THE CONTEMPTIBLE SHAME OF OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Money can buy you an acquittal and it is used by the Crown to convict. The party without it is at a huge disadvantage even if the Crown have a weak case. Just look at the numbers of citizens both in the U.S. and Canada who are exonerated after being convicted of serious crimes and sentenced to decades in jail. Two groups of lawyers come to mind namely Innocence Canada and the Association for the Wrongfully Convicted. Both groups have freed many wrongfully convicted citizens and have long waiting lists for their services.

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record carried the following story titled " Murder case highlights how money can be a key to defence". It is about the Dennis Oland murder case in New Brunswick and is the poster child for monied defendants receiving much different outcomes from our judicial system. Nicole O'Byrne, a law professor at the University of New Brunswick said that Mr. Oland "had the resources to pay a defence team to follow up on every aspect of the case by hiring experts and by taking portions of the case to the Supreme Court of Canada for determination." She further added that "...not all citizens have equal access to resources that may be needed to mount a successful defence".

Kirk Makin, co-president of Innocence Canada stated that "...many of the people wrongfully convicted of crimes and later exonerated are poor people who can't afford the best defence." He added "Dennis Oland is a very fortunate man. The difference is profound between someone who has the means to get the best defence and pursue every avenue of appeal vigorously. The vast majority of people don't."

Mr. Makin also stated that people with top lawyers are treated differently by the courts (i.e. by judges). "When a top lawyer such as an Eddie Greenspan walks into court they are taken very seriously. There's a deference that's shown to them because of their reputation and skill". I interpret that as meaning that their words are given more weight by judges and juries.

Poor people are usually convicted. Rich people often aren't. Whatever happened to guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Whatever happened to being judged upon the evidence presented? I've been there and an asshole judge with a bias or a personal animosity or who is simply incompetent can make a mockery of our entire judicial system. And the judicial system let them get away with it forever. Shame on the pack of them and the political apparatus that doesn't care.