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“I want to emphasize that even if the Supreme Court upholds her acquittal, it’s not a licence to go out and hire a hit man because your husband is abusive,” he said.

“This was an extremely abusive situation (and) the justice system repeatedly failed to protect her. Those are two elements that are critical in this case.”

According to evidence presented in court, Ryan — a five-foot-three, 115-pound woman — endured 17 years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of her six-foot-three, 230-pound husband, a soldier in the Canadian Forces.

He kept her from leaving the house, from socializing with family, held guns to her head at least three times and even shot their pet dog with a rifle.

Michael Ryan did not appear at trial to dispute any of the evidence, leaving it as unchallenged testimony that was ultimately accepted by the court.

The law professor argued the case raises many social questions about access to support services, particularly in rural areas, and the failure of authorities in situations of domestic violence.

He argued many people would surely “have significant sympathy” for what she did given the “prolonged and severe history of abuse and the repeated and disconcerting failure of the police and family justice to protect her.”

Not only are those factors for society to rectify, he suggested, they’re also important to for future cases.

The woman’s lawyer noted threat charges against Ryan were not pursued and that he won “de-facto” custody of the couple’s daughter when Nicole Ryan was ordered to undergo a psychiatric assessment to determine whether she was fit to stand trial.

He “took off” and is thought to be somewhere in Ontario, Pink said.

While the case will be argued before the Supreme Court, it will likely be months before a judgment is rendered.

The top court has the option to uphold the acquittal, order a new trial or enter a conviction and send the case back to the trial court judge for sentencing, though the latter is considered an unlikely option.