Criminal Defence Law Blog
This is about how we treat the severely mentally ill, the most vulnerable and helpless members of our society and whether we chose to imprison them and place them in solitary confinement to control them or provide them with the health care they need. The fact that the Province will not tell us the truth must mean they don’t want to be held accountable.
Ontario review of psychiatric wait times in jail kept secret | Toronto Star.
I previously posted about this case where Mr. Pal-Deng was held in custody for 7 months on a maximum 6 month charge for an assault for which there was video evidence that he didn’t commit but for which the Crown proceeded anyway. Here’s the video exonerating him.
Judge raps Crown for ignoring video evidence, as man vindicated in assault case | Toronto Star.
If you’ve been charged with shoplifting and have received a letter from a lawyer acting on behalf of the store demanding payment of approximately $500 together with a threat of being sued, scroll down in this article to the portion entitled “Demand Letters from Retailers” and read this lawyer’s opinion that “demand letters sent by lawyers on behalf of retailers seeking recovery of losses associated with shoplifting either may not rest on a legitimate cause of action, or may claim losses that courts do not recognize.”
Things to NOT do when stopped by the police … or in the alternative make sure you’ve got one of my business cards.
CRIMINALIZING PREGNANT DRUG USE IS PROBLEMATIC – Particularly when we legally define a foetus as not being a human being until after emerging alive from the womb. Test the baby and if found positive for drugs, seize and remove the baby, charge and imprison the mother. I’m having difficulty in seeing the positive aspects of this policy.
EYEWITNESS EVIDENCE – can be dangerously inaccurate and easily lead to miscarriages of justice. “Fleeting observations that generate misidentification are a notorious cause of wrongful convictions.” Justice Melvyn Green
I have always believed that the way to success is to work hard, develop skills, be honest, put my client’s interests above my own and have integrity. I have kept to that philosophy even when it has cost me and my family personally. But then you run across someone with a totally different self-serving at the cost of every one else, under the table philosophy of someone like this guy and it makes me feel like a fool…a complete idiot. I could play that game and I could play it well, but I chose not to, because it’s not right.
If you’ve ever wondered why a lawyer will always advise you not to give a statement to the police – if you’ve ever wondered why some people make false confessions – if you’ve ever wondered why I’m against the Reid interrogation technique – watch this 20 min. video. Some police are very skilled at inducing false confessions – which lead to wrongful convictions.
Beloit College: The Lunchbox Series with Larry White – YouTube.
I wonder why the Judges are not limited to the assistance of duty counsel or the $100/hour legal aid rate paid to lawyers and subject to the financial income eligibility criterion of about $12,000/annum, if their defence is publicly funded? That’s all any other accused person is afforded.
Public pays millions for legal fees of federal judges under investigation | Toronto Star.