'Sleeping with the enemy': Mistrial in B.C. sex assault case over Crown dating paralegal

Scales of justice. (Shutterstock)

The B.C. Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of sexual assault after he learned his defence lawyer's paralegal was dating the Crown prosecutor during his trial.

Justice Veronica Jackson ruled last week in Courtenay, B.C., that Cameron Gagne should get a new trial because his lawyer, Eric Chesterley, and prosecutor Nicholas Grabe failed to tell the court about the relationship.

Gagne was found guilty of sexual assault by a jury in November 2023, and the judge's ruling said that at a hearing last March, Chesterley disclosed that he knew his paralegal had been dating the prosecutor, telling the court the relationship was not "entirely unknown" to him.

The ruling said Gagne was shocked to learn of the "romantic relationship" between the prosecutor and his lawyer's paralegal, who assisted Chesterley throughout the trial that began in October 2023.

Neither Gagne's current nor former lawyer responded to a request for comment.

In an emailed statement, the BC Prosecution Service said it is "reviewing the decision and will have no further comment" while the case is still before the court.

The service's statement said the next scheduled court date in the case is Dec. 16.

Jackson's decision said Gagne applied for a mistrial, claiming his trial was unfair due to a "miscarriage of justice" because neither his lawyer nor the prosecutor told him about the relationship.

The judge ordered a new trial for the man, finding the relationship was "concealed" from Gagne and not disclosed to the court, which she found to be "egregious" conduct that created "an appearance of unfairness."

"A reasonable and objective observer would consider it a betrayal and a fundamental breach of trial fairness for an accused to learn only after he has been convicted at trial that a member of his defence team had been, at least metaphorically, sleeping with the enemy, by being involved in a personal relationship with the Crown, a relationship known to both counsel, but concealed from him," Jackson's ruling concludes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2024