Desmond’s investigating judge was weeks away from completion when the Nova Scotia government pulled the plug on the report

Retired Judge Warren Zimmer says he was a month away from delivering his report from the Lionel Desmond investigation when the county stripped him of the job.

In a letter obtained by SaltWire, Zimmer called the suggestion that he delayed the report “offensive.”

“It shows the minister’s ignorance of the complexity of the process and the need for completeness and accuracy.”

Zimmer sent the letter to lawyers involved in the investigation on Thursday, two days after the Justice Department issued a press release saying Zimmer would be replaced as the judge overseeing the investigation. He sent another, shorter letter directly to Attorney General Brad Johns, who was quoted in the press release, and also shared it with investigative lawyers.

Johns stated that the Desmond family and the public had waited more than five years for answers. A day later, Tim Houston doubled down and said the retired judge had taken too long. Both said Zimmer had already received four extensions totaling 18 months.

The prime minister went further, saying it was not clear when a report from Zimmer would be forthcoming.

Without another extension, his term would expire on June 30.

Zimmer said in his letter to the minister before his term expired that he hoped to finalize the final draft in August. He told the minister that 200 pages had already been proofread. Some edits and additions would follow, along with discussions and recommendations, he said.

“I am well aware of the interest in this report and will continue to give it my full attention,” he wrote.

The press release about Zimmer’s removal said nothing about how close he was to the finish.

Zimmer pointed out that he was working alone, unlike the recent Mass Casualty Commission, which relied on dozens of writers to speed up the production process. In his letter to lawyers involved in the Desmond investigation, the judge pointed out that there were 56 days of hearings that yielded 10,447 pages of transcripts. The research database contains a total of 58,699 documents totaling 128,605 pages, he said.

Then there was the overlap between his research and the MCC, which released its final report in March.

One recommendation from the MCC in particular had to do with replacing the county’s mandatory arrest and indictment policy for intimate partner violence crimes. It was an area Zimmer had wanted to cover in more detail in his report and asked for more information on the status of the department’s longstanding pro-arrest, pro-charge, and pro-prosecution policies. The department had not provided that information, which would have to be entered as evidence in the Desmond investigation before it could be included in its report.

“I expect that will happen once I have a final design and I keep hoping that will be in August,” Zimmer said.

Zimmer wanted to address the issue of “whether Lionel Desmond and family had access to appropriate domestic violence intervention services.”

Desmond, a war veteran with PTSD, shot and killed his mother, wife and young daughter at their Guysborough County home before committing suicide.

Zimmer also suggested that the justice minister misled Nova Scotians about the timeline of the investigation.

It was announced five years ago, much delayed and only after being summoned by the county’s chief investigator.

But the pandemic caused delays and the public hearings did not end until spring 2022.

“The period from the date of last counsel’s comments at the end of April 2022 to June 30, 2023 is approximately 14 months,” he said.

Zimmer said the Attorney General has the power to extend his term or not.

“That is their prerogative, but misinformation and incomplete information do not deserve respect, especially if it comes from a public department,” he said.

“The … amount of pre-investigation material that had to be reviewed in preparation for the report is enormous and cannot be shortened because the minister believes it should be an easy task to complete.”

Zimmer said he chose to make “low-key comments” in his letter to the attorneys because another judge would be appointed and that he didn’t want to “cast a shadow” on their report.

Adam Rodgers is the attorney for Lionel Desmond’s sister, Cassandra Desmond, representing Lionel’s estate. He said Desmond is devastated that a new judge is being brought in so late in the trial.

“It undermines the whole report,” Rodgers said.

“Judge Zimmer had won the trust of everyone involved. He was always involved, talking from the couch off the cuff about what he thought about the evidence.

Rodgers said he and his client were not particularly concerned about the time it would take Zimmer to complete the report.

“I thought it was coming in the next few months,” Rodgers said.

“We knew he would come out with a good report. He wouldn’t throw a punch. It would be substantive. If he needed more time, that would be fine.”

“Judge Zimmer had won the trust of everyone involved.”

— Adam Rodgers, attorney for Cassandra Desmond

Rodgers also accused the minister and prime minister of political interference in a judicial process that should be independent of the government and neither of them has the background to understand why that is a big deal.

Dalhousie University law professor Wayne MacKay agrees.

He said Zimmer’s letter is compelling, particularly in terms of the staff available to the MCC versus his job of writing the report single-handedly.

“It is clear that he should not be replaced.”

MacKay said the move, ostensibly made to speed up the process, will lead to further delays.

“It is extremely unlikely that anyone replacing him will have the report ready by August,” he said.

“It would be a further tragedy for the Desmond family if the quality of the final report and its vital recommendations to prevent such tragic loss of life in the future are compromised by replacing Judge Zimmer at this late stage in the judicial process.”

SaltWire contacted the Justice Department to speak with Secretary Johns, but we were told that the Secretary was not available for an interview.