The BC father who was jailed for breaching a court publication ban by misgendering his transgender daughter has won an appeal on his six month jail sentence and the associated fine.
Due to a publication ban on the case which involves a minor, the father known as C.D. in court records, convinced the Court of Appeal that his former lawyer had erred in turning down an offer from the Crown that would have seen him avoid a stint in jail.
CD’s former lawyer rejected a plea deal from the Crown of 45 days, which meant that he would have been able to walk free, having already spent that amount of time in custody.
CD is involved in a controversial family dispute involving his underage daughter, known as A.B. in court records, who is undergoing hormone therapy in order to transition into a male.
CD opposes the procedure and publicly spoke about the case and his daughter who he referred to using female pronouns, despite an order by a judge declaring that it was “family violence” for the father to continue to address his daughter with female pronouns.
“A recurring theme throughout the proceedings has been that C.D. cannot, or will not, recognize the distinction between simply expressing his own opinions and doing so in such a way as to violate A.B.’s privacy — even though C.D. has claimed that he has no wish to hurt A.B.,” wrote Justice Mary Newbury in her decision.
“Indeed, C.D. appears to have gone out of his way to publicize his own and A.B.’s identity on several platforms in Canada and the U.S., thus ensuring that C.D. would not be able to purge his contempt completely.”
Due to his activism, C.D. was found guilty of being in contempt of the court, a charge C.D. accepted.
C.D.’s former lawyer Carey Linde rejected the plea offer from Crown prosecutors, a move which the judge said would not be made by a more “reasonably competent lawyer.”
As a result of the ruling the six-month prison term was shut down and a retroactive 45-day sentence was upheld. Additionally, C.D. no longer has to pay a financial penalty but will still have to remain for 18 months of probation.
