TORONTO/WINDSOR — The spectre of dozens of jury verdicts in Ontario being called into question appears more likely after a judge in Windsor declared a mistrial on Tuesday because of secret background checks conducted by police in a first-degree murder trial.
The mistrial comes more than two weeks after the National Post reported that police were using confidential databases to probe potential jurors in Simcoe County in central Ontario, in hopes of finding people more favourable to the prosecution.
Ontario Attorney-General Chris Bentley has again ruled out any outside independent investigation of the practice, to determine how widespread it has been and how long it has been taking place.
“We’re on top of it. We are dealing with it,” Mr. Bentley said on Tuesday.
The provincial chief prosecutor John Ayre, a former senior regional Crown attorney, is “calling around to determine if it was widespread,” explained Mr. Bentley.
“It appears to be Windsor and Simcoe County where there are issues,” said Mr. Bentley.
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Updates:
What difference could this story make when liberal POS judges are handing out 9 year sentences for crimes like this:
http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_35233.aspx
*9 years* for this brutal string of violent crimes that endangered the lives of women,children and cops.
It’s too much to be believed.
We need to get some hanging judges,but unfortunately were going to have to hang some judges to get them.
I don’t have any real problem with this other than the Crown hoarding the info. It should be passed around so both sides get a shot at it.
Juries should be vetted properly to ensure fairness.