One of my longstanding pet peeves is sentencing double-standards applied to police officers who break the law, so while my blood pressure rose briefly when I first came across this case, ultimately, it dropped once I read the details and agreed with Judge A. Peter Ross's sentencing decision in R. v. Planetta, 2021 NSPC 30. Nobody - not the Crown Prosecutor, not the Defence … [Read more...]
Civil Forfeiture: Court of Appeal Calls Govt of Ontario Position “Absurd”
In Ontario (Attorney General) v. Norwood Estate, 2021 ONCA 493, Ontario's Attorney General 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." "In … [Read more...]
Edmonton Crown Prosecutor vs Mexican Police Hunted and Murdered by Drug Cartels
On June 8th I took great exception to a gutless and cowardly Edmonton Crown Prosecutor who feels the need to hide his or her identity from a Christian Pastor, the Pastor's wife and children and the Pastor's congregation and supporters. “A Crown prosecutor, whose identity is under a publication ban due to security concerns, called only one witness,” said the CBC. Security … [Read more...]
Brittany Smith: Woman who killed her rapist finally released from Jackson County Jail
You may remember the case of Brittany Smith, the woman who killed her rapist on January 16, 2018, only to find herself charged with murder despite living in Alabama - a 'Stand Your Ground' state. After a long legal battle for her freedom, Brittany Smith pleaded guilty to murder in order to avoid spending the rest of her life in prison. While I and others believe she was … [Read more...]
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. More accurately, Pastor Coates was incarcerated on February 16, 2021, for refusing to sign a bail condition demanding he stop exercising his Charter freedoms of conscience, religion, expression, association and peaceful assembly. John … [Read more...]
Whitehorse, Yukon, and its Ongoing Addiction Issues
The Yukon territory claims a population of 41,352 in 2020. Of those, 32,304 (almost 80%) live in Whitehorse, the territory's capital, and its surrounding area. (See Yukon Fact Sheet 2020) The Yukon territory's median age is 39 and, despite a higher than average Canadian weekly income, Whitehorse has an ongoing and serious addiction problem fuelled primarily by out-of-Yukon … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
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 motions, he did so in a way that appears bulletproof to appeal. The Short … [Read more...]
Gun Smuggler Pleads Guilty, Walks Out of Court a Free Man
In March 2016, the Windsor Police Service arrested Curtis Elliott and nine other people for smuggling illegal guns into Canada. This was the end of a year-long investigation in which police charged ten people with 111 criminal offences. Curtis Elliott faced 33 of those charges. On October 16, 2020, news broke that Elliott pleaded guilty and, as a result of the Crown’s … [Read more...]
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, which states: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a … [Read more...]
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. Often when Harris showed up at Mandseth’s house to buy more cocaine, Harris testified, Mandseth would inject him with heroin. In a move that ultimately … [Read more...]
Former Employees Win: Apple Must Pay Lost Wages for Exit Searches Says Appeals Court
Trust is a fundamental requirement for all positive human interactions, yet Apple and many other companies routinely tell their employees the company does not trust them. At the very least, knowing your employer does not trust you means you won’t give the employer what it deserves: a full day’s work in exchange for a full day’s pay. Not only is this bad policy from an … [Read more...]
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. We conclude that the government may have violated the Fourth Amendment and did violate the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) when it collected the telephony metadata … [Read more...]
Brodie Curtis Young: RCMP Screwup Sets Another Career Criminal With a Firearms Prohibition Order Free
Colour me shocked that our broken firearms prohibition order system failed to stop career criminal Brodie Curtis Young from illegally obtaining a gun and ammunition for it. That's bad, but after RCMP constables violated Young's Charter rights, the entire case against him was tossed out so as not to bring the administration of justice into disrepute. The July 23, 2020, … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
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, … [Read more...]
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. February 4, 2016, 3:00am Millie Benko, Peter Khill’s girlfriend (and now wife) awoke to the sounds of someone banging outside. She woke … [Read more...]
December 22, 2005: The Day Gun Rights Died in Canada
![R. v. Wiles [2005] The Day Gun Rights Died in Canada](https://christopherdiarmani.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/R-v-Wiles-2005-The-Day-Gun-Rights-Died-in-Canada-150x150.jpg)
Quash: to suppress or extinguish summarily and completely; to nullify, especially by judicial action 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. [P]ossession and use of firearms is not a right or freedom guaranteed under the Charter, but a privilege. … [Read more...]
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. On January 21, 2007, Chrissy Predham-Newman was found murdered in her apartment, her throat slashed, in her apartment in Airport Heights, St. John’s, Newfoundland and … [Read more...]
No Trial for Anuja Baskaran’s Alleged Murder says Supreme Court of Canada
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. (See SCC's 2016 decision in R. v. Jordan) Backstory In 2004, Sri Lankan refugee Sivaloganathan Thanabalasingam landed in Canada to start a new life. At some point, date unknown, he married Anuja Baskaran and, … [Read more...]
Canada’s Revolving Door Justice System – Whitehorse Edition
On July 8th, 2020, Yukon RCMP's Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) executed a search warrant at the home of a suspected drug dealer in the the Kopper King area of Whitehorse. Robert Savard, 47, was arrested and charged with a host of drug trafficking charges, obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest. The full list of charges Robert Savard now faces are below: … [Read more...]
Is it Lawful to Resist an Unlawful Arrest?
Note: While I quote extensively from it here, Justice Fergus O’Donnell's decision in R. v. Duncan should be required reading for all of us, if only for the footnotes. It's also brilliant to read how skillfully this honourable judge essentially protected the defendant from himself. Abraham Lincoln, a crafty lawyer before he became an immortal president, said: … [Read more...]
Sarwanjit Randhawa: Why would you keep a child conceived by rape?
Our Immigration and Refugee Board seriously needs to find better judges. Following up on my Monday commentary Refugee Presumed a Liar by Former Conservative Candidate Turned Refugee Judge, Sarwanjit Randhawa is my candidate for Refugee Judicial Clod of the Year. When a woman applied for refugee status in Canada, she never thought her claim would be denied because she made … [Read more...]
Refugee Presumed a Liar by Former Conservative Candidate Turned Refugee Judge
When Halima Alari (an alias to protect her identity) came to Canada as a refugee she never thought she be asked to justify why she was alive. She was wrong. After explaining she want to come to Canada to escape her abusive husband, Alari was stunned by the judge’s question. “If he really wants you to be gone, “Why doesn’t he just kill you?” Immigration and Refugee … [Read more...]
One Law for Me, Another for Thee
When you break the law in Canada, be it one of our many firearm laws or some other section of the Criminal Code, how you are treated by our justice system depends solely upon your legal status at the time of your offence. What's the colour of the stripe running down your pant legs? What? No stripe? Then may God have mercy on you because Canada's justice system certainly … [Read more...]
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 … [Read more...]
Cops Screw Up: Drug Dealer Jermaine Barrows-Taylor Escapes Illegal Handgun Conviction
On February 20, 2020, Justice Timothy Lipson acquitted Jermaine Barrows-Taylor of all firearm-related charges, but accepted his guilty plea for drug trafficking. At the time of his arrest for a violation of the Highway Traffic Act on August 26, 2018, Jermaine Barrows-Taylor was under a Firearms Prohibition Order and his driver’s licence was revoked. When Toronto Police … [Read more...]
Violent Repeat Offender Thomas Kruger-Allen Pleads Guilty to Assault
On April 29th I asked the question "Will the coronavirus pandemic alter the Supreme Court’s interpretation of its landmark 'justice delayed is justice denied' ruling in R. v. Jordan?" I then 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 … [Read more...]
Dalien Illunga: Public Safety Cannot be Sacrificed on the Altar of COVID-19
“Public Safety Cannot be Sacrificed on the Altar of COVID-19.” – Justice Joseph De Filippis, R. v. Ilunga, 2020 ONCJ 270 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 another assault, the probation … [Read more...]
Saheed Bacchus Ali: Drug Dealer Arrested with Illegal Guns while Prohibited released on Bail
When Saheed Bacchus Ali was arrested with large quantities of illegal drugs and two illegally-possessed handguns on September 10, 2019, he violated not one but four Firearm Prohibition Orders. None of these prohibition orders stopped Saheed Ali from illegally obtaining and possessing a loaded Smith and Wesson handgun and an unloaded Glock pistol with its serial number … [Read more...]