Halifax defence lawyer Lyle Howe will not face 2nd sex assault trial

Halifax defence lawyer Lyle Howe will not be retried on a charge of sexual assault after the complainant in the case decided she does not want to testify again, according to Nova Scotia's public prosecution service.

The Crown informed Howe of the decision earlier this week. The defence lawyer told CBC News he expects the charge against him to be dropped next week.

Howe was convicted two years ago of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in March 2011. She accused him of raping her while she was blacked out in her Fairview apartment. Howe was sentenced in June 2014 to three years in prison.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned the conviction in September and ordered a new trial.

Howe had admitted to having sex with the woman, but testified she had consented. The Court of Appeal ruled the defence of mistaken belief in consent should have been put to the jury.

'I never had a jury of my peers'

The question of whether there would be a second trial came down to if the woman was willing to go through the process again.

In the preliminary inquiry, and again during the jury trial, she was subjected to a gruelling direct and cross-examination about what she remembered of the night in question.

After weighing her options since September's appeal decision, the woman decided she did not want to testify again.

The Crown could have compelled her to take the stand, but a spokesperson for the public prosecution service said its lawyers would not do that.

Contacted Friday afternoon, Howe seemed pleased with the decision, but unhappy with the process.

"A jury without any African-Nova Scotians is not a jury of my peers," said Howe, who is black. "I never had a jury of my peers."

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Howe also noted February is African Heritage month.

"Setting aside the conviction is one thing but my faith in juries is at an all-time low, and part of the reason is because we don't get juries of our peers."

Howe went on to say there has never been a black judge on the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court of Canada.

"So if they're giving me all white juries and I can't have a judge that looks like me, that's a serious problem with the Nova Scotia justice system," he said.

Howe is also facing a disciplinary process before the Nova Scotia Barristers Society. A hearing started before Christmas, but was adjourned last month to allow Howe to enter private discussions with society lawyers.