B.C. man found guilty of polygamy believed he couldn’t be prosecuted: lawyer
CRANBROOK, B.C. — Crown lawyers argue that a fundamentalist Mormon leader should have relied on legal precedent instead of public statements from the provincial government for clarity on Canada’s criminal polygamy laws.
Winston Blackmore, who was found guilty of practicing polygamy in July, has applied for relief from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing that his rights are being violated by criminal prosecution.
Blackmore has been practicing polygamy with 24 women between 1990 and 2014, according to his indictment. Jim Oler, a co-accused, was also found guilty of practicing polygamy with five women between 1993 and 2009.
Peter Wilson, a special prosecutor who approved the charges and is leading the case for the Crown, says that Blackmore was always at risk of prosecution even though the polygamy law under Section 293 of the Canadian Criminal Code has been constitutionally vague in the past.