Doug Ford will not face Private Prosecution for COVID Mandates

On January 21, 2022, Ontario Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland kiboshed the notion that politicians may be privately prosecuted for vaccine mandates under Section 504 of the Criminal Code. 

Did Constable Kristopher Karl Planetta Benefit From Police Sentencing Double-Standards?

Nobody – not the Crown Prosecutor, not the Defence Attorney and not the Judge –  wanted Cape Breton Regional Police Constable Kristopher Karl Planetta to have a criminal record, despite the two findings of guilt for assaulting his ex-wife.

Civil Forfeiture: Court of Appeal Calls Govt of Ontario Position “Absurd”

In Ontario (AG) v Norwood Estate, Ontario argued for a vast expansion of the scope of Ontario’s civil asset forfeiture scheme.  In smacking down the province’s Attorney General, Justice David M. Paciocco didn’t mince his words.

“Ontario’s interpretation [of s. 18.1 of the Civil Remedies Act] is illogical and incoherent.”

Edmonton Crown Prosecutor vs Mexican Police Hunted and Murdered by Drug Cartels

“A Crown prosecutor, whose identity is under a publication ban due to security concerns, called only one witness,” said the CBC.

Security concerns?

Honestly?

If this was Mexico, where the notoriously violent Jalisco Cartel is hunting down and murdering off-duty police officers and their entire families, I could understand how a government prosecutor might have ‘security concerns.’

Brittany Smith: Woman who killed her rapist finally released from Jackson County Jail

On May 10, 2021, Brittany Smith was released from prison – the first leg in her journey back to complete freedom.

Pastor James Coates to be Released from Edmonton Remand Centre

Pastor James Coates spent the past 29 days in the Edmonton Remand Centre for the heinous crime of preaching a Christian sermon on Sundays. 

John Carpay, executive director of the JCCF, expects Pastor Coates will be home with his family “as early as Friday.”

Whitehorse, Yukon, and its Ongoing Addiction Issues

Whitehorse has an ongoing and serious addiction problem fuelled primarily by out-of-Yukon drug dealers and a justice system that insists on playing ‘catch and release’ with repeat offenders. 

Utah Senate Slams Door on Civil Asset Forfeiture Loopholes

Civil asset forfeiture is the legal procedure for seizing your assets without the tedious requirement of convicting you, the hapless property owner, of a criminal offence.

If it were anyone but government officials doing the stealing, this would be called theft. Because it’s government, their lawyers call it a ‘victimless prosecution’ where the property, not the property owner, is put on trial.

I know… it doesn’t have to make sense. It’s government policy.

Nine Attempts to Quash Section 74 Reference Hearings Destroyed by Alberta Judge

On November 30th, 2020, Judge Allan A. Fradsham dismissed the Attorney General’s attempt to have nine Section 74 reference hearings tossed out of court.

On November 30th, 2020, Judge Allan A. Fradsham became Canadian firearm owners’ best friend, for not only did he dismiss the Attorney General’s attempts, he did so in a way that appears bulletproof to appeal.

Gun Smuggler Pleads Guilty, Walks Out of Court a Free Man

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, are you willing to take my bet that lifelong criminal and gun smuggler Curtis Elliott will be arrested again for selling illegal guns at some point in the near future?

I’ll give you 2:1 odds against.

California Loses Appeal: 2016 Magazine Ban Violates 2nd Amendment

California, like Canada, despises standard capacity firearm magazines and defines any magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds as over-capacity or large-capacity.

California, unlike Canada, must abide by this pesky little thing called the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Jeffrey Harris: Murder Conviction Overturned by BC Court of Appeals

On February 10, 2015, Jeffrey Harris was addicted to heroin, selling cocaine to support his ­3-4 fixes-per-day habit, living in the village of Lillooet, British Columbia.

Gary Mandseth was Jeffrey Harris’ drug dealer.

In a move that ultimately cost him his own life, Gary Mandseth injected Jeffrey Harris with cocaine instead of heroin that fateful day.

Former Employees Win: Apple Must Pay Lost Wages for Exit Searches Says Appeals Court

Trust is a basic requirement for any human interaction, yet Apple and many other companies routinely tell their employees the company does not trust them.
Not only is this bad policy from a basic interpersonal relations standpoint, it also creates a toxic work environment. After the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals ruled against them, it’s also an environment Apple Inc. must pay handsomely for creating.

Snowden Exonerated: US Court of Appeals Rules NSA Mass Surveillance Illegal

On September 2, 2020, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth District, in United States v. Moalin,  said the NSA’s mass surveillance program outed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013 was illegal.
Edward Snowden never thought he’d live to see the day.
I didn’t think I would either, yet here we are.

Brodie Curtis Young: RCMP Screwup Sets Another Career Criminal With a Firearms Prohibition Order Free

Brodie Curtis Young, a career criminal with a firearms prohibition order against him, was caught with illegal firearms and ammunition. Had RCMP Constable Rick Marshinew not shredded Young’s Charter rights, Young would be in prison today, not walking free to violate his firearms prohibition order again.

Text Message Privacy: Did the Supreme Court Get It Right?

On March 27, 2010, the Owen Sound Police Service obtained a general warrant under s. 487.01 and an assistance order under s. 487.02 of the Criminal Code.

The warrant named two Telus wireless subscribers and required the telecom giant to provide the Owen Sound Police Service with copies of any text messages stored on Telus’ computer database that were sent or received by these individuals.

Raise Your Children as Bureaucrats Demand, or Else

On July 6, 2020, Adrian Crook won his battle for parents rights at the BC Court of Appeals, who slammed BC Child and Family Services for their bureaucratic overreach. 

“It’s a big relief, but also discouraging that it took so long,” he said.

“For over 3 years now I’ve lived with the threat, often literally a written or verbal threat from a social worker or Ministry Director, that the MCFD will take “more intrusive action” if I failed to comply with their order.

Peter Khill: Self-Defence Case Goes to Supreme Court

Good news for Peter Khill, of Hamilton, Ontario. The Supreme Court will hear his self-defence case.

For those unfamiliar with Peter Khill or the circumstances surrounding this trip the the highest court in the land, here is a brief recap.

December 22, 2005: The Day Gun Rights Died in Canada

On December 22, 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against drug dealer Philip Neil Wiles and, in so doing, quashed the right of Canadians to possess firearms.

Quash: to suppress or extinguish summarily and completely; to nullify, especially by judicial action

Ray Newman: Alleged Murderer Walked Free After Police Violate His Charter Rights

When police violate the Charter rights of an accused, there is a price to pay. That price, in Chrissy Predham-Newman’s case, is her alleged murderer, her estranged husband, walked out of court a free man.

No Trial for Anuja Baskaran’s Alleged Murder says Supreme Court of Canada

Earlier this month the Supreme Court of Canada ruled a man accused of murdering his wife in 2012 will never stand trial because of excessive delays bringing the accused killer to court.

Canada’s Revolving Door Justice System – Whitehorse Edition

Robert Savard, 47, was arrested and charged with a host of drug trafficking charges, obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest, after which a Yukon judge promptly released Robert Savard on a promise to appear in court on July 29th. This Revolving Door Justice drives police officers crazy.

Is it Lawful to Resist an Unlawful Arrest?

“He who represents himself has a fool for a client.” After reading the court transcript, I’m left to wonder if Matthew Duncan of Grimsby, Ontario, is proof of Honest Abe’s point, but to answer the question posed in the title of this commentary, if you have a judge with an exceptional sense of humour and an equally exceptional knowledge of the law, the answer is yes.

Sarwanjit Randhawa: Why would you keep a child conceived by rape?

Women who choose to keep the children they conceive by sexual assault do so far more often than our “we love abortion” society wants to believe.

Case in point: Refugee Board Adjudicator Sarwanjit Randhawa.

Her “explanation does not make sense as to why she would keep a child who would remind her of being raped, unless that is not the case.”

Refugee Presumed a Liar by Former Conservative Candidate Turned Refugee Judge

Immigration and Refugee Board judge Yonatan Rozenszajn to Nigerian Refugee: “Why doesn’t he just kill you?” So much for our compassionate immigration system.

One Law for Me, Another for Thee

If you are one of the privileged few who wear a badge, a gun and pants with a stripe down the legs (any colour will do), your justice will be dispensed through Door Number One. If you are an unfortunate lesser being – a mere citizen of Canada at the time of your arrest – your justice will be dispensed through Door Number Two. Nothing good comes when you are shuffled off through Door Number Two.

Why do Criminals Go Free When Police Screw Up?

In response to my Friday column Cops Screw Up: Drug Dealer Jermaine Barrows-Taylor Escapes Illegal Handgun Conviction, one reader shared his frustration with this case specifically, as well as these types of cases in general. I do not understand why police screwups result in criminals going free. If police illegally search a vehicle and find a body, does the driver get a free pass for murder?

Cops Screw Up: Drug Dealer Jermaine Barrows-Taylor Escapes Illegal Handgun Conviction

While it was likely, even highly probable, the illegal gun belonged to Jermaine Barrows-Taylor, the arresting officers made one critical mistake.

They failed to investigate the possibility the illegal handgun belonged to anyone except Jermaine Barrows-Taylor.

Violent Repeat Offender Thomas Kruger-Allen Pleads Guilty to Assault

On April 29th, I said a series of upcoming assault and murder trials placed in limbo by COVID-19 meant we would likely find out, since the core of the Jordan decision is our Charter section 11(b) right to a trial “within a reasonable time.”Thankfully, one of the cases I cited in that article is no longer in danger of being tossed out as the violent offender, Thomas Kruger-Allen, pleaded guilty to three of the four charges against him.

Dalien Illunga: Public Safety Cannot be Sacrificed on the Altar of COVID-19

On May 5, 2019, Dalien Ilunga, a 37-year-old immigrant from Congo, forced a young woman into his bedroom and raped her.

Ilunga, who has a prior conviction for sexual assault, was already on probation for a another assault, the probation terms of which were to “keep the peace and be of good behaviour.”

In any normal person’s mind, dragging a young woman into his bedroom and raping her falls well outside the scope of “good behaviour.”