A serial killer is caught when he's 40 years old. The trial comes after 2 years, takes 6 years, and sentencing comes after another year. He's sentenced to the legal maximum of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years, but he's already served 9. He appeals, and the appeal takes up 7 years, with the same result. He files for a second appeal, which similarly takes up 7 years, and changes nothing. At this time, 23 years have elapsed. The serial killer serves the remaining 2 years of his sentence, and is then paroled on account of "good behaviour." He is now 65 years old, upon which he begins to collect pension from the government.
What is wrong?
That was all hypothetical, but I am, of course, talking about the Canadian judicial system, which is probably about as ferocious as...well...a bunny. I will use the case of Robert Pickton as a case study. By the way, if you're not feeling anger pulsating through your blood at the end of this, you have no soul.
Pickton was charged with 27 counts of murder in 2002. The trial started in January 2006. The first six counts were decided in December 2007: guilty. Pickton was sentenced to the maximum penalty allowed under Canadian law. In January 2008, the guilty verdict was appealed, stalling the trial of the other 20 counts (one had been thrown out on lack of evidence). By June 2009, the Supreme Court of BC finally announced its decision: the convictions would stand. So the appeal went to the Supreme Court of Canada. Finally, in June 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada made the final decision: the convictions would stand.
The victims families waited for over 8 years from the time Pickton was charged to when he was convicted. Eight arduous, stressful, torturous years.
Oh, by the way, what happened to the other 20 charges?
Merely that, yesterday, they were stayed. Yes, STAYED. This is an affront to justice. It is a complete disregard of common decency. It is a slap in the face to the victims' families, who won't even get to at least hear the word "guilty" being pronounced. Worst of all, it is a gigantic, hulking middle finger to the victims themselves.
Oh, and I haven't even gotten to the weakness of the sentencing itself. Sure, human rights dictates that we must avoid handing out cruel and inhumane punishment, but at least make Canadian law have more teeth by installing consecutive sentences! Right now, Canada operates under concurrent sentencing: all sentences are served at the same time. Do we really want Pickton, or any other serial killer for that fact, free again, ever? At least, with consecutive sentencing, Pickton would have no chance to get out for at least 150 years.
Is it any wonder felons don't think twice before commiting a crime in this country?
(It's Tracy btw) To be fair, Pickton has to remain in prison during the trial. It's not like he's a free man by any stretch of the imagination. Secondly, there were a whole lot of issues with the way the police had handled in the investigation, which probably led to the 20 other charges that were dropped.
ReplyDeleteThere's no point in bringing a case against Pickton for these other 20 charges if the evidence is flawed, unsound or if there's a high chance of failure. That would a) make the Crown look bad and b) serve no purpose. Pickton's going to be in prison with no chance of parole till he's 65. When he gets out, IF he gets out, he won't live long.
The Justice System has a process that allows for a fair trial of the accused. It's slow and tedious but it must be to allow for a fair ruling. Yes, it took 8 years, but Pickton's case isn't the only one on the docket.
yea, but serial killers should at least serve a life sentence. they're cold blooded monsters. even if you ACCIENTALLY killed someone i doubt you can sleep well for the rest of your life. dude, he raped and killed ALL THESE WOMEN. even if he died 10 times it wouldnt make up for it. our justice system just sucks. Its literally a glowing neon WELCOME sign to people who like to commit crime.
ReplyDeleteI acknowledged that he serves time during the trial. Also, the main reason for dropping the other charges was that since he was already given the longest sentence possible under Canadian law it would be "pointless," and not because of flawed evidence. The one case that DID have flawed evidence was thrown out in 2006. Be assured that the Crown would've succeeded in convicting Pickton on the other 20 charges.
ReplyDeleteAlso, do you know how long it takes for a fair trial to be held in Hong Kong over murder? A few months. Hong Kong has been guided by the British to rule of law. Their judicial system operates on the same principles as ours. Hong Kong has 7+ million people. BC has 4 million. I understand the delay between 2002 and 2006 was for evidence gathering, but the process from 2006 to 2010 was unnecessarily long. It could easily have been resolved, double appeal and all, by 2008.
And I see you didn't even bother to comment about consecutive sentencing so you must either agree or be so exasperated that you just didn't bother to say anything. =P
But he's getting a life sentence. 25 years without parole is a life sentence. A life sentence isn't literally what it's called. Our justice system works in a sense that he's now behind bars for probably the remainder of his life. Yes, he's a serial killer but what would make up for it? There certainly is no 'welcome' sign. People who like to commit crime rarely are deterred by imprisonment and it's not just in our country.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair however, the other charges are 'stayed', not dropped. Which just means that if need be, the prosecution can charge him with those crimes at any time because I believe that there's no statute of limitations on murder. It may just be because it'd be a lack of resources.
I'll agree that it took way too long but comparing judicial systems isn't always fair. There are often different underlying 'moral codes', so to speak, that are inherent in each culture that affect the way the judicial system is run, even if they operate on the same principles. Feels to me like HK would be tougher on crime partly due to the Asian cultural line of thought where you must respect others and not fall out of line.
As for consecutive sentencing, I do agree. The States have it, though that isn't always indication of anything. I agree that at times, it's necessary to keep dangerous people away from the public. I think, however, our Justice System is content with giving others a second chance and not just taking away their livelihoods for one (or two, or three) terrible mistakes. Of course, this doesn't apply to Pickton. There's probably some reason and I think a lot of it has to do with how we're Canada but it does need changing. However, it's coming, or at least seems like it is. Recently, they did change that time served under trial no longer counts for two times that against their sentence.