Hiring Marie Henein may have been the best decision of Jian Ghomeshi’s life.
At the very least, he owes the veteran defence lawyer an Easter present. After getting him out of four counts of sexual assault and one count of choking, she’s earned it.
What a character. They call her Matlock in heels.
Pat Benatar could play her in the movie or maybe Tatiana Maslany, Wendy Crewson or Kristen Stewart.
The Ghomeshi role wouldn’t even be a speaking part thanks to Henein.
For all the talk of a weak Crown case and non-credible testimony from the complainants, neither was responsible for the former CBC radio star walking out of the Old City Hall courthouse Thursday.
It was the smarts and incredible skill of Henein and her legal and investigative team.
There were no tricks, she just adeptly used the complainants’ own words and actions against them.
It’s pretty difficult for a judge to put someone in prison when his accusers were shown to have withheld critical information from authorities about their relationship with him. We won’t even get into the bikini picture a complainant sent him after an alleged assault or another complainant’s love letter in which she mentioned loving his hands.
Former NHL agent David Frost was found not guilty of sexual exploitation in 2009 — with the judge saying “some testimony” was “simply not believable” and some “tainted by collusion” — and he credits Henein for saving his life.
“When you are charged with a crime when you are a public figure, you don’t get to go through due process,” Frost told me over the winter on my former Newstalk 1010 radio show. “Due process is done in the media unfortunately. Truth becomes irrelevant. Truth goes out the window because public opinion is more important.”
But Henein is the great equalizer. She changes the game.
“She literally left nothing unturned,” he said of the bombshell evidence she presented, just as she did in the Ghomeshi case.
However, he also understands all too well that being found not guilty doesn’t mean the stigma goes away.
Ghomeshi, some argue, is a guy who exhibited bad behaviour, regardless of the verdict. Others say this is a story of a guy being railroaded, who lost his stature and livelihood thanks to a witch hunt.
Then there’s the protesters, rightfully concerned about how the outcome could discourage women from reporting sex assaults to police.
Perhaps it’s all of those things, but none of that concerns Marie Henein, who did her job and won her case fair and square.
There are many things you can criticize Jian Ghomeshi for, but certainly not his choice of defence lawyer.
http://www.torontosun.com/2016/03/24/ghomeshis-best-decision
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