Judicial Inquiry Board suspends Red Deer judge 30 days without pay

It’s noted in the JIB report that Yake had received ‘deeply unsettling’ news about his personal health shortly before opening court that afternoon.

As the report states, Defence Counsel requested the matter be stood down to allow for discussion among counsel, because the police officer whom the defence had intended to call as a witness was not present.

It’s stated that at this time Justice Yake interrupted one Mr. George Lebessis, and repeatedly pressed him in an increasingly confrontational tone.

Yake wanted Lebessis to tell him whether Crown Counsel had given Defence Counsel an undertaking to subpoena the witness.

Lebessis interrupted Yake in an attempt to explain, which is when things escalated even further.

Lebessis tried requesting a moment with his fellow lawyers to discuss, but Yake demanded he answer the question.

Lebessis again tried explaining why he can’t and won’t give an answer, which, in his words, was because he was not a witness in the proceedings.

“You will answer my question,” Yake then says.

“I can’t,” Lebessis responds.

Responds Yake: “You are counsel. You are an officer of the court. You are asking to stand the matter down on the basis that a witness is not present. Are you saying that [previous Crown Counsel] told you–”

Lebessis interrupts him again only to say, “Sir, I–” before being cut off by Yake again.

Several more back-and-forth interruptions later, Yake warns Lebessis to stop interrupting or he’d have him taken into custody for being in contempt.

“Okay, then bring me into custody,” Lebessis challenges, before adding he didn’t appreciate how the Court was speaking to him.

“You answer my question, sir,” adds Yake.

“No, I’m not going to answer questions in that manner, Lebessis concludes.

Yake: “Take him away.”

This was four minutes into proceedings, and Lebessis was taken away by a sheriff into an area known as ‘cell blocks.’

There, the sheriff directed Lebessis to turn out his pockets, all personal possessions, and to remove his belt.

The JIB notes the sheriff extended a personal courtesy to Lebessis by not handcuffing him, nor patting him down, nor asking him to remove his shoes.

Seventeen minutes later, Lebessis was brought back into the courtroom, and proceedings reconvened.

He tells Yake that during the break, he did connect with a previous lawyer who had committed prior to subpoenaing the officer, but had failed to do so.

Lebessis said he would like a mistrial to be declared, which is when Yake reiterated to Lebessis that he had previously asked a ‘very simple question,’ then emphasized that the issue of him being taken into custody could’ve been avoided with a yes, no, or I don’t know response.

The JIB notes Yake’s characterization of the situation, in that moment, was incomplete, and failed to address Lebessis’s request for time to clarify before answering.

Lebessis also stated that day he didn’t feel he could continue to act as counsel given what had transpired.

The mistrial application proceeded, but was dismissed. Lebessis then applied to be removed as counsel, to which Yake granted him a five-minute adjournment to discuss this with his client.

Following the break, Lebessis never returned to the courtroom.

The accused in the case told Yake that Lebessis had asked him to relay that, “he’s never coming back to this building.”

Subsequently, Yake submitted an order for Lebessis to appear before him on Nov. 22 so that he could explain why he didn’t come back to speak to his removal application.

Lebessis did come before Yake that day, alongside his personal lawyer. There were many criminal defence lawyers in attendance, and more than 300 observers watching on Webex, the JIB report notes.

The lawyer for Lebessis, Mr. Paul Moreau, KC, advised that his client admitted he was wrong to leave the courthouse, and that he was apologetic.

But Moreau also said to Yake that upon reviewing the recordings from Nov. 8, he was of the opinion that Yake’s actions displayed injudicious behaviour, and that the order to take Lebessis into custody was unlawful.

Then, Yake states he’d also reviewed the transcripts, and said he’d given the matter a great deal of thought. He then stated that the issue before the court that day was to decide whether Lebessis should be held in contempt, even though that had not been made clear in his order to Lebessis to appear before him.

Yake would later admit in that Nov. 22 hearing that his comments to Lebessis on Nov. 8 were unwarranted.

“I apologize to him … not just to him, but to everybody else who was in the courtroom that day … more is expected of judges. And while I strive to meet the standard, I am not perfect, and that fell below the standard. I take responsibility. The buck stops here for that,” Yake remarked.

The Judicial Inquiry Board goes on to say that Justice Yake treated Mr. Lebessis with a lack of civility, berating and interrupting him, failing to de-escalate a verbal confrontation he had initiated.

They also state his directive to take Lebessis into custody was without complying with the procedural requirements for contempt and without substantive justification.

They note that placing someone in custody is one of the most serious remedies, and that it is not to be used as a judicially-imposed time-out.

“It is an abuse of the judicial role to do so in anger,” the board writes.

The board had several options as far as ramifications for Yake, including but not limited to removing or retiring him from office.

“We are of the view that confidence has not been undermined. Justice Yake has fully recognized and acknowledged that his conduct was wrong. He is deeply remorseful,” they conclude of Yake, adding he has served since 2013, and that they are confident in his capacity to not allow this to recur.

However, they agreed, a sanction is required to restore public confidence.

In his letter to the council, Justice Yake admits he made a “grave error.”

“I sincerely regret my actions. By losing my temper as I did, and acting out of frustration, I failed to embody the decorum expected of judges,” he wrote.

“I wish to apologize, unreservedly, to Mr. Lebessis, his client, the bar in this province, and the public who rightly expect better behaviour from their judges. I also wish to apologize to my fellow judges of the Court of Justice. My actions reflected poorly on this Court.”

In a brief interview with rdnewsNOW, CTLA President Shawn King shared Mr. Lebessis is taking very few cases in Red Deer anymore, choosing to work primarily out of Edmonton. He also won’t do any involving Justice Yake.

King also noted this was one of the first decisions of the inquiry board, and that it will set the tone for future cases.

“We’re happy to see what the board has done here. I believe it’s the appropriate finding,” said King.

“I’ve been appearing in front of Justice Yake for a few years, and I remember when this happened. His behaviour has changed significantly since then … he’s no longer adversarial, and we’re no longer afraid of appearing in front of him.”

The full report can be read below.

by Josh Hall

Judicial Inquiry Board suspends Red Deer judge 30 days without pay

What's Trending