Crown appeals acquittal of lawyer Robert Regular

The Crown is appealing the acquittal of a Newfoundland lawyer who had been accused of sexual assault and sexual interference.

Last month, following a 13-day trial, a Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court judge dismissed all five charges against Robert Regular.

In his June 27 decision, Justice Vikas Khaladkar spent nearly two hours walking through a series of inconsistencies he found in the testimony of the complainant.

"The evidence of the complainant overall is troubling," Khaladkar said in his ruling.

Regular told reporters after his acquittal the matter should never have made it to trial in the first place, citing the "misbehaviour of the Crown and the police."

The Conception Bay South lawyer and businessman was facing four counts of sexual assault and one of sexual interference involving the same complainant.

She was between 12 and 14 at the time of the first alleged assault, more than two decades ago. There is a publication ban on her identity.

• Sexual assault, sexual interference charges dismissed against lawyer Robert Regular

The Crown filed an appeal of Regular's acquittal Wednesday, as the 30-day deadline neared.

In court filings, the Crown lays out a number of grounds for the appeal, saying there were judicial errors.

Those include admitting evidence of the complainant's prior sexual activity, permitting defence counsel to elicit inadmissible and irrelevant evidence during cross-examination of the complainant, and improperly restricting Crown counsel's cross-examination of Regular.

The Crown wants the Court of Appeal to order a new trial.

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