Ted Hughes and Canada’s ‘national embarrassment’

If there's a regret I have in my career to date, not being able to say goodbye in person to Ted Hughes at the conclusion of the Phoenix Sinclair Inquiry would rank among the top of them.

Over the months [perhaps years] of covering the hearings and resulting court cases that sprung out of it, I came to truly respect Mr. Hughes from a necessary professional distance.

He struck me just as a truly decent person, and that's meaningful to me. 

Regardless of what anyone thinks of his mammoth Phoenix inquest report and resulting recommendations, I believe he's a man who truly cares about child welfare, children in general and has solid ideas that could allow us to do better. 

Police, tickets and the perils of good intentions

Remind me: What's the road to heck paved with again?

And it's this, dear reader, that's the sad reality/fallout from the latest Winnipeg story about police officers, tickets and the discretion they're entitled to use when doling them out to the citizenry. There've been a few of late. (here, and here, for examples.)

Currently, local (and even not so local) social media is in a bit of a froth over an interaction a group of males had with general patrol officers near Portage Place mall on Portage Avenue. It was Wednesday, around 11 a.m., if the documentation is correct.

As I can tell from online and some news reports, the story goes like this: The group is walking side-by-side down the sidewalk when all of a sudden, officers appear and hand one of them a ticket under the Highway Traffic Act for walking more than two abreast — s. 143(2).

The Vann Hansell trial: a brief note

Over the past few days, I've been doing my level best to stay on top of the Vann Hansell trial in the Court of Queen's Bench. 

This is no small case.

It's ugly and, yes, heart-wrenching at times to take it in. But it's an important matter worthy of attention. 

Mr. Hansell is 22 years old today. I won't drag out the allegations: He's accused of being behind the wheel of his truck and texting while impaired, leading to a crash on Duglad Road that killed Mark Derry, 53. He's presumed innocent. 

Winnipeg’s child soldiers: A grim reflection of our failings

[Update/addition: Friday, May 9: In putting this piece together, I neglected to include a city child soldier case which ranks among the worst, if not the worst, Winnipeg's ever seen: The case of JJT, who was 15 when he and another Indian Posse member shot up a house party on Alexander Avenue in March 2008. Three were killed and three severely injured. There was no motive to the crimes, other than the older IP member, Colton Patchinose, was angry at being ejected from the party just before the shooting. He went to fetch JJT and the two shot up the place with handguns. "My son was taken from me at an early age," JJT's dad told court, referencing the street gang influence on his son at his sentencing. JJT recieved a life term. You can, and should, read more about his background here. But I conclude this brief update with Justice Colleen Suche's comment on her decision to sentence him as an adult:

 "It is a chilling but frank reality that J.J.T. is but one of an entire generation of children being recruited as child soldiers in the small armies we know as street gangs, which are constantly at war - with each other, and with society.") 

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Justice Vic Toews: For the record

Below, please find, for the record, newly minted Court of Queen's Bench Justice Vic Toews's complete remarks made at his swearing-in ceremony in courtroom 210 of the Law Courts Complex on May 2, 2014. 

“I still have potential,” says ‘homeless hero’

One of Winnipeg's saddest stories continues to unfold.

Today, Faron Hall — best known as the city's 'homeless hero' — was handed yet another stint in jail after yet another violent outburst fuelled by alcohol, and his alcoholism.

He got five months in total in the clink from Judge Mary Curtis, after pleading guilty to assault with a weapon and breaching the terms of a probation order requiring him to not be intoxicated in public.

Just days before that Dec. 31 breach that saw him greet the new year from inside the Remand Centre, Hall had been faithfully attending AA meetings in St. Boniface three days a week. He was bailed out after a week, but three weeks later wound up rearrested.

Chad Davis murder trial: Charging forward

In any jury trial, the judge's reading of the charge and her instructions to jurors are right up there with the most important of tasks and developments in the court process. 

In a complex case, the crafting of an appropriate charge can take many days, many re-drafts and much collaboration and input from the lawyers from all sides.

In the Davis case, it was no different.

The beauty of the charge is not only does it lay out the law for jurors and the guide it provides them to try and reach a just verdict, it also offers a review of the most salient points of evidence from all sides of the case.

Attempted murder: the prosecution’s uphill battle

 "Ironically, had Ms. W died from the shooting it would have been easier to prove murder, because that can be done in two ways. Including the less onerous route of meaning to cause bodily harm that the accused knows is likely to cause death and is reckless whether death ensues or not." Justice Chris Martin

Attempted murder: those two words, strung together, strike fear to any warm-blooded heart for sure. 

Sadly, the charge seems to be more frequently seen in Winnipeg than ever before.

In fact, in what our police service says is a city where serious crime is dropping, attempted murder is one of the only categories of violent criminal activity that's on the rise.  

Chad Davis murder trial: working backwards

It's always fascinating after a major murder case concludes to go back in time and try to unravel the investigative work and thought processes.  

We know now that Corey Tymchyshyn and Kristopher Brincheski were found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Chad Davis, on Feb. 6, 2008.

Through the lengthy jury trial that just ended, those following learned what a curious, yet completely cold-blooded, case it indeed was.

It's pretty clear — at least to me — that the two text messages shared between Tymchyshyn and Brincheski: 'We will be in soon,' and, 'He's wearing a hat don't miss' were at the heart of the police and prosecution's case that this was a premediated murder.

“Gating” — the first ever documented case?

It's been interesting watching (and hearing, sometimes directly and loudly) the strong reaction to the "gating" controversy that's erupted in Manitoba in recent days.

If anything, it's generated a lot of debate, awareness and attention towards the province's arrest-warrant backlog problem, police workload issues, and issues of procedural fairness for suspects in our courts and jails. 

I won't belabour things by reciting various reports outlining the practice and the issues it raises.

You can get caught up in five to 20 minutes by starting here, then going here, reading here, here and here and then checking out more on it in the Free Press in coming days.

Outstanding arrest warrants in Winnipeg: a reality check

The practical reality of policing in a city like Winnipeg can be summed up like this:

There's a finite number of officers to deal with consistently increasing demands on their time and efforts, and the court system isn't necessarily in tune with the weight of this reality, at the end of the day.

That's the bottom-line message Winnipeg Police Association President Mike Sutherland had for me Monday morning.

Sutherland called to discuss a column I wrote this weekend on "gating" — what's been described as a police tactic where offenders in jail are suddenly picked up on months (and sometimes years) old outstanding arrest warrants soon after they leave the confines of custody.

Chad Davis trial: Leftover bits part 1

As one might expect in a first-degree murder case, there was a lot more going on under the hood than surfaced at the trial proper in front of the jury. 

The trial of Corey Tymchyshyn and Kristopher Brincheski for the Feb. 6, 2008 killing of Chad Davis was no different in this respect. 

Over the coming weeks, in dribs and drabs as time allows, I'll be presenting a series of posts related to pre-trial issues and other evidence that came up over the many years this case took to investigate and get to a hearing. 

By now, it's not news to anyone that the two accused were convicted of the charge and have begun serving their life sentences without a chance at parole for 25 years [or 15 if 'faint hope' is granted].