Anne-Marie Robinson
speaker
409 appearances
10 recordings
1 series
first heard Dec 2024
last heard Jan 2025
Anne-Marie Robinson’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
To me, the judgment in Anne Marie's case sounds like a 1950s courtroom melodrama. Not a decision written in 2021. That's probably because the Ontario judge is applying a law originally passed in the 1950s. The rape law was repealed decades ago, but it still applies to an alleged crime that occurred before the law changed, like in R.V. Walker.
Anne-Marie's case was one of the last this judge ever ruled on. He's now retired. I ordered a copy of the entire decision shortly after it was delivered. We heard a snippet in the last episode. Here's a bit more of Justice J.C. Moore's ruling in the Walker case. It's read by my CBC colleague, Malcolm Campbell.
Anne Marie didn't hear the judge's decision in person. In fact, she wasn't invited to attend court that day. She only saw the decision after I received the transcript. I did come away feeling like the judge didn't really understand what had happened to me. The judge told The Crown the law didn't allow him to make inferences or interpret events from 1977.
Yet Anne Marie says the judge himself made an inference she finds unsettling.
So why did this case fail before it even got to trial? Judges don't generally talk to the media. The Crown Attorney won't do an interview. So I look for some outside analysis. After four and a half years in the criminal system, Anne-Marie has as many questions as I do. Together, we pay a visit to Pamela Cross. We're in Kingston, in my home. Kingston is east of Toronto, on Lake Ontario.
There's a fire in the wood stove, knickknacks and art fill cozy rooms. Pamela is a lawyer, often advocating for women and victims of intimate partner violence and sexual assault. I've shared the transcript and other court documents with Pamela. I was just getting so mad, actually, while I was looking at all of this stuff. Silver streaks fall loose from the bun on the top of her head.
Chunky jewelry hangs around her neck. But it's a facade. If provoked, she can swear like a sailor. What the fuck? She grabs her yellow legal pad full of notes on Anne-Marie's case. But this isn't just about Anne-Marie. And it's not just about something that happened decades ago. Pamela sees systemic issues at play in too many sexual assault cases.
I can't imagine why I would report that to the police. She points to the most recent stats to explain. A 2019 report from Statistics Canada.
For every 100 incidents of sexual assault in this country, only six even get reported to the police.
Or, as in Anne-Marie's case, there's a dismissal. No trial. No conviction. The accused walks away. Pamela gives us her take on what happened in Anne-Marie's case.
She wonders if there wasn't a better, more appropriate charge other than the one count of rape. She reminds us just how out of date that charge is.
Maybe they had good reasons for that that we're not aware of, but... We're not aware of them. Pamela also wonders if a different standard of proof is needed in these kinds of cases, be they historical or contemporary.
And how about that key issue? What the whole case hinged on, consent. It's not just an issue in historical sexual assault cases.
Is it possible for him to be charged again for other incidents? She's thinking about the times in cars, other band trips, and especially the incident in that closet at school. It all went on for more than a year.
Anne-Marie leaves Pamela's house, still mulling this over.
A couple weeks after visiting Pamela Cross, Anne-Marie's image pops up on my computer screen. She's put on a brave face.
I know she's still stinging from the dismissal of her case. After all these years, she feels like her former teacher still has control. And it's not just a feeling.
To take away that sting, Anne-Marie is trying to redirect the energy she was putting into the court case. She's doing more research, and she wants to advocate for a better system, one that prevents abuse from happening in the first place, but when it does, provides recourse for survivors.
But there was one more appearance before a judge. In order for Anne-Marie to tell her story, she had to get the publication ban lifted. That ban is automatic in any sexual assault case.
I can hear the frustration and loneliness in her voice. She knows telling her story is one way to reach other potential victims. She'd been so hopeful JM, the other survivor, would be in touch. But there's been no response.
Showing 161–180 of 409 · page 9 of 21
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