Windsor judge lifts news publication ban on murder trial

A Windsor judge has sided with media outlets, ruling to deny a motion to block all coverage of an ongoing murder trial downtown.

Superior Court Judge Brian Dube said in a ruling released Monday that there was “relatively strong public interest” in the ongoing second-degree murder trial of Frederick Leon. He said coverage of the trial would not jeopardize the rights of co-defendant Prince Charles in a future murder trial.

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“Reasonable alternative arrangements have been put in place to ensure that Mr Charles receives a fair trial before an impartial and unbiased jury,” Judge Dube wrote in his 10-page judgment.

“It’s always reassuring when judges don’t take the safest, easiest approach,” Toronto media lawyer Ian MacKinnon told the Windsor Star.

“I think it’s always a big thing when a judge makes the right decision and rules in favor of freedom of expression.”

At a hearing last week held after Charles’ lawyers obtained a temporary gag order in Leon’s trial before a 12-person jury on May 13, MacKinnon was hired by the Windsor Star, CBC and CTV to argue against it.

“It’s a very high bar to obtain a publication ban in these circumstances,” McKinnon told the Star after Gov. Dubé’s decision on Monday.

A year ago, another judge in Windsor ruled against the media, banning them from reporting details presented in a separate murder trial until the trial of an accomplice scheduled for 2025, whose name cannot be made public in any case because he is a minor.

However, Judge Dube, who is presiding over Leon’s case, citing another judge in Windsor, decided that Leon’s trial would be closed to the media and public.

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As the Windsor trial of a London man accused of killing a Muslim family last year went ahead on a first-degree murder charge, Judge Rene Pomerance ruled that “Criminal trials in Canada must be subject to public scrutiny. Trials cannot be held in secret.”

“Defendants have a right to a fair trial, and the public has a right to see that promise fulfilled,” and that right is realized when the public sees and hears the evidence presented before a jury.

With competing Charter interests at stake – a defendant’s right to a fair trial and the right of the media to cover the trial and inform the public – Dube cited a ruling by another judge that found public coverage of court proceedings “is so powerful and highly valued in our society that a judge must have a compelling evidentiary basis to issue a ban.”

Charles’ defense argued that much of the prosecution’s evidence and the prosecution’s witness list will be nearly identical in both trials.

But Judge Dubé found Charles’ defence was “nowhere near” presenting compelling evidence, with a jury trial not scheduled until the fall of 2025. At last week’s hearing, Charles’ Toronto lawyer, Devin Bains, said the defence would consider applying to have the trial moved to another city if the temporary publication ban is not extended.

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In his ruling this week, Judge Dube said he had “strong confidence” in “a proven legal process designed to protect a defendant’s right to a fair and impartial trial by jury.”

Typical of jury trials in Windsor and elsewhere, potential jurors are screened based on their ability to avoid bias and are instructed by the judge to ignore outside influences, such as the opinions of others or past or ongoing news media coverage.

Leon and Charles were each charged with murder in the death of 30-year-old Jovan Berger, who was found with life-threatening injuries inside a residence in the 500 block of McEwan Avenue in Windsor on May 18, 2021. Berger died three days later.

Leon was 26 and Charles was 25 at the time, and all three were from the Toronto area.

According to opening statements from Ian Skelton, assistant prosecutor in the Leon trial, which are now being reported, the prosecution will allege that Berger was visiting the couple in Windsor when Leon and Charles arrived and a confrontation ensued inside the home.

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Berger and Leon “got into a scuffle,” and Berger pulled a handgun from his hip and fired it. Everyone ran outside. Witnesses then saw what prosecutors say was a fight in a hallway between the homes, where they said Leon struck Berger multiple times with what appeared to be a firearm.

When police arrived, Burger was conscious but covered in blood from multiple cuts and lacerations, and his heart stopped beating while he was being taken to the hospital. His heart was restarted at the hospital, but he never regained consciousness and died a few days later.

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