A Halifax man’s conviction for sexual assault has been overturned by the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal.
Catlin Stewart Cooke, 30, was found guilty at trial in Dartmouth provincial court on charges of common assault, theft and sexual assault, all from an incident with a young woman he knew at a Dartmouth residence in November 2018.
Cooke pleaded guilty to breaching a court order by contacting the complainant from the Dartmouth jail the night before his trial began in an attempt to dissuade her from testifying.
After crediting Cooke for his time on remand, Judge Jean Whalen sentenced him last May to two years, three months and 18 days in prison, including two years for the sexual assault conviction.
Cooke maintained his innocence on the sexual assault allegation at sentencing and filed an appeal of that conviction. He claimed the judge erred in the task of considering certain evidence relating to the credibility of the complainant, improperly used prior consistent statements by the woman and certain hearsay evidence, and shifted the burden of proof to the defence.
The appeal was heard Oct. 5 and the three-member panel released its unanimous decision Tuesday, quashing the sexual assault conviction and sending the charge back to provincial court for a new trial in front of a different judge.
“I am persuaded by the appellant’s arguments that despite the deference owed to the judge’s findings of credibility, her overemphasis of cautions against stereotypical reasoning fettered her task of making credibility assessments,” Justice Carole Beaton wrote for the panel, which also included Justice Duncan Beveridge and Justice Cindy Bourgeois.
“She also used otherwise neutral features to make positive credibility assessments. Furthermore, the judge improperly used both a prior consistent statement of the complainant and hearsay evidence in assessing the credibility of the complainant.
“With respect, any one of these errors could warrant intervention. Taken together, they impact on the integrity of the judge’s conclusion the Crown proved the charge of sexual assault beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The complainant testified at trial that Cooke grabbed her hair and threw her to the ground after they got into an argument at the Roleika Drive home of the Gray family, who had pimped her out in the past before she escaped their control.
She said Cooke stole her cellphone and glasses before another young woman took her to an upstairs bedroom so she could emotionally recover. After she was forced to perform oral sex on Justin Gray, she said Cooke entered the room and raped her.
Cooke was charged in March 2019, after the woman reported her exploitation by the Grays to police.
Four members of the Gray family pleaded guilty earlier this winter to various pimping-related charges. Three received prison sentences and one was given a conditional sentence.
