Dawson City, Yukon, man convicted last year of sexual assault files appeal

A Dawson City, Yukon, man found guilty by a jury last year of sexually assaulting his now ex-partner is appealing his conviction.

Leslie Iain Weatherston, in a notice filed to the Yukon Court of Appeal this month, alleges that the judge made a number of errors during his trial and that the sentence he received — 18 months in jail — was "unfit." 

He's asking for his conviction to be tossed and, if a new trial is ordered, for it to be in front of a jury again.

Police charged Weatherston with sexual assault in 2022 after his former partner, Priska Wettstein, reported that he'd had unconsensual sex with her two years prior. The two had been in a relationship at the time of the sexual assault. 

Weatherston had a jury trial in Dawson City last September, where he was ultimately found guilty of the charge.

Wettstein had a publication ban on her name removed during his sentencing hearing last month. 

In his notice of appeal, Weatherston alleges Yukon Supreme Court Justice Karen Wenckebach "erred" four times during his trial, including by not allowing his lawyer to cross-examine Wettstein about her prior sexual activity or adduce further evidence on the same topic. He also argues the judge erred by admitting "presumptively inadmissible evidence of disreputable conduct" and by ruling that there was "no air of reality" to the defence of honest but mistaken belief in communicated consent. 

As well, Weatherson claims his sentence is unfit because Wenckebach "overemphasized" the aggravating factors in his case while failing to appropriately consider mitigating circumstances, and because she denied the conditional sentence requested by the defence. 

An appeal hearing date has not been set yet. 

In the meantime, Weatherston has filed an application requesting that he be released from custody at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre until his appeal is heard. In an affidavit accompanying the application, Weatherston says he would return to his home in Dawson City, where he can run his business making items out of salvaged wood as well as continue to see mental health professionals for post-traumatic stress disorder, which he developed while working for the Klondike Valley Fire Department. 

Two prospective sureties also filed affidavits in support of Weatherston's application, which is tentatively set to be heard next month.