DR. CHARLES SMITH MAKES TOP OF THE LEGAL CHARTS FOR 2008: ALAN SHANOFF'S TOP LEGAL STORIES OF THE YEAR; TORONTO SUN;

"LOSING A LOVED ONE IS ONE OF LIFE'S TRAGEDIES BUT IT IS COMPOUNDED TO AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE DEGREE WHEN YOU ARE WRONGLY ACCUSED OF KILLING THAT LOVED ONE."

ALAN SHANOFF; TORONTO SUN;

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Charles Smith featured in columnest Alan Shanoff's second half of his year-end review of the "top legal stories/developments in 2008 published in the Toronto Sun on December 28, 2008;

Here is Shanoff's list;

1. We started the year with a stunning decision in January staying criminal corruption charges against six members of the Central Field Command drug squad of the Toronto Police Service. The decision was based on violation of the accuseds' right to have a trial within a reasonable period of time. Even though the charges were laid some six years after many of the events, the Crown was unable to get the case ready for trial in under four years from the laying of the charges.

So, by the end of the year things should have improved, you'd think. Sorry. Ontario Auditor-General Jim McCarter's report in December noted the number of Ontario charges pending is 275,000 which is 17% higher than the figure five years earlier. With these numbers we're going to be seeing even more charges withdrawn for delay. Perhaps there is some improvement coming with the adoption of recommendations submitted by former judge Patrick LeSage and Professor Michael Code.

2. Can you imagine people dumb enough to make a charitable donation and then filing a claim for many times more than the actual donation? Apparently tens of thousands of Canadians are that dumb. The Canada Revenue Agency has been busy denying tax donations connected to dubious charities that dish out charitable receipts for a multiple of the actual "donation." There are said to be dozens of "charities" operating in Canada that issue these tax receipts and now many Canadian taxpayers are facing tax penalties and larger-than-expected tax bills. I applaud the CRA for cracking down on these schemes. I also applaud the CRA for going after businesses that don't pay their fair share of taxes. The CRA has been trying to get their hands on records kept by eBay Canada on servers outside Canada. The CRA wants access so they can go after eBay's top online vendors. In November the Federal Court of Appeal sided with the CRA and ordered eBay to make the records available to the CRA. This decision has received criticism by many who believe that individuals who buy and resell items on eBay shouldn't have to pay tax on their earnings. Surely these small eBay businesses shouldn't be treated any differently from any other business. A business operated out of a garage is still a business and must pay income taxes.

PEDIATRIC PATHOLOGY

3. The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario led by Justice Stephen Goudge concluded. This is the inquiry into the incompetence of pathologist Dr. Charles Smith and how he destroyed the lives of innocent people by making "false and misleading statements" in court. One hopes that the reforms arising from the Goudge Report will eliminate wrongful conviction arising out of erroneous coroner's reports. Losing a loved one is one of life's tragedies but it is compounded to an incomprehensible degree when you are wrongly accused of killing that loved one.

4. In case you've forgotten about our very own alleged home-grown terrorists charged in Toronto, the so-called Toronto 18, here's an update. A 20-year-old (17 at the time of the offence, so he can't be named) has now been convicted of belonging to a terrorist group. The others in this group await their trials. In the meantime in Ottawa Justice Douglas Rutherford found Canadian-born Mohammad Momin Khawaja, 29, guilty on charges of financing and facilitating terrorism as well as two offences involving building a remote-control device to trigger bombs.

CHARTER OF RIGHTS

5. We can't leave a legal list without mentioning the 26-year-old Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The big debate right now surrounds how to deal with obviously guilty people and reliable evidence obtained through Charter violations. In the recently argued Bradley Harrison case police found 35 kg of cocaine in a car. The officer's suspicions were apparently aroused because the car was being operated at the posted speed limit. Even I don't think that's probable cause. But do we acquit and ignore the evidence?

The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the conviction but the Supreme Court of Canada has reserved its decision. If a cop makes a mistake do we let the criminals go free? Stay tuned.