Regina lawyer Sharon Fox acquitted on obstruction charge from drug case
Crown is appealing decision
A Regina lawyer charged with obstruction has been acquitted but the Crown is appealing the decision.
The allegation against Sharon Fox dated back to May 2021 in relation to a phone call intercepted by police during a drug investigation.
The details are laid out in a Court of King's Bench decision published last month.
Police had been intercepting calls to a suspect in a drug investigation. One of those calls came from Fox, who was the suspect's lawyer.
The court decision includes a transcript of the call. On it, Fox tells the man that she suspected police would be working on warrants for places another suspect had been frequenting.
"Based on the Intercepted Conversation, Crown indicted Fox on the obstruction charge. Crown alleges that the attempt to obstruct justice pertains to Fox counselling [the suspect] to remove or destroy potential evidence in a criminal proceeding," Justice Alison Rothery wrote in her ruling.
Rothery ruled that since part of the conversation was protected by client-solicitor privilege, Fox could not access it as part of her defence.
"To ensure trial fairness, the Intercepted Conversation must be excluded. It is inadmissible at trial," Rothery wrote.
The Crown filed its notice of appeal on Nov. 17.
It said the judge incorrectly excluded the wiretap evidence.