Victims of Crime Left to Doubt Justice

As reported yesterday, with the case details and passages of the decision, Kelly Ellard won her appeal and has been sent back for a fourth trial in the killing of Reena Virk.

As a practical matter Ellard may make a deal whereby she pleads to, say, manslaughter and is released for time served (or something like that).

The trouble is not with this specific case -- the Court of Appeal decision seems sensible on its face -- but with the impression to the community as a whole.

Two high profile and old murder convictions were set aside yesterday -- this case and another in Ontario (also reported on this blog) -- and the public is entitled to ask 'why'? Aren't trials supposed to be speedy, conducted by judges learned in the law and, in general, final? How can a case be so difficult that it needs to be repeated four times?

Both cases that were overturned yesterday were convictions set aside in the face of very significant evidence suggesting guilt. It may be that in each case the convictions were unsafe but the community sees only the apparently guilty being given new trials where cogent evidence of guilt will not be used.

Virk family reels as Ellard wins fourth trial in beating death
ROD MICKLEBURGH

More than a decade after the death of their teenage daughter – swarmed, beaten, then drowned in a savage killing that drew worldwide attention – the heartaches for the family of Reena Virk keep on coming. In a stunning decision believed to be without legal precedent, the B.C. Court of Appeal has ordered yet another trial – a fourth – for Kelly Ellard, first convicted of second-degree murder eight years ago for her role in Reena's death.

"There are no words to describe the feeling that I have," Reena's mother, Suman Virk, said yesterday, staring blankly at reporters gathered outside her Victoria home. "Shock. Disbelief. I can't believe it."

The Virks and Reena's grandparents, Tarsen and Mukand Pallan, were in court throughout Ms. Ellard's preliminary hearing and three subsequent trials, full of grim details about Reena's slaying on a moonlit November night in 1997.

But now, with the latest setback, they say they are finished with the process.

"I think we want to wash our hands of this now, and live our life," father Manjit Virk said bitterly. "No more do I want to place any trust in this system. … It has become like a sad joke."

Full story here:
http://m.avantgo.com/ui?ag_url=52616e646f6d4956797ebed392be4fcfa59b2bf289f447c6c02bee8704e2efa18429fbbca057f60b8dc3c2c55d4b9f65ad592e556975dc539908cd89c6749d2ac44e1d7767ebcf6a7628acd0df4017aa&ag_channel=4179&showNav=0&ms=globeandmail