charter rights.
The convictions have not been entered pending the outcome of the constitutional arguments, and a judge will have to decide whether Canada's polygamy laws infringe on his rights to freedom of religion and expression.
