MAP Forum

Nova Scotia’s highest court has overturned the conviction of a Halifax man who had been found guilty of two counts of invitation to sexual touching.

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Mark Irvine Wetmore’s constitutional rights were violated because his case took too long to come to trial.

Wetmore was charged in June 2021. His trial didn’t wrap up until May of last year, almost 35 months later.

The case was originally supposed to be heard in May 2023, but Wetmore requested an adjournment, claiming the Crown had delayed in finalizing its case. The next available trial dates weren’t until May 2024.

In order to meet deadlines established by the Supreme Court of Canada in its Jordan decision, the trial would have to end in early February 2024.

A man accused of sexually abusing a girl over several years has had his Wyandotte County case dismissed.

The girl claims Michael Antonio Gonzalez sexually assaulted her from the time she was in fourth grade to eighth grade.

Gonzalez faced one count of rape, four counts of sodomy, and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.