Trial of Calgary psychiatrist will continue after jury agrees to sit longer

CALGARY – A trial will continue for a former Calgary psychiatrist charged with sexually-assaulting his court-appointed patients.

There were questions about whether the jury in the trial of Dr. Aubrey Levin would be willing to stay in place with an adjournment extending the expected end date by nearly a month.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Donna Shelley gave the seven man and five woman jury the option to opt out of the trial.

But on Tuesday, the jurors unanimously indicated to the judge they were willing to see it out.

“I know you may have had some frustrations,” said Shelley citing numerous delays in the trial. “You are the judges in this case.”

Under Canadian law there has to be at least 10 jurors for a trial to continue. If three or more of the 12 jury members decided they couldn’t continue, then the case could have ended in a mistrial.

The trial is adjourned until Nov. 13 to give Levin’s new lawyer, Chris Archer, time to get up to speed on the case.

Levin had terminated his relationship with his original legal team last week and represented himself in court for a couple of days before hiring Archer Monday.

Levin, 73, is accused of sexually assaulting 10 former patients who were ordered to see him by the courts.

Levin was charged in September 2010 after one of his patients came forward and provided officers with secret videos he recorded during a court-ordered sessions with the psychiatrist.

The videos, played in court three weeks ago, show Levin undoing the man’s belt and jeans and appearing to fondle him.

The patient, identified only as R.B. in court, was on probation at the time the videos were taken and had been ordered by a court to see Levin twice a month.

The man said he had told authorities about previous assaults and no one believed him, so he bought a spy camera and brought it to his appointments.

After Levin was arrested, other former patients came forward with abuse allegations.

Levin, who immigrated to Canada from South Africa, was frequently used by the courts to assess people and provide expert opinions at hearings. Most of his alleged victims had been ordered to see him by a judge.

Levin served briefly as regional director for the federal Psychiatric Centre Saskatoon and was licensed in 1998 to practise psychiatry in Alberta.

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