Ex-priest files appeal to Supreme Court

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Posted: Nov 2, 2011 10:54 AM AT

Last Updated: Nov 2, 2011 10:37 AM AT

Former priest Charles Picot has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada. (CBC)

Former priest Charles Picot has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Canada. (CBC)

A former Roman Catholic priest is appealing a ruling by New Brunswick’s highest court that would see him retried on a charge of indecent assault.

Charles Picot, who was a priest in the Dalhousie area, was acquitted of the alleged 1975 indecent assault in March 2010. The Crown appealed the decision, citing grounds related to the trial judge’s consideration of uncorroborated testimony. In a 2-1 decision, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal ordered a new trial.

In the Court of Appeal ruling, Justice J.A. Bell said in his decision that the complainant’s testimony didn’t square with evidence and with his own findings.

“In the event he did not err in that regard, he erred by not considering the confirmatory evidence available that might have served to rehabilitate [the complainant’s] testimony. Consequently, I would allow the appeal and order a new trial,” said Bell.

Picot has now filed notice to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

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Ex-priest takes case to top court

CNews

By QMI Agency

-2 November 2011

A former priest ordered to be retried for a decades-old sexual offence is taking his case to the Supreme Court.

Charles Picot was acquitted last year on a 1975 charge of indecent assault on a 13-year-old boy. Picot was parish priest at St-Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church in Dalhousie, N.B., at the time.

But the Crown appealed the decision, and the province’s Court of Appeal earlier this year ordered a new trial in a split decision: Judges Richard Bell and Kathleen A. Quigg ruled in favour, but Judge J.C. Marc Richard dissented, indicating that he would have let the acquittal stand.

Picot has now filed notice to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Earlier this year, Picot was found guilty on another indecent assault charge, this one dating back to 1978, and sentenced to eight months in jail. He also served seven months in jail after a 1993 conviction on charges of sexual assault and indecent assault.

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