I don't think so -- it's fairly common for weak impaired cases to be pleaded down to careless. Usually the Crown sees a decent chance of losing flat out and then agrees to a plea to careless. The drug charges may well have been tainted by an improper search.
Overall a good result for Jaffer but not one reflecting special treatment.
http://tiny.cc/pandabear119Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer pleaded guilty Tuesday in an Ontario courtroom to careless driving and must pay a $500 fine.
Jaffer had been charged with impaired driving and possession of cocaine but those charges were dropped. Jaffer will also donate $500 to charity.
Outside the Orangeville courthouse, Jaffer apologized for his actions and acknowledged the seriousness of the charges. But he said he was pleased the ordeal was over.
"I'm relieved. It's been a long period that it's carried on," he said.
Crown attorney Marie Balogh said in court that after a careful review of the case, it was decided to drop the other charges because there were significant legal issues and no reasonable prospect of conviction.
"I'm sure you can recognize a break when you see one," Ontario Court Justice Doug Maund told Jaffer.
Jaffer's lawyer, Howard Rubel, said his client was adamant that he never drove while impaired and had always denied the drug allegations.
22 comments:
Imagine the outrage if Michael Ignatieff were pulled over driving drunk and stoned!!!!
Anon -- yup, I can imagine the outrage. But I think it's not very likely! Might as well imagine the Prime Minister being picked up for summgling drugs -- silly to even think of!
Tell me James, how does one get charged with possesion of cocaine.. I presume it's because the officer found it, right? So how does THAT charge get dropped?
(And sorry James, but with all due respect, I don't buy that if any normal Joe was charged with these 3 crimes that they would have gotten off as scot-free as Rahim did.)
I don't buy it either.
I know your first instinct is to protect the system and the courts. It's the first instinct of every officer of the court.
But blowing so high over the limit and traveling so fast over the limit and being found with what has not been denied to be cocaine...
Something smells to high heaven.
The difference between an normal Joe and Jaffer is probably money.Better lawyers cost more and probably lead to a better result for the client.
James could you please answer Scott's question, which is my question as well.
Tell me James, how does one get charged with possesion of cocaine.. I presume it's because the officer found it, right? So how does THAT charge get dropped?
You said the drug search could have been tainted? Pls. tell us what that means.
If anything, this is a case of money and priviledge getting you off, not of political connections. Take off the tin foil hats people.
"Imagine the outrage if Michael Ignatieff were pulled over driving drunk and stoned!!!!"
You're right, this would never happen. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think I saw or read an interview with him when he said that he doesn't own a driver's license.
He's got a driver now that he's leader of the opposition, but I think he's had one for a lot longer than that.
Of course, I don't have a source for any of that, which means I must be a Conservative partisan/hack/apologist/whatever.
Count me as among those who think that Jaffer got special treatment.
It is not plausible to think that the drug charges were made for no reason whatsoever, and I think we all know that.
It's not plausible to think that an average citizen, after having been arrested and charged with these offenses, would have benefited from a surprise charge of heart by the Crown.
Such cases increase the disrespect average Canadians have for the law. There is little enough left, and we don't have it to squander for purely political purposes like this.
Here's the deal on the coke -- and in fairness I am speculating -- Jaffer gets pulled over. Typical impaired. They have a right to secure the vehicle and searhc Jaffer to the extent necessary for arrest and officer safety. But not to tear through the car looking for stuff. I am assuming they went thorough the car without wither a warrant or properly incident to arrest so there was a good chance the coke would get tossed. Why did the impaired fail? No clue but there are often failings a decent lawyer can pick up. My guess is that Jaffer's lawyer -- who is a good lawyer -- did a good job and that's why Jaffer got a good result. So to a degree it was money in that Jaffer had a good lawyer and that (I assume) wasn't free. But I really doubt he was cut slack because he was a politician. That's my 2 cents!
Prosecutor Marie Balogh told the court there was no reasonable possibility of conviction on the more serious charges of cocaine possession and drunk driving, saying there were "significant legal issues" impeding the case.
"The matter was carefully reviewed," Balogh told Maunder.
You can thank Trudeau's Liberal Charter for this verdict.
Judge Doug Maund was appointed to the bench by Flaherty when he was Min of Justice in Ontario. Formerly the judge had been Perrin Beatty's Chief of Staff in the Mulroney years.
Prosecutor Marie Balogh is a cipher. But I suspect a cipher with tire tracks on her back.
In my opinion the Ontario AG should be opening a quiet investigation into this. This mess has got to be cleared up.
Provincial court no?
Dana, you suspect? Idiot
The word “Crown”, referred to in the phrase “Crown attorney Marie Balogh”, refers to the “Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”.
The provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick expressed their desire to be federally united into one Dominion under the Crown of the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland”, not the Crown of the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”, according to the British North America Act, 1867.
Liberals shouldn't get too uppity about Jaffer, he's finished politically anyways;
Former Ontario attorney-general Michael Bryant has been charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death in relation to the death of cyclist Darcy Allan (AL) Sheppard after a traffic altercation on August 31, 2009.
Much has been written about the case as it continues to wind its way through the justice system but here is a summary of the facts of the case so far.
But then, there is always the court of public opinion, and I think I know that verdict.
This result smells and it is a direct result of the crown's obfuscation...the crown should have spelled out letter and verse of the details of the "significant legal issues" without those pertinent details it calls into question the final result.
Orangeville Crown Attorney Marie Balogh didn’t just sell out all Canadian citizens in cutting a deal with Jaffer’s lawyer, she cut a deal for herself. The deal could not have happened without collusion within the office of the crown. Watch Marie Balogh carefully, as her present tenure in a modest little courthouse, will, once the dust has settled, rise to some unmerited appointment and boost in socio-political status. She is feathering her own nest. Meanwhile police and RCMP are struggling to keep a level playing field for all citizens and this underhanded opportunist is picking and choosing which case will benefit her social climbing. Shame on you Ms. Balogh.
Post a Comment