Hundreds more cases of sexual assault and sexual exploitation have gone to trial in Alberta since 2017 — and such trials make up a greater proportion of court dockets, according to Alberta Justice data obtained by CBC News.
Criminal defence lawyers who spoke with CBC agreed that #MeToo has led to more police reports, and as a result, more trials. But they also believe police are proceeding with charges more often than they did previously.
“It used to be that the police would dismiss, out of hand, some of the weaker cases,” said Dino Bottos, an Edmonton lawyer who has practised criminal law for more than three decades.
“They will now, instead, proceed with charges and let the Crown and the courts deal with those cases,” he said.
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