Acquittal of Bassam Al Rawi

The Case of Bassam AL Rawi

During the early morning of May 23, 2015, a 20-year-old woman had taken a taxi to her home from a downtown Halifax bar. A police officer spotted the woman in the back seat of the cab in the South End of Halifax at 1:20 a.m. The woman was found with some of her cloths removed and intoxicated with her legs propped up in the two front seats.

Forensic analyst

It was determined that the blood-alcohol level was as high as 241 milligrams per 100 Millilitres of blood. During the case analyst has indicated that these levels the woman would have difficulty creating long-term memory from short term experiences.

Review of taxi license

Halifax Regional Council reviewed the status of Al-Rawi's tax license, which was suspended in May 2015 but reinstated three months later following an appeal by his legal council Luke A. Craggs.

Public reaction

With two marches scheduled after the acquittal in protest of the ruling by Judge Gregory E. Lenehan. Plus groups are composing letter of complaint seeking a judicial council review and 12 women's agencies from across Nova Scotia is calling for Lenehan to be removed from the bench.