A Nova Scotia judge is ordering the provincial Crown to cover a $190 round-trip taxi fare for an accused sex offender whose hometown courthouse in Windsor, N.S., is being closed, forcing his trial to be heard at a justice centre a 40-kilometre drive away.
The Department of Justice announced last month it will be closing the Hants County courthouse at the beginning of July, a facility with a number of problems including issues with the cells and no elevator to the second-floor courtroom, a barrier for people who can’t climb stairs.
But in a ruling Friday, Judge Angela Caseley noted there is no public transit from Windsor to the justice centre in Kentville, and that Jeffrey Mitchell Wile, 35, doesn’t have the money to get there, or friends or family who can drive him.
It means that Wile, who has pleaded not guilty to sexual interference and is on social assistance, will not be able to make it to Kentville to attend his September trial.
The defence argued that if he misses that date, the judge said, he will likely be arrested on a warrant. Even if he’s released, he will miss future court dates, face arrest again and could be held in custody pending trial.
Moving the trial to Kentville, Caseley said, is “solely and directly” the result of the government’s decision to close the Windsor courthouse. If Wile is eventually acquitted, she said the defence argued “he will effectively spend time incarcerated simply because he’s poor.”
Wile is represented by legal aid lawyer Jonathan Hughes.
Caseley said that for 251 years, people living in Hants County — where Windsor is located and which now has a population of 45,000 people — have been able to access justice “in their community.”
She remarked on Nova Scotia’s “esteemed history” contributing to three pillars of Canada’s democracy, including the country’s first independent court, representative government, and freedom of the press.
Prosecutor Nathan MacLean opposed the defence application for taxi fare on legal grounds, but agreed to the facts surrounding Wile’s difficulty getting to Kentville for court.
The province operates 23 courthouses across Nova Scotia. Nine of them, including in Windsor, are “satellite” courts that only run part time and rely on employees from the larger courthouse in their area.
The current Windsor courthouse is in the Hants County Court House building, which was opened in 1950 and is owned by the Municipality of West Hants.
The Windsor site often hosts provincial court three days a week. The Nova Scotia Supreme Court also schedules sittings at the courthouse.
Department of Justice spokesperson Lynette Macleod said in an email that officials would be reviewing the judge’s decision.
The email said the Kentville Justice Centre serves both Kings and Hants counties, and is fully accessible, modern and “helping improve access to justice for Nova Scotians in the Valley area.”
It was necessary to close the Windsor courthouse due to the overall condition of the building, the email said. In particular, the holding cells that housed people in custody who were appearing in court were inspected in January and it was decided they must be closed.
There are no plans to open a new courthouse in Windsor.
