**Charges Against Peter Nygard Stayed by Winnipeg Judge** WINNIPEG — A judge in Winnipeg has stayed charges against former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, citing a breach of his right to a fair trial due to lost evidence. The decision was made in a courtroom on Wednesday, where Nygard was facing charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement related to an incident in 1993. The alleged victim, who was 20 at the time, claimed Nygard assaulted and confined her at his former corporate headquarters in Winnipeg. During the proceedings, Nygard's lawyer, Gerri Wiebe, argued that the Winnipeg police's mishandling of evidence significantly hindered Nygard's ability to defend himself. The court heard that police conducted a wellness check on the woman the day of the alleged assault after her family reported they could not reach her. Following the incident, she was interviewed by the RCMP after returning to Vancouver days later. However, records from both meetings were later destroyed, which Wiebe claimed severely impacted Nygard's defense. This is not the first time Nygard has sought to have the charges stayed. Previously, Wiebe argued that former Manitoba Attorney General Kelvin Goertzen had no grounds to seek a second opinion from the Saskatchewan Public Prosecutions Service in November 2022, more than a year after the Manitoba Crown attorney's office decided not to pursue charges against Nygard. Judge Mary Kate Harvie ruled that Goertzen's actions constituted an abuse of process, but she did not find staying the charges to be an appropriate remedy. Nygard is currently serving an 11-year sentence at Bath Institution in Ontario after being convicted in September 2024 of sexually assaulting four women at his Toronto corporate headquarters from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s. He also faces charges in Quebec and is subject to extradition to the United States, where he has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering.