Halifax lawyer to stand trial in sexual assault case

Halifax lawyer Lyle Howe will stand trial on charges related to the alleged drugging and sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman.

A Halifax lawyer will stand trial on charges related to the alleged drugging and sexual assault of a 20-year-old woman.

Today a judge decided there is enough evidence to send 27-year-old Lyle Howe and his co-accused, 29-year-old Jeffrey Brown, to trial.

“The judge is committed on two offences,” says Crown attorney Andre Arsenault. “One was sexual assault and the other was administering a noxious substance, but it was a different section number for administering the substance instead of causing bodily harm, it was to carry out an indictable offence.”

The charges stem from an alleged sexual assault that took place on March 21, 2011. Police say the victim met with two male acquaintances and she suspected she had been sexually assaulted when she awoke the next morning.

Neither Howe nor Brown commented on today’s court appearance.

They have each elected to be tried by a judge and jury and are due to appear in Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Sept. 6 to set trial dates.

Howe is best known for representing Dartmouth North MLA Trevor Zinck in Nova Scotia’s spending scandal.