Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: ribbit on September 02, 2010, 06:59:28 AM
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WARNING: Mature Subject Matter
eh, how a trini reach up in here ?!?!.... :o
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Nude photos of judge contained in complaint
(http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/08/31/judge-manitoba-douglas.html)
Naked photographs of a senior Manitoba judge engaged in bondage are part of a man's complaints to legal watchdogs about the judge's past and that of her husband, CBC News has learned.
A formal complaint was filed in July with the Canadian Judicial Council against Lori Douglas, associate chief justice of Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench (family division). Another complaint has been lodged with Manitoba's Law Society against Douglas's husband, Jack King, 64, a Winnipeg family lawyer.
The complainant, computer specialist Alexander Chapman, 44, alleges that King harassed him in 2003 by pressing him to have sex with Douglas, who was a lawyer at the time.
Over several weeks, Chapman said King showed him about 30 sexually explicit photos of Douglas, showing her naked in various forms of bondage, in chains, with sex toys and performing oral sex.
Chapman said he became so bothered by King's overtures that he began sleeping at his St. Mary Avenue office, pretending he was too busy with work to meet Douglas.
King's lawyer, Bill Gange, said King was suffering from depression at the time and didn't tell his wife that he had shown the pictures to anyone — or that he had posted the photos on a porn website.
An Ottawa legal expert said that even if Douglas, who was appointed a judge in 2005, was the unwitting victim of a scheme, the presence of the photos on the internet raises issues about her ability to perform as a judge.
"If pictures of you naked end up on an internet site, it's quite difficult to say you have the credibility to be a judge," said Sébastien Grammond, dean of civil law at the University of Ottawa.
Grammond said a judge ultimately represents the ideal of justice and therefore the judge's conduct and image reflect on the justice system as a whole. The judge is, in a sense, the embodiment of the justice system, something the Supreme Court has noted in a past judgment.
Grammond doubts that Douglas would have been appointed a judge if she had disclosed the fact that there were nude photographs of her on the internet in her application.
There is a question in the application that asks, "Is there anything in your past or present which could reflect negatively on yourself or the judiciary and which should be disclosed?"
"I think the facts are sufficiently suspect to warrant disclosure and to raise very important questions as to whether such a person should have been appointed a judge," Grammond said.
Douglas has refused to comment to CBC News on the allegations.
'Disgusting' pictures
Chapman said he first met Douglas's husband, Jack King, in 2002, when he retained him from the Winnipeg law firm Thompson Dorfman Sweatman to handle his divorce.
Five months later, Chapman said King invited him out for a drink and mentioned a porn website devoted to interracial sex, particularly between black men and white women.
"He was talking to me about websites and stuff, and … he gave me a website to go to called Darkcavern.com," said Chapman, who is black and originally from Trinidad.
King supplied him with a password, Chapman said, and told him to look at a section called "Our White Princesses," where white women post photos to attract black men. Numerous nude photos of King's wife, who was a lawyer at the same firm her husband worked at, were posted there, Chapman said.
"I wanted to puke," Chapman said. "[The pictures] were disgusting. I couldn't believe my lawyer was doing this to me."
It apparently wasn't the first time King sought out a black man to have sex with his wife. An ad on the Darkcavern site, seen by CBC News, shows nude photos of Douglas and seeks a "smooth black male or Mexican" to join the couple during a trip to Cancun in February 2002.
The ad specifies that the man is wanted "to seduce her with the intent of getting her enmeshed in the submissive, multi-partner, interracial sex scene."
"Husband will help and facilitate," it goes on to say.
Photos of Douglas have since been removed from the Darkcavern site.
'He looked at me as being a sex object'
Over the next few weeks, Chapman said King sent him more pictures of his wife and continued to encourage him to engage in a sexual relationship with her.
Chapman said he was emotionally distraught by the advances and didn't know how to handle his lawyer's persistent proposals. "As a black person, a black guy, I'm really sad that he looked at me as being a sex object."
He said he didn't have enough money to switch lawyers and had been warned by a judge not to delay his divorce case any further.
As Chapman's divorce was wrapping up, he said he eventually agreed to meet King and his wife at a Winnipeg restaurant, fearing his lawyer would not properly represent him if he didn't comply. King left Chapman alone with Douglas, and they chatted, according to Chapman's July 14, 2010, complaint to the Manitoba Law Society. In his complaint, Chapman described the meeting as feeling like "a first date."
Chapman said the couple invited him to their home in Birds Hill, northeast of Winnipeg, but he never went and he denies ever having sexual relations with Douglas.
When his divorce concluded, Chapman said he filed a complaint to the managing partners at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman. Soon after the complaint, King left the firm.
Chapman decides to come forward
Chapman received a $25,000 cash payment from King in return for promises not to take legal action against King and his partners. As part of the settlement, Chapman said he was required to not speak about the matter and to destroy all emails, photos and other materials sent to him by King. He said he signed, but kept the material.
After seven years of silence, however, Chapman decided to come forward, saying he felt distraught about the matter for a long time and worried it may have influence in civil court cases he's involved in, which is related to the divorce he obtained in 2003. CBC News has seen no evidence of such influence.
Chapman said he plans to sue both Douglas and King for sexual harassment and discrimination.
"I decided I'm tired of protecting Lori Douglas, Jack King and all these people in a legal field who conduct themselves inappropriately and get away with it," Chapman said.
Douglas unaware of posting: lawyer
Gange, King's lawyer, citing King's depression at the time, said the events Chapman alleges were part of an isolated incident and that King's wife didn't know he was soliciting a client to have sex with her. Gange said Douglas also was unaware her husband was posting pictures online.
Gange told CBC News King took time off work on a sick leave after his interaction with Chapman, and was put under the care of a doctor. Gange said King's behaviour at the time is not in any way consistent with his behaviour before or since.
King, in a letter to the Manitoba Law Society, acknowledged that he did meet and talk about sex with Chapman, but only after Chapman obtained his divorce in April 2003. He said Chapman would often initiate the conversations.
"At no time did I have an impression that Mr. Chapman felt uncomfortable having these discussions with me," King wrote in the letter, dated Aug. 12, 2010.
He acknowledged that he talked about the possibility of Chapman having an affair with Douglas, but denied that she had knowledge of it.
"I do regret that I had any conversations or any contact at all with Mr. Chapman that did not relate strictly to his divorce issues," he said. "I apologized to Mr. Chapman through Mr. Gange upon being advised that my conduct had offended Mr. Chapman."
He said he was coping with the deaths of his best friend and his brother at the time.
A spokesperson for Thompson Dorfman Sweatman said King quit the firm after the alleged incident on the advice of his doctor.
Douglas remained a partner at Thompson Dorfman Sweatman until 2005, when she was appointed to the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench. She was later named associate chief justice and now sits on the Canadian Judicial Council, an agency that sets policies for the federal judicial system.
The council is the same agency that hears complaints about the conduct of federally appointed judges, and the same agency Chapman sent his complaint to.
Because Douglas is a judge, the council is the only professional body that can hear a complaint against her.
A Canadian Judicial Council complaint investigation typically takes three months.
A federally appointed judge can only be removed upon order of Parliament.
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http://jezebel.com/5627495/judges-husband-puts-nude-pix-online-screws-them-both
Judge's Husband Puts Nude Pix Online, Screws Them Both
A sordid story from across the border has called into question notions of "judicial authority"... even when the judge was herself a victim.
Here's what happened. Lori Douglas, a family court judge, is married to Jack King, 64, a Winnipeg family lawyer. One Alexander Chapman is suing King for incidents of sexual harassment that Chapman says occurred when he hired King to be his divorce lawyer in 2002. Says the CBC News,
Chapman said King invited him out for a drink and mentioned a porn website devoted to interracial sex, particularly between black men and white women."He was talking to me about websites and stuff, and … he gave me a website to go to called Darkcavern.com," said Chapman, who is black and originally from Trinidad. King supplied him with a password, Chapman said, and told him to look at a section called "Our White Princesses," where white women post photos to attract black men. Numerous nude photos of King's wife, who was a lawyer at the same firm her husband worked at, were posted there, Chapman said."I wanted to puke," Chapman said. "[The pictures] were disgusting. I couldn't believe my lawyer was doing this to me."
Chapman adds that "As a black person, a black guy, I'm really sad that he looked at me as being a sex object." He says he stayed with King because he could not afford another lawyer, and that, fearing for his case, he humored him to the point of meeting King's wife - but that was as far as he went. As soon as the case was concluded, Chapman filed a complaint, King left the firm and Chapman "received $25,000 cash payment from King in return for promises not to take legal action against King and his partners."
This was apparently not legally binding, because now Chapman's filed a formal complaint for harassment and discrimination against both King and Douglas, citing mental anguish and concerns that the matter "may have influence in civil court cases he's involved in." King admits he was inappropriate, and says he was "deeply depressed" at the time.
The issue is, in the intervening period, Lori Douglas has been made a judge, making the stakes much higher - even if, as both she and her husband claim, she had no knowledge of the images being on the web. Some experts say it doesn't matter; when your authority's been undermined, the effect is the same. "If pictures of you naked end up on an internet site, it's quite difficult to say you have the credibility to be a judge," said Sébastien Grammond, a law professor. He adds that this is exactly the sort of thing they're referring to when, as a judicial candidate, you're asked to reveal anything incriminating about your past.
Of course, whether it's legal grounds in itself for leaving the bench is another matter; a federally-appointed judge can only be removed by parliament, and the fact that she's a defendant is probably the main thing with which the Canadian Judicial Council will be concerning itself. The fact that it's the case's publicity, rather than the complaint itself, that are likely to undermine the judge's authority, is probably why CBC ran this "Editorial Decision" explanation: "We recognize that in reporting stories, harm can be one of the consequences. But we are guided by the principle that important stories in the public interest must be told, and in doing so we make our best efforts to minimize any harm that might ensue." We're also wondering what's on the books about husbands defaming wives - if, that is, that's still their relationship. Whatever the outcome, the story's a deeply distressing one...and a good argument against digital boudoir photography. After all, you never know when someone might get "depressed