Mother feels ‘completely let down’ after appeal dismissed in excessive delay case
A Nova Scotia mother is calling for more attention on the rights of victims and complainants, after the province’s court of appeal upheld a decision to stay sexual offence charges due to excessive delays in proceedings.
The alleged incidents happened between Feb. 11 and 27, 2021, when the alleged victims were ages six and nine.
“My thoughts are the same as a lot of other people’s thoughts that have had to go through the justice system, and I don’t have a lot of hope for it,” said the children’s mother. Global News is protecting the person’s identity due to a publication ban.
“I think our whole justice system needs to be reworked. There needs to be a lot more support put in place for (complainants). And there needs to be more judges hired on, and they need to be able to help the people that are there that need help.”
Brandon William McNeil had pleaded not guilty to two counts each of sexual exploitation, sexual interference and sexual assault. According to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal decision, McNeil now uses a different name and pronoun.
While the trial wrapped up in Dartmouth Provincial Court in October 2021, a verdict was never handed down because the original trial judge, Rickola Brinton, went on a leave of absence.
A mistrial was finally declared in February 2023. While retrial dates were set, an application was made to have the charges stayed due to the delay.
In June 2023, the courts decided to stay the charges.
In her 2023 decision, Judge Bronwyn Duffy said she was “wholly satisfied” the Crown did what they could to prioritize the case and that the defence “cannot be faulted,” but that there was “no easy answer to this quandary.”
That prompted the children’s mother to call the process “an abhorrent waiting
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