Galloway Appeal Livestream

Galloway v. A.B. Goes To Court of Appeal Today

Dear Readers,

It has been 17 months since Madam Justice Adair’s SLAPP ruling and Galloway v. A.B. is finally heading to the British Columbia Court of Appeal today Monday, May 1st.

The hearing will be broadcast via livestream, which you can watch by clicking here and joining courtroom 60.

The defense kicks things off this morning at 10 am Pacific Time. This will begin with counsel for A.B., and then we will hear arguments from counsel for Keith Maillard, Chelsea Rooney, Mandy Gray, Marcelle Kosman, Theresa Smalec, Keira Anderson, and Arielle Rombough. Britt Bachman and Glynis Kirchmier have both abandoned their appeals. It’s expected that defense will take two days to present their arguments.

On Wednesday, Galloway’s lawyer, Dan Burnett K.C., will present rebuttals, cross-appeals (for A.B., Maillard, Gray and Rooney), and two additional appeals from Galloway concerning Annabel Lyon and Alicia Elliott, who both had the proceedings against them dismissed in full by Madam Justice Adair.

Lawyers for Lyon and Elliott are expected to finish up with rebuttals to Galloway’s appeals on Friday, May 7th.

The Judges

This past Friday afternoon, the British Columbia Court of Appeal announced that Mr. Justice Peter G. Voith, Madam Justice Anne W. MacKenzie, and Madam Justice Elizabeth A. Bennett will hear the appeals.

Mr. Justice Voith was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2020 and had previously sat as a BC Supreme Court Judge since 2009. His main practice areas were civil and administrative law. It is important to note that he was also one of the three justices who ruled on Neufeld v. Hansman, an appeal on a previous SLAPP motion that will undoubtedly be referenced throughout this hearing.

Both Madam Justice MacKenzie and Madam Justice Bennett are Supernumerary Justices with backgrounds in criminal law. They are two of the most accomplished and respected jurists in British Columbia.

Madam Justice MacKenzie is a former crown prosecutor, the first woman to be Associate Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia and the third person ever to be appointed to Associate Chief Justice in the history of the Supreme Court.

Madam Justice Bennett was called to the Bar in 1982 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1994. She served with the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves, 6th Field Engineer Squadron, and was the Chair of the Canadian Bar Association National Criminal Justice Section. She presided over Casinogate and Railgate, the two most high profile political corruption cases in BC history.

This is an inspired selection of justices for this hearing. They bring a wide range of experience in both civil and criminal law which will surely be an asset in a civil case involving the handling of allegations of criminal conduct and sexual assault.

Stay Tuned & Query Below

I’ll be posting full analysis and breakdowns of all the appeals as the hearing proceeds. Feel free to post questions in the comments section below.

Brad