Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 8, 1979, Winnipeg, Manitoba 8 Winnipeg free december yen Ninffa Ife a Axil it on by Cecil Kosner Iii routinely Lay Overly severe rpt indict Rhetts against so Guisep so they will Fae in a better to for guilty Winnipeg lawyers the some of whom Are former Crown say the Ove charging is virtually an integral part of the plea bargaining system the process whereby the Crown agrees to some charges in return for a plea of guilty on natural inclination theres a natural inclination for the Crown to said Law yer Jeff id say about 90 per cent of All cases Are plea and the Crown fully expects or Hopes that a Case will be ple bargained Gindin said the Crown will often Lay an attempted murder charge fully knowing May be an indictment which Wiit stand up such charges Are almost routinely reduced to assault causing bodily wounding or other lesser counts if the accused agrees to plead he plea bargaining is an accepted practice of the Canadian judicial sys tem and pragmatically necessary to save court said but from purely a Justice Point of i question whether its As it puts Peoples lives and liberties up for grabs at a bargaining a Par time criminal Law lecturer at the University of Gindin said he tells his students that plea bargaining exists As a but i Tell them i dont like lawyer Paul Walsh agreed that it is clearly unethical for the Crown to but said it happens All the Many times a Crown will charge someone with criminal negligence As a result of a driving Acci and then strive to convince the accused to plead guilty to the lesser of dangerous he easier to come Down former1 Crown counsel by file Weinsten said that while overcharging int a stated or consistent policy of the attorney generals it does he said that whenever he was confronted with a Case in which several different charges c6uid be he would always Lay the most serious when in go with a higher its easier later to come Down than to go said who said this want overcharging but rather just playing it Safe from the crowns but theres no question that such a decision would give a Crown a better hand in plea Jeff Gindin questions City although he May not be deliberately planning it that Gindin added that there Are Power Ful reasons Why an accused is forced to accept a plea bargain he May be in custody and facing the Prospect of months in jail before his trial is Ever or the Crown May say that he will go for the maximum sentence unless a bargain is Bill Deputy director of criminal denied there is overcharging in he said it May happen in other jurisdictions but is not condoned or practice if theres any evidence of a Crown deliberately then id like to know about said he said plea bargaining is a regu Lar feature of argues there is nothing unethical about it and that it can be of equal value to accused or the the backlog in the courts would be unmanageable if it didst Frank chairman of the Law Reform commission of said in an interview that gaining has often been denounced As a perversion of Muldoon said the Law Reform com Mission has condemned the which can be seen to be like extor Tion or a corrupt but Muldoon said he thinks the system work practically without plea bar hid rift Stotri to curing the Ranee of the would it the disclose Ait the bargained pleas in Gindin said he will sometimes be offered a plea bargain which seems almost too Indef such he suspects the Crown might not be Able to prove the Origi Nal Case and is just trying to Salvage a said Rocky who worked As a Crown counsel for four years before becoming a defence overcharging of accused is part of the system and practice by some crowns More than often the Crown counsel will rely on police to fill him in on details and to suggest and there is no ques Tion that the police incredible plea Pollack said he knew of a Case which the Crown realized he so he offered an incredible plea bargain in return for a guilty the accused and pleaded guilty to a lesser afterwards the Crown attorney jumped up and laughingly Tell ing the defence lawyer that there was no Way he could have proved the Case in the first Pollack he called the practice deplorable and one which be but said that such situations occur and can often catch accused in another the Crown Laid an attempted murder charge against a client simply because the accused give a statement to Pollack said the Crown admitted that the attempted murder indictment Likely hold up in court but was being used As a bargaining Point to get a guilty and Many crowns will agree to ask for a lighter sentence in return for a guilty plea that something that goes on All the he one reason Pollack soured on the idea of continuing As a Crown counsel was because of too close a link the prosecutor often has with police advocates its a common and recurring syn that crowns have a tendency to become advocates for the Pollack this shows up in the Crown laying certain charges or ask ing for adjournments not because he is fully satisfied with the but on the advice of he former Crown counsel Ruth Krin dle plea bargaining is a necessary part of the of greater concern to is the tendency for crowns to ask for the maximum sentence on Many she said crowns Are feeling the pressure from higher courts to Call for longer jail 3 5 ii it v f cd Jafa Jcj i a Enns lawyer protests move to proceed on More charges by Cecil Rosner lawyer Paul Walsh said yesterday he has lodged a formal protest with the Deputy attorney general Over the departments decision to proceed with additional criminal charges against 20 year old Stephen brother of Lyle Enns who was slain by ramp pleaded guilty 16 to three weapons charges and was sentenced to one year in but earlier this week the Crown indicated it was proceeding against him on nine additional charges of possessing stolen Walsh said he had reached an agree ment with the Crown in october that Enns would plead guilty to certain charges in Exchange for the staying of other charges and the understanding that this would dispose of All matters arising from the 30 he said the Crown agreed to the plea bargaining which Cut Short a preliminary hearing and led to Enns pleading Crown counsel David Rampersad said during the preliminary hearing that he had come to an agreement with the defence and said the Crown was staying proceedings on nine Rampersad could not be reached yesterday for comment on the charges now being proceeded Deputy attorney general Gordon Pil key said yesterday he haunt yet received Walsh letter of protest and would have no comment until he could study the among the charges stayed by the Crown against Enns were obstructing resisting pointing a fire Arm and several other weapons pos session a court clerk in Portage la Prairie said yesterday the nine charges Enns is still facing were Laid by ramp they ire in connection with the same 30 incident in which eight ramp officers armed with shotguns searched the Enns term for stolen during that 18yearold Lyle Enns was killed by Walsh said he was never informed of the charges until this and said it is highly improper for plea bargaining to take place and then have the Crown Lay additional charges arising out of the same i dont understand Why the charges were held i dont see any proper reason for it at said Walsh said in his letter to the Deputy attorney general he expressed the opinion that the crowns procedure is highly when a plea bargain is it is understood that the Crown will not be laying further charges arising from the same he lawyer Hymie Vic Epresi Dent of the Manitoba trial lawyers said he would be infuriated and would protest any action by the Crown to proceed on additional charges after plea bargaining had been concluded on a particular 1 2 bedroom apartments from minutes Autv from Neu vital and next to i Richmond shopping All utilities in Lakeshore Park 2693100 3000 fetus Iii the Imperial group 5 and 12 pop Hiob Pimp tickets Good for pm of Early specials Mary Miles sliced Side Bacon 1 limit 3 packages 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