Edmonton Journal
Author of the article:
Jonny Wakefield
Mar 29, 2023
A lawyer representing the wife of self-styled Alberta spiritual leader John de Ruiter says neither the Crown nor police have provided a legal justification for seizing her cellphone, and that prosecutors are refusing to explain why police took the device without a warrant.
Leigh Ann de Ruiter was charged earlier this month with three counts of sexual assault for allegedly helping her husband John de Ruiter sexually assault four members of his Oasis Group, a spiritual community he founded in Edmonton in the 1990s.
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During a court appearance Wednesday, defence lawyer Zachary Al-Khatib said Crown prosecutors have given him no legal basis for the seizure of Leigh Ann de Ruiter’s phone during her March 13 arrest.
Al-Khatib said the move is “extremely concerning” because the device could contain privileged communications with lawyers, given the 50-day gap between the arrests of husband and wife.
“People are entitled to their personal property,” Al-Khatib said outside court. “It’s not the case that police officers can just take things from people without a judge signing off on it. That’s what happened to Ms. de Ruiter.”
Al-Khatib asked the Crown to state on the record Wednesday why de Ruiter’s phone had been seized without a warrant, but the Crown maintained it had already provided Al-Khatib with an explanation. The defence lawyer said prosecutors have told him they won’t be asking police for the legal basis of the seizure due to sensitivities around the recent shooting deaths of two officers.
“It was communicated to me that one of the reasons the Crown is not asking police at this time for the justification for the seizure of Ms. de Ruiter’s phone is because it’s a difficult time for police given the context of officer deaths.
“Ms. de Ruiter’s phone was seized before any of that happened,” Al-Khatib said. “It’s not clear to me why there should be any delay because of the issues — very concerning issues that have happened in the police force — for which everyone expresses their condolences. But it’s still not clear … what that has to do with the seizure of Ms. de Ruiter’s phone, and why it should be an excuse for her not to be given a basis for that seizure.”
John de Ruiter was charged with four counts of sexual assault Jan. 21 after four women came forward claiming he had used his position as a spiritual leader to coerce them into having sex with him.
In a news release, police alleged de Ruiter “informed certain female group members that he was directed by a spirit to engage in sexual activity with them and that engaging in sexual activity with him will provide them an opportunity to achieve a state of higher being or spiritual enlightenment.” Leigh Ann de Ruiter was later charged with facilitating three of the alleged assaults.
After her arrest, John de Ruiter’s lawyer, Dino Bottos, accused police of being “heavy handed” in their treatment of Leigh Ann de Ruiter, saying she was never given the opportunity to surrender at a police station. He also expressed puzzlement at why police waited 50 days to charge Leigh Ann de Ruiter, given his view that the facts of the case had not changed.
“This is based on the same allegations that came forward almost a year ago, in March of 2022, by these four complainants,” Bottos said. He said the charges could be a bid to get Leigh Ann de Ruiter to “flip” on her husband.
Both cases are next in court April 12. Al-Khatib said he will likely have to apply to the Court of King’s Bench to have a justice compel the Crown to explain the cellphone seizure.
He added, “The fact that the Crown may be acquiescing to an unlawful seizure, and using information that wasn’t properly obtained in a future trial, is extremely concerning, and I would suggest inappropriate for the minister of justice.”
Both husband and wife have been released on bail.
jwakefield@postmedia.com
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