Court reinstates Halifax woman’s complaint over sex assault investigation

HALIFAX — A Nova Scotia woman who says the investigation of her sexual assault case was mishandled has had her complaint against police reinstated.

Justice Ann Smith of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ruled that the Nova Scotia Police Complaints Commissioner erred in dismissing a complaint from Carrie Low on the grounds that it was filed too late.

Low alleges that after she was taken in a car to a site outside Halifax and assaulted on May 19, 2018, police failed to promptly visit the scene, interview a witness or have her clothing and blood tests processed in police labs.

The office of the police complaints commissioner notified her last year that her May 13, 2019 complaint against the Halifax Regional Police wouldn’t be reviewed because the six-month time limit to report police misconduct had passed.

The judge says that it was unreasonable for the commissioner to conclude the time limit for Low to file a complaint ended six months after the alleged assault.

Smith notes in a decision dated Wednesday that Low only learned in April 2019 that police hadn’t sent her clothing and blood samples for testing.

“A civilian can only complain about police misconduct if she knows about it,” Smith writes. “There may be police misconduct arising from what police fail to do, as well as what they do.”

The decision sets aside the commissioner’s rejection of the complaint and orders that it be returned to the commissioner for determination.

In a statement Thursday, Low said she hopes the decision will “pave the way for the necessary changes for all future (Halifax Regional Police) complaints, specifically those raised by victims of sexual assault.”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2020.

The Canadian Press