Perspective: Vancouver Court Free Bomb Convicts

It was a unanimous decision by justices in the Appealiate Court who set the couple free.  They are John Nuttall- Amanda Korondy both Canadians.

Personally, this ruling makes me feel vindicated as it has been my perspective that on the grounds of entrapment Buju Banton should have not have been convicted for his drug related charges in the United States Of America.  Such was a travesty of justice … Vision Newspaper post.

A BC couple has been freed by an Appeals’ Court on the grounds that the couple convicted of a bomb plot had been the victim of a bosthed RCMP investigation. They likely bullied and apllied undue pressure and used unethical methods to secure conviction.  Justice is supposed to be sacratant.  The prosecution has to be fair as both the Crown and the accused deserve a fair shake.  Even an accused deserves full protection … yes, simply put … an untainted dose of justice too.

In their written ruling the justices cited the following findings of fact.  “The (RCMP) police went “Far beyond investigating a crime”. They chose a path and pushed to implement their plan”. In short they (police) acted with complicity to convict the couple.  The seriousness of the allegations should not be an excuse to act improperly.  The justices seem to be ascerting.

Photo: Paula Llewellyn, DPP

Ms. Paula Llewellyn, Director of Public Prosecutions in Jamaica has stressed this fact on a number of occasions publicly.  This is a threshold that too many unprofessional police officers like to ignore or pretend not to know until they find themselves on the wrong side of the law.  This has been more often than not lately.

Too many law enforcement agencies anxious to prove to the public that they are doing a super job by putting away alleged dangerous suspects, have developed a form of tunnel vision.  They are even prematurely labeling suspects as ‘convicts’ instead of as ‘suspects’ without doing the necessary investigative work.  This is scandalous to say the least.  It makes a mockery of our justice system, rendering it to be impotent.  The public loses confidence and in some cases can lead to vigilante justice as people have diminishing confidence in the administration of justice. Those prone to vigilante justice use the failed system as an excuse to take things in their own hands.  This cavalier approach to an investigation undermines trust in the system as not being balanced and fair.

Each suspect should be presumed to be innocent unless proven otherwise or has pleaded guilty to an offence.  This is the sacred tenet on which the foundation of our legal system is built.  The law enforcement agencies should not be encouraged to trample on this most sacred tenet.  It can even be counterproductive as it could allow the real perpetrator to be overlooked as a suspect of a crime and is excluded in say an investigation.  This at times is plain laziness which has the effect of victimizing an innocent person.

It could lead the innocent to have to spend scarce and unnecessary cash to clear their name.  Also this could stain the record of an innocent person and cause them to lose employment due to incarceration.  The state may provide legal defence depending on the jurisdiction and the offence if so covered for state funds.  Such funds could be spent elsewhere in the case of a tight budget.  Prosecution could be led down a wrong alley and incur unnecessary expenses.

A wrongly accused may seek redress for unlawful detention. This may have to be settled by the state out of court with the victim getting huge sums of cash as compensation. Victims in many cases are so relieved that the nightmare is over and they refuse to pursue their rights … just cannot bother to fight. Some victims are downright ignorant of these remedies. They believe they cannot fight and beat the system. In short they are wont to feel powerless.

Photo RCMP Commissioner

It is importamt that we respect and cherish these sacred tenets of our laws in our democracy.  The undersigned has served as foreman on jury trial in Jamaica.