Erica Levin trial hears from juror at centre of bribery accusation

The juror who accused a Calgary senior of trying to bribe her testified today at the woman's trial.

Erica Levin was charged with obstruction of justice after a juror at her husband's trial claimed she was offered money in exchange for an aquittal.

While former forensic psychiatrist Aubrey Levin was eventually convicted of sexually assaulting patients in his care in January 2013, the bribery accusation follows an encounter on the C-Train platform near the courthouse.

The Crown alleges the woman caught on camera approaching another woman, who can only be identified as "Juror No. 3," was Erica Levin.

The Calgary courtroom heard today that the 71-year-old often travelled to her husband's sexual assault trial by train.

The juror told the court that Levin approached her on the platform and said, "My husband is not guilty," before the juror responded, "Go away we can't talk."

Then the juror claims Erica Levin tried to hand her an envelope and said, "Here — a thousand dollars, my husband is not guilty."

Following that interaction, the juror wrote a letter to the judge presiding over Aubrey Levin's trial to explain what happened. She was then dismissed from the proceedings, so the jury was down to 11 members.

Defence lawyer Adriano Lovinelli says losing a juror can be "very significant."

"You may have to restart the trial, you may have to recall the evidence [or] it may result in a retrial," he said.

But Aubrey Levin went on to be sentenced to five years in prison, which he started serving in April after losing his appeal.

Erica Levin's trial is expected to wrap up by week's end