Tuesday, March 19, 2024

UVic alum and Supreme Court Justice speaks out about allegations against him

Share

A Supreme Court of Canada Justice was put on immediate leave as of March 7th due to ‘alleged conduct’ later revealed to be tied to an incident in Arizona.

Russell Brown, a 57-year-old Supreme Court Justice, received his Bachelor of Laws degree from UVic in 1994, after getting his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987 at UBC in his hometown of Vancouver.  

The Justice also interned for a time through his schooling at the BC Legislature beginning in 1988.

Brown is accused of alleged unwanted touching and kissing while drinking at a resort in Scottsdale Arizona. When his superiors found out, he was put on a leave-of-absence immediately with a conduct review pending. 

Jon Crump was with female companions when he says that Brown tried to join them while intoxicated. He and his companions made complaints to Scottsdale Police saying Brown was touching one of the women in an unwanted way and he kissed her on the cheek ‘once or twice’.

The incident occurred on January 28th and the complaint against Justice Brown arose on January 31st. 

Related:

As of March 30th, the Canadian Judicial Council, which oversees conduct reviews of the Supreme Court Justices, announced they would put together a review panel in regards to his alleged actions. 

Also on March 30th, Justice Brown’s legal representation released a statement detailing his account of what occurred at that Scottsdale resort.

In his statement he confessed he did not want to speak publicly on the matter, but following extensive media coverage of his accuser, he changed his mind. 

Justice Brown says he was invited to join a nearby table at a resort bar and Crump, his accuser, did not like that he was around the group he arrived with. 

“We all left the lounge at roughly the same time,” said Justice Brown in his statement.

“Outside the lounge, Mr. Crump objected to me rejoining their group and suddenly, without warning or provocation, punched me several times in the head.”

Brown claims he was taken by surprise and had to then defend himself. 

He then claims that Crump has made up everything he’s told law enforcement as well as the media. Brown paints the picture of Crump lying to get out of an assault charge against him.

A five-member panel of four judges and one civilian with no background in law will now review the evidence and determine if Justice Brown should be removed from his position.

More to come. 

mm
Curtis Blandy
curtis@victoriabuzz.com

Read more

Latest Stories