Man’s conviction for sex assault against ex-wife tossed over seven-year-old Facebook message

Story here. Excerpt:

'A seven-year-old Facebook message has scuttled a conviction against a man accused by his ex-wife of sexually assaulting and threatening to kill her.

In a decision released Friday, Ontario’s top court said evidence about the message, had it been allowed at trial, could have affected the guilty verdict handed down to the man, who can only be identified as A.B.

“The message was allegedly sent about midpoint in the time frame of the sexual assault allegations,” the Appeal Court said in its decision. “It would not be unfair to say that the message recounted several incidents of sexual activity between the appellant and complainant, and made it clear that the sexual activity was consensual on the complainant’s part.”

Police charged A.B. with sexually assaulting the woman after they had separated and he was living with a new partner. The complainant said her ex had forced himself on her three times, but he insisted the sex was entirely consensual.

To bolster his position, he raised the issue of the Facebook message sent in February 2009, which he said was sent by his former spouse to his new partner and now wife.'