| The Alberta Crown prosecutor’s office has decided not to prosecute Terry Haldane for being in a gay bathhouse in Calgary during a December 2002 police raid.
Haldane was charged for being on the premises of Goliath’s Sauntel when it was raided. Police staged the raid after finding evidence during an undercover investigation that men were masturbating openly in the bathhouse. There was no evidence of prostitution. The owner, manager and two employees were charged with being keepers of a common bawdyhouse after the raid. Their trial has been adjourned and will continue in 2005.
Haldane says he is still planning to proceed with a constitutional challenge of the bawdyhouse section of the criminal code under which he was charged. In the code, a bawdyhouse is defined as a public place where acts of prostitution or "indecent acts" are occurring. Indecent acts are not defined, so it’s left up to the police and then the courts to determine what is indecent.
Haldane says he’s angry the charge was dropped after two years of court appearances and delays. He has had panic attacks, suffered from insomnia and sometimes hasn’t been able to eat since he was charged. He says he wanted the chance to defend his right to go to a gay bathhouse.
"I have not been able to have my day in court," he says. "There’s no way you can defend yourself because you don’t get the chance."
Haldane says that, even if he had been acquitted, he still would’ve mounted a constitutional challenge of the bawdyhouse legislation because otherwise police will continue to be able to raid gay bathhouses and arrest people for consensual sexual activity.
Haldane’s lawyer Kelly Bradshaw says she was ready to fight the case and is now gearing up for the constitutional challenge. "These places are being raided and people are being arrested… and I think the law has to catch up to the realities of today," she says. |
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.