In the end, former parliamentarian Paul Cosgrove was not prepared to surrender his fate to a vote by senators and MPs.
The Ontario Superior Court judge resigned yesterday, avoiding the prospect of becoming the first federally appointed judge since Confederation to be removed from office.
"I can honestly tell you that the letter said not much more than he was going to resign and, for him, he was proud to have served," Cosgrove's lawyer, Chris Paliare, said last night.
The move came just two days after the Canadian Judicial Council recommended Cosgrove be stripped of office, saying his handling of a 1999 murder trial amounted to misconduct that was utterly destructive of public confidence in the justice system.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced late yesterday Cosgrove was stepping down, effective immediately.
"In view of the fact that Justice Cosgrove has resigned, there is no further action to be taken," he said.
A former Scarborough mayor and Liberal cabinet minister in Pierre Trudeau's government in the early 1980s, Cosgrove, who turns 75 in December, spent 40 years in public service, the last 25 as a judge based in Brockville.
For nearly half that time, he was caught up in the Julia Elliott murder case and its ramifications.
A former Barbados masseuse, Elliott was charged with killing Larry Foster, 64, a Kemptville-area mechanic whose body parts washed up in the Rideau River in August 1995.
After about two years of pre-trial arguments, Cosgrove freed Elliott in 1999, finding police and Crown attorneys committed more than 150 violations of her Charter rights.
Four years later, the Ontario Court of Appeal said most of his conclusions were baseless, including a finding the province's deputy attorney general directed prosecutors to provide false information to the court.
A few months later, then-attorney general Michael Bryant filed a misconduct complaint with the council.
Although Cosgrove could have retired with a full pension 10 years ago, he fought the complaint, starting with a constitutional challenge.
Cosgrove kept working as a judge, with restrictions, for part of that time.
Paliare said Cosgrove, who plans to "just enjoy" life and spend time with his grandchildren, has received many calls of support in recent days from other judges.
Elliott, meanwhile, who was tracked down in Costa Rica, is serving time in a Kitchener prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in Foster's death.