The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday in what has been called one of the most important domestic abuse decisions in decades. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned the acquittal of an abused woman from Nova Scotia who tried to hire a hit man to kill her husband.
But the 8-1 decision orders the Crown to drop the case, because authorities mishandled her case and the justices believe she has already been through enough. She will not go to jail.
The court has rejected, however, the controversial "duress" defence, narrowing the options available to those charged with crimes against their past abusers.
The case, concerning the acquittal of a Nova Scotia woman who tried to hire a hit man to kill her husband, has been called one of the most important domestic abuse cases in decades.
Nicole Ryan, a high school teacher in southwestern Nova Scotia, was arrested in March 2008 and charged with counselling an undercover police officer to kill Michael Ryan.
She was acquitted two years later after the Nova Scotia Supreme Court accepted her argument that she thought she had no other way out of an abusive, 15-year marriage to a man who repeatedly threatened her and her daughter.
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal described the marriage as a "reign of terror."
Both the trial judge in Digby and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal in Halifax agreed that Ryan was under duress when she approached the undercover police officer, and so she couldn't be held criminally responsible for her actions.
Duress applies when a person is forced to commit a criminal act because they have been the victim of violence, threats or other coercion.
The Crown appealed Ryan's acquittal to the Supreme Court of Canada, arguing the defence of duress was incorrectly applied in her case. Arguments were heard in June.
The decision narrows the options for domestic violence victims charged with crimes against their abusers when they were allegedly taking steps to protect themselves or other members of their family.
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