TORONTO - Ontario's attorney general has launched a complaint with the province's judicial council after a judge let a dozen people go free because a lawyer was late for court.
Ontario Court Justice Howard Chisvin dismissed the defendants in a Newmarket court north of Toronto last month after Crown attorney Brian McCallion was one minute 27 seconds late returning from a morning recess.
The accused included a violent schizophrenic and a spouse charged in a domestic abuse case. Some of them had already pleaded guilty.
Attorney general spokesman Brendan Crawley says the province's chief prosecutor referred the matter to the Ontario Judicial Council last Friday.
The council investigates complaints made against judges by members of the public.
The president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association had previously called for an investigation, but Scott Rogers says he was restricted from launching a complaint himself because the province's Crown attorneys are not allowed to do so.
