Bowie has pleaded not guilty to harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering threats to Leanne Aubin and likewise pleaded not guilty to harassing a witness.
The woman at the centre of the criminal case against embattled Ottawa lawyer James Bowie testified Thursday about the “deal” Bowie allegedly offered her in a legal services for sex proposition.
Leanne Aubin took the witness stand on Wednesday and continued her testimony Thursday under cross-examination from Bowie’s defence counsel, Eric Granger and Hannah Drennan.
Aubin said she took screenshots of a portion of the messages she exchanged with Bowie via the Snapchat app in 2022 that outlined the terms of the alleged deal.
She had approached Bowie for legal representation after she had been charged with assault and his name was recommended to her by a friend.
Aubin testified she couldn’t recall exactly when the messages were exchanged, though she also exchanged messages with Bowie through Facebook from June 1 to Aug. 29, 2022.
She testified Thursday that Bowie mentioned “the deal” about five times during the Snapchat exchange, which likely extended through August and into September 2022, according to estimates from Bowie’s defence team.
Under questioning from Granger, Aubin said Bowie “propositioned” her about a payment plan for his legal services.
If she missed a payment, she could instead offer him oral sex, she testified.
Granger pointed out “there is nothing in the Snapchat (transcript) that lays out that deal.”
Bowie’s defence team also produced pages of Facebook messages between Aubin and Bowie and said there was, likewise, no mention of a sex-for-services deal in those exchanges.
Evening Update
“The deal with Mr. Bowie is that he agreed to allow you to have a payment plan and you could defer payments or delay payments,” Granger suggested to Aubin during cross-examination. “There was never any component of the deal that had to do with oral sex, did it?”
Aubin replied, “Yes, it did.”
She took screenshots of the Snapchat conversations, she testified, because she was worried no one would believe her allegations.
Aubin said she was “disgusted” by the proposal, but continued to exchange messages with Bowie “because I needed his help,” she testified.
Bowie had told Aubin he knew the Crown attorney prosecuting her assault case and would be able to have the charge against her dropped.
She never told Bowie that she eventually reported his alleged misconduct, she said, because she was “afraid of the repercussions.”
“If he could get my charges dropped, he could certainly make them stick,” she testified. “If I was found guilty, I would lose my job, I would lose my house … I would have lost everything in my life.”
Aubin eventually retained Ottawa defence lawyer Michael Spratt, who filed a complaint to the Law Society of Ontario on her behalf.
Spratt was also successful in having Aubin’s assault charge dropped on Sept. 27, 2022.
Aubin said she was initially hesitant about reporting the allegations against Bowie to another Ottawa lawyer because she was afraid the information would be “relayed” to Bowie.
“I was afraid of (Bowie),” Aubin testified. “He had the power to ruin my life.”
She stopped communicating with Bowie in late September 2022 and blocked him from her social-media apps.
Crown prosecutor Kerry Watson questioned Aubin about the 15 screenshots she took of her Snapchat exchanges and said Bowie allegedly offered her cash in exchange for sexual favours.
“I don’t want to do anything I can’t take back,” Aubin wrote to Bowie.
“Look, are you into me? Do you find me attractive?” he wrote back, according to the Crown’s evidence.
“Into you romantically? I’ve never met you,” she replied. “I’d rather pay cash than (oral sex). I don’t want to do anything I regret.”
According to the transcript, Bowie wrote back: “It’s hot for me.”
Aubin replied: “There is nothing about trying to keep my life from falling apart that turns me on.”
Aubin testified she was trying to “fix” her relationship with her boyfriend at the time and didn’t want to “jeopardize” that relationship.
At one point, Bowie sent her his location in Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood.
“Don’t send me money,” he wrote, according to the screenshots. “I’m talking about our deal. I’m propositioning you. And you have a bf (boyfriend), so maybe later.”
Aubin said the alleged proposition made her feel “worthless … like I didn’t matter.”
After retaining a new lawyer and filing a complaint with the Law Society of Ontario, Aubin testified, she was contacted by an Ottawa police detective.
“She told me (Bowie) was trying to purchase a firearm to harm me,” Aubin testified. “I was in disbelief. I just remember feeling like the rest of the world faded away.”
Bowie’s criminal trial was abruptly adjourned in late September and resumed on Jan. 28 with a former friend of Bowie’s testifying that she watched him “descend into madness” in late 2022 and early 2023.
The woman, whose identity is shielded by a publication ban, said Bowie asked for a gun to “take care of” a former client who had accused him of soliciting sex in exchange for legal services.
Bowie has pleaded not guilty to harassment, extortion and two counts of uttering threats to Aubin and likewise pleaded not guilty to harassing the witness.
The allegations against him have not been fully tested in court. His criminal trial is scheduled to resume Monday with Ontario Court Justice Paul Cooper presiding.
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