Access to justice or abuse of legal aid?
Killer cop seeks funds for appeal
Peter Edwards writes:
A Toronto police officer who ran up a $1.2-million legal aid bill while on trial for his mistress’s murder is now seeking taxpayer funding to appeal his conviction.
Shocking confession on witness stand
Ex-boyfriend confesses to child’s murder
Peter Small writes for the Toronto Star:
In a scene worthy of movie-of-the-week witness box confessions, the former boyfriend of a woman charged with fatally beating her 2-year-old daughter testified Wednesday he was the killer.
His testimony cannot be used “against him in other proceedings except prosecutions for perjury or giving contradictory evidence.”
Student-teacher love can be a serious crime in Canada
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer (I am a law student). The text below contains only my understanding of the applicable law. It has nothing whatsoever to do with your particular situation. Do not assume you can make any decisions based on this text. I do not intend this text to apply to anyone’s situation. This text is not legal advice. I am not qualified to give legal advice anyway. The purpose of this text is to encourage debate and create awareness of certain criminal offences. Please consult a lawyer if you need legal advice or help with your particular situation.
Our society is obsessed with sex. Not just in a dirty sense. We are probably as much into sex as we are afraid of it, and one proof of our fear of sex is in the criminal code. Sexual assault, sexual interference, sexual exploitation, invitation to sexual touching are serious crimes in our legal system. We want to punish sexual offenders because we want to protect ourselves and especially our women and children. Traditionally, the predators have been men, but more and more often the police arrest women for sexual crimes. I wrote about a case in Georgia where a trial court gave a female teacher ten years for a mutual love affair with a girl-student. The girl reached the age of consent but the court ignored it because the older woman was her teacher. A few days ago, an Ontario judge sentenced a female teacher for a love affair with a student. If the older women didn’t plead guilty, this case would be almost identical to the case in Georgia, except for the brutally harsh sentence. But the intricate details of the Ontario case are different enough to make this story a lesson for all adults—not just for teachers.
Dragged out trial loses a judge
Judge steps down in B.C. corruption trial
Judge Elizabeth Bennett is stepping down as the trial judge in the long-running political corruption trial involving former executive assistants to provincial Liberal cabinet ministers.
Hypnosis evidence and murder
Man admits committing 1992 murder
A former Canada Post supervisor admitted today to the 1992 killing of his girlfriend, two years after the Supreme Court of Canada threw out his conviction in a landmark decision because key evidence was obtained through hypnosis.
A basic right
Allan Rouben explains what trial within reasonable time is and a June 2009 SCC decision in R. v. Godin.

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