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A Calgary lawyer has been acquitted on charges related to sexual assault and public indecency after a judge raised concerns over witness reliability.
However, Patrick Higgerty, who also served in Alberta as a justice of the peace, was convicted of harassment by telecommunications by Justice Frank Bosscha.
Bosscha delivered his judgment on May 1.
Higgerty’s lawyer, Alain Hepner, said his client was “pleased about the result of the substantive offences” but had a concern around the harassment matters and is considering a possible appeal.
Higgerty is not currently practising law in Alberta.
Starting in January 2017, a woman, who is the complainant in this case, began working at Higgerty’s Calgary-based firm Higgerty Law as a receptionist, and then in a legal assistant position. In late 2017, she worked directly under the supervision of Higgerty as a personal injury paralegal.
“Considering all of the evidence, the focus is on whether or not there was consent by [the complainant],” said Bosscha at the beginning of his decision.
The incidents spanned several occasions. Higgerty said he obtained consent from both the woman and a friend. The woman said she did not consent, while the friend said she assumed the complainant’s consent was given verbally or by actions.
In delivering his judgment, Bosscha said he found the testimony of all three — Higgerty, his friend and the complainant — to be unreliable, and therefore moved to acquit.
Harassment found
Bosscha also addressed multiple calls Higgerty admitted he made to the woman, as well as to the woman’s boyfriend.
In those calls, made in November 2022, Higgerty was “highly agitated,” Bosscha said.
Another individual was present on the calls. Bosscha said the calls involved threats and racial slurs, while references were also made to a connection with a local gang.
Bosscha found that the content of the calls was intended to harass the two individuals.
Higgerty, who denied the intent to harass, said he was seeking accountability because he believed the two individuals were behind a home invasion of which he had been the victim — an allegation the pair denied.
In 2023, a different man admitted he was one of the intruders involved and told investigators that he was offered $1,000 to break into the home and assault Higgerty.
Ahead of a September sentencing hearing on Higgerty’s harassment conviction, the judge ordered a pre-sentence risk assessment report, which is standard process.