windsor man's kidnapping, sex trafficking conviction tossed out by higher court
calling the conviction a “miscarriage of justice,” the ...
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the ontario court of justice building in downtown windsor.
dan janisse
/
windsor star
calling the conviction a “miscarriage of justice,” the ontario court of appeal has ordered a new trial for a windsor man handed a lengthy prison term in 2021 by a judge who described him as “a violent man with a criminal record full of violent offences.” zuhair gorges was 45 at the time he was found guilty of kidnapping, human trafficking, assault with a weapon and uttering death threats following a trial in windsor’s ontario court of justice.
the trial heard evidence that, after being lured into gorges’s vehicle in may 2018, a woman was zip-tied, blindfolded and forced at knifepoint into a house where a second man waited. over the next 10 hours, she was tortured, including being burned with cigarettes, having a portion of the letter ‘z’ cut into her face — the judge called it a form of “branding” — and having her head submerged under water.
the alleged torture ended only after the single mother of one agreed to work in the sex trade for gorges, the windsor trial heard. once released, she reported her ordeal to the windsor police service and the single father of three was arrested and charged.
“this event has essentially ruined her life,” justice christine malott said at the time, before siding with the crown’s position seeking a 6.5-year prison sentence.
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but in a 33-page decision released nov. 28, three court of appeal justices ruled “this was a miscarriage of justice,” accusing the windsor judge of a “lack of procedural fairness” in ignoring some of the trial evidence.
gorges maintained his innocence throughout the trial. the defence pointed to prior interactions between the accused and the complainant and that they had had discussions “about him potentially helping with her work as an escort,” according to the appeal court overview of the case.
“the trial judge erred in disregarding some of the complainant’s evidence regarding her work in the sex trade,” justice lise favreau wrote in a decision approved by two other court of appeal justices. the woman cannot be identified due to a court order.
while complainants have certain rights in such criminal proceedings, the trial judge “violated the accused’s rights to procedural fairness,” windsor lawyer julie santarossa, who argued gorges’s appeal case, told the star.
what happens next is in the crown’s court, including “wiping the conviction from the record,” according to santarossa, or arranging a new trial or appealing the higher court’s decision.
the windsor-essex crown attorney’s office advised the star in an email thursday that the court of appeal decision is “currently under review … there are no additional details to share at this time.”
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as for gorges, “unfortunately, he’s already served the entirety of his sentence,” said santarossa.
an appeal of the june 2020 convictions was filed right after the 2021 sentencing decision, and the appeal was heard dec. 22, 2023. santarossa said she had sought bail for her client but that application was rejected by the court of appeal.
gorges’s actual imprisonment, however, would not have been 6.5 years as added credit is given for time spent in pre-sentence custody, and federal sentences come with statutory earlier release dates.
at his 2021 sentencing, the court heard gorges already had “a lengthy criminal record” that began in his youth and included past convictions for armed robbery and assaults causing bodily harm.
physical injuries aside, the sentencing judge said the 2018 complainant had since attempted suicide, remained on medication and was left “severely mentally and emotionally traumatized,” and that “she continues to live life in constant fear. it appears the damage may be with her permanently.”
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