Windsor City Councillor Hilary Payne has 30 days to decide if he will appeal after a Superior Court judge dismissed his lawsuit against the city.
Payne launched the lawsuit in 2010, four years after he was charged with arson by negligence in connection to a fire on Mill St. at a rental property.
The charges were later dropped, but Payne's lawsuit alleged the investigation was negligent, an abuse of power and infringed on his rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It named the City of Windsor, the Windsor Police Service, Windsor Fire and Rescue Services, and the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal.
"One of the arguments at trial is that Mr. Payne was prosecuted under a vague law that violated his Section 7 Charter Rights because of the arbitrary nature of the fire code provisions that fed into the prosecution," says Payne's lawyer Raymond Colautti.
Section 7 guarantees the right to life, liberty and security of person. It is supposed to ensure individuals are treated fairly in legal proceedings.
Colautti says he has to go through Justice Thomas Heeney's decision and speak with Payne before the decision is made whether to appeal. If an appeal is filed, it could be heard by the Court of Appeals within a year.
A tenant of the rental property was charged with arson, a charge that was also dismissed.