Gillian Guess
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Gillian Guess (born 1955) is a Vancouver woman who was convicted in 1998 of obstruction of justice after becoming romantically involved with a murder defendant while she was a juror in his 1995 trial.
Her case became significant because it set legal precedents in four areas of Canadian Law: it was the first case where a juror had sexual relations with a murder defendant during his trial; the only case where a juror has faced criminal sanction for the decision they have made; the only case in Canadian law where jury room discussions were made part of the public record.
According to the Vancouver Police Department, Peter Gill (also known as Preet Sarbjit Gill) and his brother-in-law ran a gang involved in the drug trade in Vancouver. Police believed that in February 1994, the gang lured Jimsher Dosanjh (aged 26) to an alley, where they murdered him with machine guns. Two months later, the gang allegedly also murdered Dosanjh's brother Ranjit.[1]
Relationship between Guess and Gill
In the case of R. v. Gill, Peter Gill was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Five of his associates, Bhupinder (Bindy) Johal, Rajinder Kumar Benji, Michael Kent Budai, Ho Sik (Phil) Kim, and Sun News Lal were tried with him on the murder charges. The trial began on February 27, 1995, and lasted eight months. It was one of the longest, most expensive, and most complicated trials in British Columbia history.[2] Gillian Guess was selected to serve as a juror for the murder trial. During the trial, Guess and Gill started a relationship that became sexual.
Guess was quickly attracted to Gill, a man eight years her junior. According to court clerk Emma Hyde, Guess would stare at Gill and "She would flip her hair and look seductive".[1] Later Gill approached Guess at McDonald's and told her he was innocent of the charges.[2] Sometime later, the two started to flirt outside the courtroom. Gill pursued the relationship, and Gill and Guess had an intimate conversation and kissed in Stanley Park. The relationship became sexual.[3]
Court officers informed the judge of the inappropriate behaviour, and the Honourable Judge Braidwood warned Gill about his behaviour, but he never spoke to Guess.[2] The relationship continued, and when Guess asked Gill if she should find a way to get off the jury, he told her to stay.[2] He also told her to convict two of his co-defendants, but not him.[2]
In May 2001, Peter Gill and his associates Budai and Kim were ordered to be retried by the British Columbia Court of Appeal on the first degree murder charges.[2] However, the Crown never retried them. Instead, Peter Gill was convicted for obstruction of justice. He received a sentence of six years in prison.[2]