Prosecutors have announced they will appeal the not guilty verdict in the death of First Nations woman Cindy Gladue. Gladue bled to death from a large wound in her vaginal wall four years ago, at the age of 36. Ontario truck driver Bradley Barton, 56, was acquitted by a jury earlier this month.
The defense argued that the wound was caused by consensual “rough sex,” while the prosecution said it was due to Barton stabbing Gladue. According to CBC, the state will argue that the judge made several errors in his instructions to the jury, including telling them, “that the complainant’s consent on a previous occasion could be used to support a finding of honest but mistaken belief in consent on this occasion.” Gladue and Barton had consensual sex two nights before she died.