Supreme Court will hear appeal of new-trial decision in Cindy Gladue case
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear an appeal in the case of an Ontario trucker who was acquitted in the death of an Indigenous woman in an Edmonton motel room.
In March 2015, Bradley Barton was found not guilty by a jury in the death of Cindy Gladue, a sex-trade worker whose body was found in a bathtub. Gladue bled to death after a night of what Barton called consensual rough sex.
Barton, who called the fatal injury accidental, was acquitted of both murder and manslaughter.
The Alberta Court of Appeal ordered a new trial. It ruled that serious errors were made during the trial and in the judge’s charge to the jury about Barton’s conduct and the sexual assault law as it pertains to consent.