The leader of a British Columbia polygamous sect has lost his attempt in the province's Supreme Court to have the polygamy charge against him quashed, his lawyer has confirmed.
Winston Blackmore asked the court earlier this month to dismiss the 2014 criminal charge against him, arguing it must be thrown out on a legal technicality.
His lawyer Joe Arvay argued that the provincial government doesn't have the right to criminally charge his client — or any resident of the Bountiful commune — for historical acts of polygamy, because he wasn't given "fair notice."
The cutoff point, said Arvay, should be a 2011 decision by the B.C. Supreme Court that Canada's polygamy laws did not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That decision provided constitutional clarity to Canadians involved in the controversial practice.
But Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen rejected Arvay's argument, saying the 2011 ruling did not create any obstacles to prosecution.
In 1990, Crown counsel in B.C. first decided against pursuing polygamy charges against members of the religious sect, which had links to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Utah, saying the polygamy ban might be struck down by the courts as "an unjustifiable infringement on religious freedom."
Then in 2006 the RCMP recommended criminal charges, following an investigation in allegations that men had been marrying several women and teenagers.
It was Peck who decided in 2007 not to lay criminal charges against Blackmore, but to refer the greater question of the constitutionality of Canada's polygamy laws to the Court of Appeal instead, in order to clear up the legal controversy first.
But, seeking a more aggressive approach, B.C.'s then-attorney general Wally Oppal appointed Leonard Doust to review that decision in 2008.
Blackmore was accused of marrying 24 women, while James Oler was accused of marrying four women. Two other people, Blackmore's older brother Brandon James Blackmore and Brandon's wife Emily Ruth Crossfield, were charged with polygamy and unlawfully removing a child from Canada for sexual purposes.
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Winston Blackmore polygamy charge upheld by B.C. Supreme Court - British Columbia - CBC News
Winston Blackmore asked the court earlier this month to dismiss the 2014 criminal charge against him, arguing it must be thrown out on a legal technicality.
His lawyer Joe Arvay argued that the provincial government doesn't have the right to criminally charge his client — or any resident of the Bountiful commune — for historical acts of polygamy, because he wasn't given "fair notice."
The cutoff point, said Arvay, should be a 2011 decision by the B.C. Supreme Court that Canada's polygamy laws did not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That decision provided constitutional clarity to Canadians involved in the controversial practice.
But Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen rejected Arvay's argument, saying the 2011 ruling did not create any obstacles to prosecution.
In 1990, Crown counsel in B.C. first decided against pursuing polygamy charges against members of the religious sect, which had links to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the Utah, saying the polygamy ban might be struck down by the courts as "an unjustifiable infringement on religious freedom."
Then in 2006 the RCMP recommended criminal charges, following an investigation in allegations that men had been marrying several women and teenagers.
It was Peck who decided in 2007 not to lay criminal charges against Blackmore, but to refer the greater question of the constitutionality of Canada's polygamy laws to the Court of Appeal instead, in order to clear up the legal controversy first.
But, seeking a more aggressive approach, B.C.'s then-attorney general Wally Oppal appointed Leonard Doust to review that decision in 2008.
Blackmore was accused of marrying 24 women, while James Oler was accused of marrying four women. Two other people, Blackmore's older brother Brandon James Blackmore and Brandon's wife Emily Ruth Crossfield, were charged with polygamy and unlawfully removing a child from Canada for sexual purposes.
more
Winston Blackmore polygamy charge upheld by B.C. Supreme Court - British Columbia - CBC News
