Superior Court Judge Russell Brown under investigation after altercation at Arizona resort

The Judicial Council of Canada says allegations of inappropriate behavior are taken seriously

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Canada’s judicial watchdog is investigating allegations that Canada’s Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown engaged in disgusting and drunken conduct in Arizona that ended in an altercation, Postmedia has learned.

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In a January 29 complaint with the Judicial Council of Canada, Jon Crump alleged that Brown molested him and his friends at a luxury Scottsdale resort. He explained in an interview with Postmedia that the fists flew.

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Brown “harassed my friends (and) talked about how important it was,” said the 31-year-old US Marine Corps veteran, now a Philadelphia mortgage adviser.

Appointed in 2015 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Brown has been on leave since February 1, the court acknowledged Tuesday without elaborating.

Born in Vancouver and raised in Burns Lake, BC, Brown did not respond to requests for comment from people who know him and the Supreme Court of Canada.

“In light of the questions that were raised about the absence of a Supreme Court of Canada judge, the chair of the committee on judicial conduct decided that it was in the public interest to announce the review of this matter,” said Johanna Laporte, Director of Communications. for the Judicial Council.

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The chairman of the committee is Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

“The council takes complaints of harassment and inappropriate public behavior very seriously and investigates them accordingly,” Laporte said.

Hinkson asked Brown to comment on the allegations, and he responded on February 20.

“As with any complaint against a judge, this matter is being reviewed,” Laporte added.

Brown, 57, spoke at a gala on January 28 at the five-star Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa in Montelucia for Louise Arbour, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and former UN high commissioner for human rights. Arbor was receiving the 2023 Sandra Day O’Connor Justice Award from Arizona State University.

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The first woman on the United States Supreme Court, O’Connor inspired the award created in 2014 to recognize a life dedicated to the rule of law, judicial independence and human rights.

Some 125 dignitaries attended, including Arizona Supreme Court Justice Ruth McGregor, US and Mexican judges, diplomats and officials.

Crump said Brown was at the resort bar when he and his friends arrived around 11 p.m. after a baby shower.

Crump briefly left the table, and those remaining invited the judge to join them, much to Crump’s annoyance when he returned. Crump said Brown bragged about his importance and began reading his speech.

When Brown followed them back to his room, Crump said he confronted the judge.

“I told him, ‘You’re clearly intoxicated and the girls are scared for you. she pushed me… I pushed him back, then punched him twice in the face and he fell to the ground.”

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Crump’s girlfriend, Meghan McIntyre, 31, said her hotel room was broken into and she called the Paradise Valley Police Department.

“They basically said that being creepy is not a crime, so you don’t have a case,” he said. “They said to just avoid it.”

The officer who wrote the police report, obtained by Postmedia, recorded his arrival at the Omni around 1:30 a.m. on January 29.

The officer wrote that Crump was argumentative, hostile and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Crump told her that a man had been “flirting” with the women.

“Crump said that when they all started walking back to their hotel rooms, the drunk man said he was with them and followed them. Crump repeatedly told the man that he couldn’t go with them.”

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To “prevent the creepy, unwanted drunk man from entering the hotel room uninvited, Crump punched the man multiple times. During the brief fight, Crump’s shirt was torn in the area of ​​the front buttons.”

The officer then spoke to Paige Bowmaster, who said everyone was drinking at the bar and invited Brown inside.

“Bowmaster said it was creepy and made her very uncomfortable,” the police report says.

The officer wrote that hotel security said they spoke to a man after the altercation who was identified by front desk records as Russell Brown. Brown showed no signs of injury, did not require first aid and went to his room, according to resort staff.

The officer attempted to contact Brown but was unable to interview him.

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However, it concluded that Crump’s use of force “appeared reasonable and necessary, and no wrongdoing was established.”

“When we looked him up and saw pictures of him, we thought he’s actually a Supreme Court justice,” Crump said. “How did that happen?”

Established by Parliament in 1971, the judicial council is headed by Chief Justice Richard Wagner of the Supreme Court of Canada and has 41 members (chief justices and associate chief justices from across Canada) who oversee the federal judges.

Wagner does not participate in the consideration of complaints.

The Judicial Council has not concluded its process and none of the allegations have been proven or contrasted in a contradictory hearing.

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