Governor General Designate Julie Payette was charged with second-degree assault while living in Maryland in 2011 — a charge she calls ‘unfounded’ and which she has since had expunged — and about which the Prime Minister’s Office is refusing to confirm it had prior knowledge.

“We’ve got no comment on this,” Kate Purchase, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s director of communications, said in an email. She would not confirm whether Trudeau had been aware of the almost six-year-old criminal charge relating to an alleged assault — a charge that was ultimately dropped — before he announced that Payette would replace David Johnston as Canada’s new governor-general.

Late yesterday, Payette acknowledged the arrest and charges, but strongly stated her innocence.

“‎For family and personal reasons, I will not comment on these unfounded charges, of which I was immediately and completely cleared many years ago, and I hope that people will respect my private life,” she said in a statement provided to iPolitics.

In a routine background check, iPolitics found the record of the assault charge. The record shows Payette was arrested and charged under Section 3-203 of the Maryland Code with second-degree assault, which can carry a jail term of up to 10 years and fines up to $2,500. The charge was dropped two weeks later.

The alleged offence for which she was charged took place on November 24, 2011 in Piney Point, Maryland, where Payette was living with her then-husband, retired RCAF pilot William “Billie” Flynn. According to a source, Flynn was the victim of the alleged assault, but that has not been confirmed. Efforts to reach Flynn for comment over the weekend went unanswered.

Flynn spent 23 years with the Royal Canadian Air Force before becoming a test pilot for Lockheed-Martin in 2003 and an outspoken advocate of the F-35 fighter jet.

Payette and Flynn split shortly after the November 2011 incident and Maryland’s St. Mary’s County Circuit Court records show two family court cases filed on May 22, 2013 and June 26, 2013 — both of which are now closed.

The records include court documents related to “Custody or Visitation Issues” (Payette is the mother of a 14-year-old son) and a “Motion for Earnings Withholding Order for Child Support” that was filed on Payette’s behalf on March 10, 2017.

Payette requested to withdraw that motion on June 13. It was only dismissed without prejudice on June 28, 2017, just a little more than two weeks before she was officially announced as Johnston’s successor.

A second-degree assault charge is most commonly applied when someone is accused of having caused “physical injury” to another person. It can also be applied when the accused made someone “fearful of harm.”

The background search record shows that on December 8, 2011 the assault case was entered nolle prosequi, meaning the prosecutor opted to not proceed with the charges. This most commonly occurs in domestic disputes because the victim refuses to press charges, witnesses recant, or the district attorney sees little chance of conviction. There’s no explanation in the background records obtained by iPolitics of what transpired or why the charge was dropped.

Under Maryland law, an individual can file a petition for expungement based on a nolle prosequi after three years — or within three years if the individual files a “General Waiver and Release of all legal claims”.

If an expungement is granted, the public is no longer able to view the record. The Maryland Judiciary Case Search doesn’t reveal one.

According to a Maryland Judiciary background document on removing criminal records from public access, however, even after a record has been expunged, it may continue to be visible to individuals performing background checks.

“Some companies and agencies download case information and retain it for a long period of time. If they have access to older data, they may find the information which has since been expunged,” the document says. “If you are asked about expunged information, you may need to provide a copy of the court order to prove the record has been expunged.”

Based on the background record obtained by iPolitics, Michael H. Gardiner, a lieutenant in St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office said, “it appears the case may have been expunged.”

A 53-year-old Montrealer who worked as an astronaut from 1992 to 2013 and flew two missions in space, Payette brings an impressive CV to Rideau Hall that includes 27 honorary doctorates in addition to her bachelor of electrical engineering from McGill University and master’s in computer engineering from the University of Toronto.

Last Thursday, Trudeau called her a role model.

“Ms. Payette’s life has been one dedicated to discovery, to dreaming big and to always staying focused on the things that matter most. These truly Canadian traits, along with her years of public service, make her unquestionably qualified for this high office.”

She’s expected to assume the position, which comes with a $290,660 annual salary, in the fall.

From 2011 to 2013, according to her biographical notes on the prime minister’s website, she worked as a scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., and was appointed scientific authority for Quebec in the United States.

She is a Knight of the Ordre national du Québec and an Officer of the Order of Canada and serves on a variety of boards.

“Many of you probably remember watching Ms. Payette and seven other prominent Canadians as they carried the Olympic flag during the opening ceremonies in Vancouver in 2010,” Trudeau said last week when he introduced her.