Investigation
Perjury Allegation Against Officer During Sexual Assault Trial
Date Published: 2016-05-19
Province: Nova Scotia
Police Agency: Cape Breton Regional Police
Summary
On February 3, 2016, SiRT received a call from a male who had been found guilty of sexual assault after a Supreme Court Trial in Sydney in 2015. (The reported decision can be found by searching R. v. J.S.M., 2015NSSC 312) The male, the Affected Person (AP) , claimed that during his trial Sgt. Ken Routledge, the investigating officer in the matter, perjured himself and committed an obstruction of justice during the trial. (Sgt. Routledge’s name is being used with his consent.) SiRT’s public interest mandate includes, in an appropriate circumstance, the ability to investigate allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice. The complaint was first reviewed to determine whether it met SiRT’s mandate. This included obtaining further information from AP and other sources. On April 6, 2016, AP was in Supreme Court in Sydney for sentencing. At that time he requested his sentencing be adjourned pending the outcome of the SiRT matter. The sentencing is scheduled to be completed on May …