Appeal court reviewing trucker’s acquittal in indigenous woman’s death
EDMONTON — The Alberta Court of Appeal is hearing arguments on whether to overturn a controversial acquittal of an Ontario trucker charged with killing an indigenous woman.
Last year, a jury found Bradley Barton not guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Cindy Gladue, a 36-year-old sex-trade worker who was found dead in a bathtub in an Edmonton motel room in 2011.
Gladue bled to death after a night of what Barton called consensual, rough sex.
But Crown prosecutor Joanne Dartana criticized the trial judge’s charge to the jury, saying he should have explained that Barton could have been found guilty of a lesser charge if he should have foreseen his actions would harm Gladue. That would have opened the possibility of a sexual assault conviction, she said.