Closing arguments expected at Halifax taxi driver’s sexual assault trial

FILE (Photo: Eric Wilson/ Flickr)

HALIFAX — Lawyers are expected to make closing arguments today at the trial of a Halifax taxi driver accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger.

Seyed Mirsaeid-Ghazi is facing one charge of sexual assault in relation to an alleged incident in October 2015.

Police said at the time that Mirsaeid-Ghazi picked up a 21-year-old woman in the area of Windsor and Allan streets of Halifax.

Investigators alleged the taxi driver touched the victim in a sexual manner without her consent before dropping her off at her destination.

Halifax police said the incident was reported to them in November 2015 and Mirsaeid-Ghazi was charged in April 2016.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Ann Smith is presiding over the trial.

Municipal spokesman Brendan Elliott says Mirsaeid-Ghazi’s taxi licence was suspended after the charge was laid.

He said the suspension was appealed, but Halifax’s Appeals Committee upheld the suspension in June 2016. Elliott said the suspension will be reviewed once the trial is over.

“As is the case with any taxi driver charged criminally, we would look at the circumstances, evidence presented, and outcome of the trial to determine whether we feel the person is fit to be behind the wheel,” said Elliott in an email statement Thursday.

“Our focus is on public safety, regardless of the outcome criminally.”

A number of Halifax taxi drivers have faced allegations of sexual assault in recent years.

In January, a taxi driver acquitted of sexually assaulting a drunk and unconscious woman was ordered to again stand trial in a case that sparked a national debate over intoxication and the capacity to consent to sex.

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal had concluded the judge that presided over Bassam Al-Rawi’s trial erred in law by finding there was no evidence of lack of consent.

The panel found provincial court Judge Gregory Lenehan ignored or disregarded circumstantial evidence showing the complainant did not agree to sexual activity, or that she lacked the capacity to do so.

At the conclusion of Al-Rawi’s trial, Lenehan said he accepted evidence that the woman had urinated in her pants before the cab driver removed them from her while she was in the back seat and repeatedly said there was no evidence of a lack of consent or a lack of capacity to consent.

His decision sparked public outrage and complaints, and last fall, the province’s chief justice asked an independent panel to review the judge’s conduct.

He also faced sharp criticism for saying: “Clearly, a drunk can consent.”