CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Sean Kelly wiped his eyes and was congratulated by his supporters after he was acquitted of attempting to make indecent phone calls in provincial court in Corner Brook Thursday afternoon.
And with that, the former Corner Brook Royal Newfoundland Constabulary officer walked out of the courtroom without saying a word.
Outside the court his lawyer, Robby Ash, spoke with reporters on his behalf and said the verdict did not come as a surprise.
“We thought that the evidence led by the Crown was extremely thin. It was a very thin circumstantial case. So, we presented our defence accordingly and we got the result we were hoping for.”
Kelly had been accused of making indecent calls to a woman on three occasions in the fall of 2012.
However, when the Crown made its submissions in the case in December, it advised the court it sought a conviction only in relation to an attempt to commit the offence and described its own case as thin. It also asked the court to disregard the complainant’s evidence on one of the calls.
Judge Kymil Howe said the phone records entered into evidence during the trial from a cellphone issued to Kelly by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police showed calls were made to the woman’s home phone number.
Kelly was part of a joint RCMP-RNC force at the time.
The calls in question were less than 30 seconds long and the woman, who was an acquaintance of Kelly’s, told police she did not recognize his voice.
The defence suggested that Kelly may have been trying to contact a third person connected to both him and the complainant.
Howe said what was noticeably absent in the case were records of the calls received by the woman.
“Therefore, the court has absolutely no way of knowing if another telephone made calls to the complainant’s number at or near the times she believes she received the indecent calls," Howe said in rendering her verdict. "Nor do we know if there are calls more in line with the duration of the indecent calls as the complainant recalls them.”
Howe said she could not conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the two calls made on Oct. 15, 2012, cited in the charge, were in fact the calls made by the accused.
“When a reasonable doubt is raised the accused must be acquitted. The charge is dismissed,” she said.
This is the second time Kelly has faced charges of this nature.
His first trial on making obscene calls to a woman at her place of work, also in October 2012, resulted in a conviction in February 2015.
He was sentenced to 10 months in jail but an appeal of his conviction and sentence was rejected by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in September 2017.
He further appealed that decision to the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal. In April 2019, that court decided to uphold the earlier appeal decision and his original convictions and Kelly did spend some time in jail.
A publication ban is in place to protect the identities of the complainants and some witnesses in both cases.
Ash said Kelly was relieved with the outcome this time around and still believes he was wrongfully convicted in relation to the previous matter.
Ash said it remains to be seen if Kelly would pursue the idea of a wrongful conviction any further.
Ash said his client will now go back to a normal life, put the matters behind him and try to move forward with his family.
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