The ReeveLaw Blog

False guilty plea to murder.  Why does this happen?  An investigator and others “coerced Simon into making a video taped confession, threatened him with the death penalty, pretended to have a witness to him committing the crime and promised him lucrative book deals.”  The result of a draconian unyielding system.  And the murderer goes free.  This is the sort of system we do NOT want here, Mr. Harper.

via Illinois releases prisoner, bringing wrongful conviction full circle – Yahoo News.

False guilty pleas in drug cases.  Hundreds of them in Texas in the last 10 years.  How could and why would so many innocent people plead guilty?  The war on drugs, draconian jail sentences and aggressive prosecutors. Get threatened with a life destroying jail sentence if you plead not guilty or offered a shorter one on a plea of guilty.  There’s a lesson in this American experience as we arm our prosecutors with mandatory minimum sentences, tough on crime laws and remove the power of Judges from the equation.

Lab Reports Show Hundreds “Convicted in Error” for Drug Offenses | Houston Press.

Yes, it is biased, but it’s a pretty good succinct review of how our laws on rape and sexual assault have changed, or not, in the past 30 years.

Sexual assault law in Canada: What women need to know | rabble.ca.

To clarify, the mandatory sentence in Canada for first degree murder is life in prison without eligibility for parole for 25 years.  This is not a 25 year sentence.  The sentence means AT LEAST 25 years in prison after which a convict can apply for parole but will not necessarily be paroled.  Even if parole is granted the convict is subject to supervision and restrictions until his/her dying day.  Since 2011 certain multiple life sentences must be served consecutively. Therefore in the case of 3 1st degree murder convictions, although there is only 1 lifetime there are 3 parole ineligibility periods of 25 years.  25 X 3 = 75.  Hence, Bourque will serve a life sentence and cannot apply for parole until he has served 75 years in prison.

Justin Bourque gets 75 years without parole for killing three Mounties | Toronto Star.

This is interesting.  A snopes confirmed true story of a smart woman and a smart 911 operator … and a bit of insight into the sensitivity and professionalism of the type of person you’ll be talking to when you call 911.

A Woman Called 911 And Pretended To Order A Pizza To Alert Them Of Domestic Abuse.

Jian Ghomeshi Lawsuit: BDSM With Consent Is ‘Murky’ In Canadian Law, Experts Say.

CanLII – 2014 BCCA 34 (CanLII).

Within days of the Ottawa attack Harper talks of ramping up hate laws and giving the state new powers that “would include ‘preventive arrests,’ potentially taking the country down the slippery slope of guilty-until-proven innocent authoritarian policies”. This is “terrorism used as a catalyst to break down civil liberties and accumulate more state power.”  This is how dictatorships form and Harper is wasting no time in seizing the opportunity(?).  This is the wrong way of dealing with the threat. Minority Report is here.  It makes one question who the real terrorist is.

via Suspicious Canada Shooting Triggers ‘Minority Report’ Pre-Crime Plans for ‘Preventive Arrests’ | Global Research.

I think it’s safe to say that most of us don’t know a lot about Canadian gun laws so here’s a brief primer of which guns are legal and which ones aren’t, licensing and registration.

Here’s how gun control works in Canada – Vox.

Why Are Lawyers So Expensive? I’ll Tell You Why — Lawyerist.