Judge sex complaint review holds 1st hearing

A man who says he was sexually harassed by a Manitoba judge has asked the Canadian Judicial Council to appoint a lawyer to help him because he has been turned down by several other lawyers.

Alexander Chapman spokeas thecouncil's initialhearing into the conduct of Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench beganSaturday morning.

Chapman made a tearful submission to the panel as he asked for legal representation.

"I need someone to protect my rights," he said. "It took a lot of guts to come here today."

The Canadian Judicial Council is holding the weekend hearingto determine the parameters of the inquiry, which could lead to Douglasbeing removed from the bench. The CJC panel decided the public inquirywill beheld in Winnipeg this summer, witth hearings onJune 25-28, July 16-20 and July 23-27.

Chapman, who's from Winnipeg, filed the complaint in July 2010, alleging that Douglas's husband, Jack King, tried to pressure him into having sex with Douglas in 2002 and 2003.

Chapman said when he retained King to handle his divorce in 2002, the lawyer showed him sexually explicit photos of Douglas, naked in various forms of bondage, in chains, with sex toys and performing oral sex. The photosalsoappeared on a pornographic website where white women looked for black men to have sex.

Both King and Douglas were lawyers and partners with a Winnipeg law firm at the time.

'There's not a lawyer in this town that will touch this.' Alexander Chapman

Douglas stepped away from her duties as a sitting judge shortly after Chapman's complaint was filed.

Members of the CJC panel on Saturday decided the council will pay for a lawyer to work with Chapman for "limited purposes" to help himwith an application for standing at the hearing. If he's then granted standing, the CJCwould pay for all Chapman's legal fees for the inquiry.

CJC executive director Norman Sabourin said Justice Douglas's legal fees are already being paid, as required by the federal JudgesAct,bytheOffice of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs.

Chapman said he's had difficulty finding a lawyer because many Winnipeg attorneys "won't stand up against the system because they're afraid."

"There's not a lawyer in this town that will touch this," he said.

The chair of the panel, Alberta Chief Justice Catherine Fraser,told Chapmanhe could look outside Winnipeg to hirea lawyer.

Thehearing began with a focus onprocedural matters, including who can take part in the publicinquiry.

CBC's Marisa Draganisaid from the courthouse that a citizen blogger, Clare Pieuk, has askedfor intervenor status at the inquiry. Pieuk, who is not a lawyer,said he has always had an interest in the justice system.

Saturday's hearingwasopen to the public and security was tight,Dragani said.

A Winnipegpolice officer was present for the hearing. A Canadian Judicial Council spokespersonsaid it was prudent to have an officer there, partly based on protocol and also because of some of the blog posts they have seen.

There arethree judges and two lawyers on the panel. The judges are from across the country: P.E.I, Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador.

This is only theninth time since the CJC's founding in 1971 that a complaint against a sitting judge has gotten to the inquiry phase.