Thursday, March 15, 2012

Bulletin: Canada; Jury Vetting cases: Supreme Court told secret practice jeopardizes justice system; National Post;

STORY:"Jury vetting jeopardized justice system," court hears," by reporter Robert Hiltz, published in the National Post on March 15, 2012.

GIST: "The Supreme Court of Canada is hearing a case, with potential major ramifications nationwide, that could lead to four first-degree murder convictions being overturned. Lawyers representing appeals in five cases - the four murders and a fraud conviction - told the court the practice excludes a class of people from serving on a jury in a way akin to selecting jury members based on race or gender. Their arguments centred around the premise that by using police investigators to weed out jurors who might not be favourable to their case and neglecting to tell the defence, Crown attorneys jeopardized the actual and the public's perception of balance in the criminal justice system..........Michal Fairburn, representing the Ontario Crown, argued that while the language used in the memo was "uncomfortable" and "improper," the practice was limited to Barrie and since it became public, the province has changed the Juries Act to prevent jury vetting."

THE ENTIRE STORY CAN BE FOUND AT:

http://www.nationalpost.com/Jury+vetting+jeopardized+justice+system+court+hears/6304073/story.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring the jury vetting cases. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.