Ex-psychiatrist faces new trial on sex charges

Former forensic psychiatrist Dr. Aubrey Levin, who was convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting three male patients under his care, now faces a second lengthy trial next year on three counts that had resulted in a mistrial.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Beth Hughes on Friday set the trial to begin March 3, 2014, on the charges, which the jury was unable to reach a verdict when it also convicted him on three counts and acquitted him on two others. Levin was sentenced to five years in prison.

He has appealed his convictions and was released on bail pending his appeal, likely to be heard in the fall.

A fourth charge, which also ended with a hung jury, was stayed Friday by Crown pros- ecutor Dallas Sopko.

Sopko had wanted to delay setting a date on the three other charges until after Levin’s appeal on the three convictions.

However, Hughes ordered the new trial to be set. She also set aside five weeks for pre-trial applications by the defence, to begin Dec. 2.

“It’s a long and painful wait,” defence lawyer Chris Archer said outside court of the time until the next trial. “We want to get on sooner than that.

“It’s stressful with this hanging over him. He’s 74 years old, so it’s even more of a factor to get going.”

Sopko said he believed it was in the best interest to find out the result of the appeal before setting new dates, to avoid any duplication depending on how the appeal goes.

“It will be a long trial, with a lot of complex issues discussed both in the pre-trial motions and trial.”

As the next trial is also scheduled to be by judge and jury, Sopko said there will have to be a large jury pool from which to choose, to get enough suitable jurors, as there was a great deal of media attention on the first, lengthy trial.

Meanwhile, a judge’s citation for contempt of court against Erica Levin for allegedly attempting to bribe a juror to find her husband Dr. Aubrey Levin not guilty of sexual assault charges will not likely proceed.

Instead, Erica Levin will only face a criminal charge of attempting to obstruct justice regarding the same Jan. 11 incident, during which she allegedly approached a female juror at a CTrain platform near the court during a break and offered her an envelope containing money.