Criminal Defence
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the role Law Societies play in regulating the opinions expressed by lawyers. Lawyers are required to be “respectful” of tribunals and courts, yet they’re also required to be critical of injustice when they see it. How does one reconcile these sometimes-conflicting duties, and who decides what behaviour is …
Continue reading “Policing Thoughtcrime: The Role of Law Societies?”
“And with the greatest respect, my lord, I submit that the jury listening to your charge could not help but get the impression that you consider a verdict of guilty was warranted on the evidence,” Steven’s lawyer said. It was as close to calling a judge biased as a lawyer could go. The judge’s five-word …
Continue reading “The Trial of Steven Truscott – How Little has Changed since 1959”
I recently watched OsgoodePD’s 2021 Symposium on Sexual Assault available here – not inexpensive, but quite worthwhile. I enjoyed most of it. My favourite part was by far the “debate” between Professor Melanie Randall (“Randall”) and Alan Gold. Randall is a law professor out of Western, and Gold is a legendary criminal defence lawyer (and …
Continue reading ““What Worries Me (Most) About Sexual Assault Prosecutions””
We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. ― Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.] I’ve been watching excellent seminars from Professor Sankoff recently. As always, incredible quality and …
Continue reading “The Presumption of Guilt in Sexual Offence Trials in Canada”
Given the recent awareness of wrongful convictions (triggered by the recent discovery of who the likely perpetrator was in the wrongful conviction case of Guy Morin), I thought I’d have a look at articles about sexual assault. I’ve recently been able to access criminal law articles through WestLaw. I’m excited to read many articles I’ve …
I thought I’d address some common problems in litigation of sexual offence charges. The most common problems, I’d suggest, are prior consistent statements, bad character evidence, and a presumption of truthfulness (explicitly stated or otherwise) being ascribed to the complainant. I’ll discuss these – along with concerns about s. 276 and conviction rates – below. …
However, this great, impersonal awesome machinery has one built-in bias. It is an unconscious, functional bias, somewhat like an aircraft’s bias for leaving the ground as soon as it has attained a certain speed. The bias of the justice system is to find guilt. That is, first, to define any human act that comes to …
In R v ADG, 2015 ABCA 149 (CanLII), a sex assault acquittal was overturned (surprisingly, the ABCA didn’t “fossick guilt from a fact-driven acquittal”, to borrow the glorious prose of McClung J.A. in R. v. Ewanchuk, 1998 ABCA 52 (CanLII) at para. 9). This was due to a reliance on rape myths by the lower court …
Continue reading “More Recent Wrongful Sexual Assault Convictions”
Disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are my own. Specific attacks against other academics are also entirely my own. I’ve greatly enjoyed Professor Sankoff’s seminars recently – both his free Youtube videos and his affordable (approx. $25 per seminar) online seminars. I watched his s. 276 webinar the other day (part 1 only), and my mind …
Continue reading “Progressive, eh? A review of Professor Sankoff’s s. 276 seminar”
I have been made aware of numerous complaints about Calgary Remand Centre staff and administration over the last week. None of it surprises me. The Centre is quite easily one of the worst remand centres in Canada in terms of how it treats its inmates, although it’s received little media attention compared to detention centres …
Continue reading “Recent Complaints Regarding Treatment of Inmates at Calgary Remand Centre”
Moldofsky Law 