Justi THE public outcry following the decision by Mr. Justice Duncan Shaw in the matter of R vs. Sharpe may ulti- mately be the catalyst for some much needed change in the justice system. It’s not the first time the citizenry hay been outraged at logic-defving decisions by a superior court -- remem- ber the drunkenness as a defence to rape ease from the Supreme Court of Canada — but this time the outrage is from) coast to coast. The radio talk shows are buzzing with discussion of the decision, Well, boiling with anger might be a better descriptor. Virtually every talk show in every city, every editorial Page in every newspaper — across this country — has spoken out against the Sharpe decision. By week's end, the papers were reporting thar Shaw had received at least one death threat. Mr. Justice MacKenzie said in ong interview he’s never seen anything like it in his 40 years experience in the justice system. And no small wonder why. The test used by the judi- ciary in making a decision is whether “the administration of justice would be brought into disrepute.” “For some reason, the logic is that the illogical decisions such as Sharpe and - Feeney are much more likely to bring the administration of justice into disrepute than if they upheld the common sense applied by the public. Let's look at the Feenev decision and the resulting second trial of the man ini- tially convicted of second degree murder. In 1991, 86-year old Frank Bovle was ; bludgeoned to death in his home in the small town of Lively, about 100 km from Williams Lake. The police followed an crime and z] punisinent iwestivative track that Ted to the trailer of Michael Feeney. Inside, passed out, sll wearing the dothes later proven to be stained with the victin’s blood, Thev also found money taken trom Boyle's wallet. Following his arrest, Feeney gave a statement “The judiciary is so caught up worshipping at the altar of the Charter that it can no longer claim guardianship of society’s needs and rights.” detailing how he bashed Boyle in the head with a crowbar. Feeney’s conviction was essentially a slam-dunk based on the mountain of evidence. Thé conviction was aken to the B.C. Court of Appeal where it was upheld. And finally, in 1997 to the Supreme Court of Canada, where, ina 5-4 majority decision, the conviction was overturned. Evidently the police should have stopped their investigation at the trailer sdoor and driven over an hour away to Williams Lake to find the nearest Justice of the Peace to get a search warrant and driven back to Lively in the faint hope that any evidence had not yer been destroyed. From the time the first they found Feeney constable Was SWOrh and peace officer in chis country, the police have had the right to ener a dwelling house and arrest someone without warrant. as long as they bed the rege isite “reasonable and probable grounds ” When Feeney was arrested, that was the Lis Well, tive of the ermine chad ‘Wonders on the coun trv's highest bench decided the law should be changed, fest “the adiinistration oF justice. blah, blah. blah, Vhev even wentso fir ats to instreer our elected repre sentatives to rewrite the Law to reflect this momentous decision. Feeney was ordered ta be retried. Crtortunately, the evidenve from che trailer had been excluded trans the new trial bv the high court deet sion. Nou Hoody shirt directly ing Feeney to the mur: Ni bloody money front the victim's waller, No con: fession, Yhe re-trial has taken place in Vancouver over the past nwo weeks. As this is being written, the jury has been charged and are con sidermg a verdict with only half of the available evi- dence, But what they decide is incidental at chis point. The damage has been done. ta closing arguments last Thursday, defence counsel Charles Lugosi, seized on the issue of the empty wallet to raise reasonable doubt in the minds of che jurors. Ifthe wallet bad been emptied by the killer, as the Crown claimed, why hadn't they introduced evidence to show Feeney had the money? The question hung in the air Bke the emanations of a flatulent dog. Because the evidence had been declared inadmissible as a result of the Supreme Court culing, the Crown could only stand mute. Prosecutor Dianne Wiedemann was bound not to mention what had really happened. W the jury return a gust Complete mechanical & electrical repairs factory trained technician b MPEX AUTO q y CHRIS CARTER Investment Executive Catch the day's firs? look at the markets with Chris on BCTV's morning news. 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A fight lunch will be served, & ScotiaMcLeod Building Relationships for Life ce in Charter stupor verdict it is Only because of the diligent werk of the E Daisian Senos Crime sec tion In reinvess eating the original murder and cob- bling together a nes case. Bur. vou sec, written listructions have already been issued to the pahee in BCL ea the issue af geting sedreh WATTS TR CL CEY Case where they didi t need them betore. Hundreds of cases have been staved or dropped out right, Now maybe that helps the agenda of the attorney: gener trving co unciog a gamed caurt system, but it does nothing for the protec non ata society the system was desntncd to sateguard. When “Feeney” was heard by the Supreme Court, Madame Justice PHeurcus Dube wrote the nanority opinion dissenting with the late John Sopinks and the majority. She wrote: “the exclusion of the evidence would clearly bring the administration of justice inte disrepute.” She later wrote a thoughdul and considered newspaper opinion piece. The nuts and bolts of her argument was that the sys- tem had lost its focus and wast doing its job of tak- ing care of the victims. Too true. Unfortunately she wrote That over owe vears ago and nothing seems to have changed. Jn fact, | would argue it has become much worse. Tae judiciary is su caught up worshipping at the altar of the Charter that it can no longer claim guardianship of society’s needs and rights. The outery in the wake of the Sharpe ruling may finally be the proverbial straw, forcing the public to wake up to the injustice being foisted upon us and force a debate that can bring about the sore of change knocking the judicial “nan- nies” out of their Charter induced stupor. Is it possible the worm has finally turned? 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