A judge in Sudbury has dismissed all bribery charges in the Sudbury byelection case involving two Liberal insiders.
Pat Sorbara, the premier's former deputy chief of staff, and Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed were charged with offering a job or appointment to would-be candidate Andrew Olivier to have him step aside so that Wynne's preferred candidate, Glenn Thibeault, could run.
The question had become whether Olivier and Thibeault were candidates at the time and whether the Election Act that protects against bribery should apply.
The Crown has said that someone is a candidate as soon as they announce they're running for office but defence lawyers, who asked the judge to toss the case, argue they were only prospective nominees.
Justice Howard Borenstein says he agrees someone seeking a nomination is not a candidate, and if they were defined as such it would lead to absurd elections.
The judge says he does not think a jury could reasonably convict Lougheed and Sorbara of bribery.