Former court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. Aubrey Levin leaves court in Calgary, Oct. 15, 2012.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
A Calgary woman accused of tampering with a juror during the sexual assault trial of her psychiatrist husband has been charged with obstruction of justice.
Erica Levin, 69, was taken into custody on Thursday and is to appear in provincial court Feb. 14.
She had previously been charged with contempt of court.
Police say they were contacted by Alberta Justice last month after a juror in the trial of Aubrey Levin alleged a relative of the accused approached her and offered cash in return for a not-guilty verdict.
The juror was released and police began an investigation.
"In my experience going back over the last 15 years, I don't remember a particular case involving tampering with a jury," Calgary Police Staff Sgt. Bruce Walker said at a news conference.
The 74-year-old psychiatrist was convicted of sexually assaulting three of his court-appointed patients and sentenced to five years in prison. He was found not guilty on another two counts, and the jury couldn't reach a verdict on charges involving four other men.
As the trial entered its latter phases, the juror informed the court a woman approached her on a transit platform and offered a white envelope containing cash. After the juror was dismissed, Ms. Levin was arrested and the trial continued.
Ms. Levin's bail hearing heard that the attempted transaction was captured on transit video. Court was told between $1,000 and $10,000 was believed to have been offered. There was no publication ban on details of the hearing.
Ms. Levin's lawyer, Allan Fay, told reporters outside court on Jan. 25 that he was arranging to have his client examined by a psychiatric expert.
"I know there's an allegation there was an envelope, but whether there was cash remains to be seen," he said at the time.