10 - Sunday,October 9, 1994 - North Shore News iT IS a sobering reality, but our legal system sometimes focuses more on the rights of accused criminals than on the rights of innocent victims, That's exactly what happened recently when the Supreme Court of Canada allowed “extreme drunkenness” to be used as a defence argument in a case in Montreal. It ordered a new trial for a 72-year- old man accused of dragging a 65-year-old woman out of her wheelchair and raping her, on the grounds that he was in such a state of intoxication that he couldn't have formed the “criminal intent” needed for a conviction, While the court said that this defence would be used only in the “rarest of cuses” where an accused is so drunk that he acted like an “automaton,” if doesn’t exactly leave the average citizen feeling safe. Rather than being a defence, extreme drunkenness should be an offence, particularly when it is a contributing factor to acts of violence, The fed- eral government is now looking at amending the Criminal Code to address this issue. Should the courts allow drunkenness to be used as a defence argument? Mark Bertelsen North Vancouver Not at all, it's not a defence. It's up to cach person to stay in control, and if you're going to go off and get into a car accident or beat someone up because you're so drunk, then you shouldn't be drinking. Remona MacKay North Vancouver No, because I think it's inde- fensible. You can't get drunk and go out and da whatever you please and use that as your defence. 1 think you lack the inhibitions whea you're drunk, but you're still capable of discerning between right and wrong. Philip Newbery North Vancouver I think getting drunk is a crime itself, especially in public. But if someone wants to drink, they obvi- ously know what they're doing when they buy their alcohol, so they should be responsible for any actions they do when they’re drunk. Lee Hanson North Vancouver Not at all. You made a choice to drink alcohol, you have to take full responsi- bility of what goes along with that choice, North Vancouver No. Look at drinking and driving — it’s an offence and the legal system looks at it a certain way. ff you're going to say something is a crime, then it should be standard and apply to all other cases. SURVEY TEAM THE NORTH Shore News survey team telephoned 436 North | *:p2e2 : Reaches : oats and West Vancouver residents to find out whether you agree with =|, NO NO DON’T the courts allowing extreme drunkenness to be used as a criminal OPINION KNOW defence argument. 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