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An Ontario Court justice says a York University graduate student has strong grounds for appeal after he was convicted of sexual assault by a trial judge who may have had a “predisposed mind.”

Last Wednesday, Justice Michael Quigley granted Mustafa Ururyar bail pending appeal, but prior to his sentencing. Typically bail pending appeal is only granted after a sentencing hearing. On Tuesday, Quigley released the the full reasons for his decision.

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“There are at least two grounds of appeal that appear to me to be strongly arguable if not decisive, involving errors of law that go to trial fairness, both of which manifest a strong likelihood that appellate intervention will result,” Quigley wrote in his decision.

He found that the defence will be able to make a strong case that the trial judge had a reasonable apprehension of bias and erred in relying to heavily on academic literature and secondary sources.