HALIFAX - A Prince Edward Island businessman convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the Halifax area more than 20 years ago has successfully appealed the conviction and won the right to a new trial.
Stephen Nicholas Taweel of Charlottetown was found guilty in February 2014 of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1991 and was sentenced to 28 months in prison.
A Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling released Thursday states that the trial judge inappropriately used accounts from a series of alleged incidents in P.E.I. to discredit Taweel's testimony regarding the incident in Nova Scotia for which he was charged.
Justice Jamie Saunders writes the evidence surrounding the alleged incidents in P.E.I. should never have been submitted for evidence in the first place, let alone “become the story.”
Taweel, 57, is the president of Taweel Developments and Taweel Construction, and also served as chairman of the Charlottetown Downtown Residents Association.
During his trial, Taweel denied touching the girl in Dartmouth, testifying that they did engage in consensual sexual activity soon after they first met in P.E.I. earlier that year.
HALIFAX - A Prince Edward Island businessman convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in the Halifax area more than 20 years ago has successfully appealed the conviction and won the right to a new trial.
Stephen Nicholas Taweel of Charlottetown was found guilty in February 2014 of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1991 and was sentenced to 28 months in prison.
A Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling released Thursday states that the trial judge inappropriately used accounts from a series of alleged incidents in P.E.I. to discredit Taweel's testimony regarding the incident in Nova Scotia for which he was charged.
Justice Jamie Saunders writes the evidence surrounding the alleged incidents in P.E.I. should never have been submitted for evidence in the first place, let alone “become the story.”
Taweel, 57, is the president of Taweel Developments and Taweel Construction, and also served as chairman of the Charlottetown Downtown Residents Association.
During his trial, Taweel denied touching the girl in Dartmouth, testifying that they did engage in consensual sexual activity soon after they first met in P.E.I. earlier that year.
