The Law
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At trial an individual defendant was acquitted of sexual assault charges. On a crown the field. The appellate judge reversed the trial decision and found the defendant guilty. The court of appeal in turn reversed the appellate judges decision. The Court of Appeal criticized the appellate judges reasoning as a departure from the facts and a failure to engage the correct analysis needed to reach the conclusion that the trial judgment should be reversed. Reversals of trial judgments are in frequent but not rare. Likewise reversing an appeal judgment on appeal to a higher level of court is not a unique, but is in frequent. What is unusual is that the first appeal decision was made by a Judge of the Superior Court of Justice who, before the Ontario Court of Appeal heard the appeal to it, was appointed to a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Canada. The appeal was heard on a Wednesday and the decision released the following Wednesday. 
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