MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES AND LEROY SMICKLE

Poor Leroy. Bad enough not being born smart but he also wasn't born into either wealth or fame and they both make a difference in Canada. Leroy is facing a three year prison sentence despite a Judge with common sense and decency deciding that a mandatory minimum three year sentence for a "gun crime" was cruel, unusual and just plain ridiculous. Mind you the prosecuter in the case has no problem using twisted and tortured logic to put Leroy behind bars for three years. The Waterloo Region Record carried this story on February 20/12 "Gun-crime penalties undergo major test". The prosecuter is suggesting that it was both Leroy's fault and good luck that the gun involved didn't go off when he dropped it inside his cousin's apartment in Toronto. Of course he dropped it when the police burst threw the closed apartment door in the middle of the night yelling "police". If he hadn't dropped it they probably would have shot him dead there and then.

Now what exactly anti-social, criminal offense was Leroy up to when the police broke in? Are you ready? "He was caught alone in his boxers in his cousin's apartment posing with a loaded handgun while taking pictures of himself to post on facebook.". Remember the first sentence when I suggested that leroy wasn't born smart? I'm also guessing that Leroy had no clue whether the gun was loaded or not. Whatever happened to requiring criminal intent? Leroy's intent was to look tough. Whatever happened to a criminal case requiring a victim? Who's the alleged victim here? Leroy was alone taking photos of himself with a gun he'd found in the apartment. The Judge was right, there should be no minimum three year mandatory sentence here. The law is bad. Fix it!