- 注册
- 2002-10-07
- 消息
- 402,183
- 荣誉分数
- 76
- 声望点数
- 0
The two-year delay in the trial of Const. Daniel Montsion “adds insult to injury” for the family of Abidrahman Abdi who died in a confrontation with Ottawa police in July 2016, a local justice group says.
The Justice for Abdirahman Coalition, formed in the aftermath of Abdi’s death, said it’s disappointed and concerned by the news that Montsion will not go on trial until February 2019.
It means the family will not know the outcome of the trial — it’s scheduled for 12 weeks — until almost three years after Abdi’s still unexplained death.
“Waiting that long for the family is certainly difficult,” the family’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said Thursday. “But that’s the way the judicial system is not working these days.”
The Justice for Abdirahman Coalition said the Abdi family has already been extraordinarily patient: “A delay of this length only adds insult to injury. Due process in a timely manner is all they ask.”
The length of the delay came as a shock to the family. “For a case of this magnitude involving a public servant, which has attracted enormous public interest, and centred on the violent loss of a life, it is unacceptable for there to be such a long delay in justice,” the coalition said.
Abdi, 37, an immigrant from Somalia with mental health issues, died in police custody after his violent arrest on the morning of July 24, 2016. Officers had been called to the scene by local Bridgehead patrons who complained about a man groping women in the coffee shop.
Montsion, an anti-gang officer who was wearing a pair of reinforced gloves on the day of the fatal confrontation, faces charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
The Special Investigations Unit laid the charges in early March after a seven month probe. It has not released Abdi’s official cause of death.
Crown attorney Philip Perlmutter told court this week that the first available trial date for the Montison case was in September 2018, but that conflicted with the schedule of defence attorney Michael Edelson, one of the city’s top defence lawyers.
Edelson agreed to waive his client’s constitutional right to a swift trial in order to have the case moved to February 2019.
That eliminates any concern that Montsion’s trial will be dismissed because of unreasonable court delays, Greenspon said.
Last year, in the case of R. v. Jordan, the Supreme Court of Canada said that superior court cases must be completed within 30 months of an accused person’s arrest.
In Montsion’s case, that meant his trial had to be completed by September 2019. But the Supreme Court ruling also established an accounting system for delays that required both the defence and Crown to take responsibility for lost time attributable to them. The high court said “delay attributable to or waived by the defence” does not count against the ceiling.
In other words, the delay caused by Edelson’s crowded calendar would not have counted against the 30-month time limit.
Greenspon said the case highlights the fact that, even in the Jordan era, bereaved families can wait many years for answers from the justice system.
“It’s yet another indication that the system is slow, and the delay that Jordan heralded is still very much there,” he said. “The answers are critical for them (the Abdi family) so that they can move forward with the grieving process. But it’s something they’re going to have to endure.”
Montsion has been suspended with pay since charges were laid by the SIU.
查看原文...
The Justice for Abdirahman Coalition, formed in the aftermath of Abdi’s death, said it’s disappointed and concerned by the news that Montsion will not go on trial until February 2019.
It means the family will not know the outcome of the trial — it’s scheduled for 12 weeks — until almost three years after Abdi’s still unexplained death.
“Waiting that long for the family is certainly difficult,” the family’s lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, said Thursday. “But that’s the way the judicial system is not working these days.”
The Justice for Abdirahman Coalition said the Abdi family has already been extraordinarily patient: “A delay of this length only adds insult to injury. Due process in a timely manner is all they ask.”
The length of the delay came as a shock to the family. “For a case of this magnitude involving a public servant, which has attracted enormous public interest, and centred on the violent loss of a life, it is unacceptable for there to be such a long delay in justice,” the coalition said.
Abdi, 37, an immigrant from Somalia with mental health issues, died in police custody after his violent arrest on the morning of July 24, 2016. Officers had been called to the scene by local Bridgehead patrons who complained about a man groping women in the coffee shop.
Montsion, an anti-gang officer who was wearing a pair of reinforced gloves on the day of the fatal confrontation, faces charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.
The Special Investigations Unit laid the charges in early March after a seven month probe. It has not released Abdi’s official cause of death.
Crown attorney Philip Perlmutter told court this week that the first available trial date for the Montison case was in September 2018, but that conflicted with the schedule of defence attorney Michael Edelson, one of the city’s top defence lawyers.
Edelson agreed to waive his client’s constitutional right to a swift trial in order to have the case moved to February 2019.
That eliminates any concern that Montsion’s trial will be dismissed because of unreasonable court delays, Greenspon said.
Last year, in the case of R. v. Jordan, the Supreme Court of Canada said that superior court cases must be completed within 30 months of an accused person’s arrest.
In Montsion’s case, that meant his trial had to be completed by September 2019. But the Supreme Court ruling also established an accounting system for delays that required both the defence and Crown to take responsibility for lost time attributable to them. The high court said “delay attributable to or waived by the defence” does not count against the ceiling.
In other words, the delay caused by Edelson’s crowded calendar would not have counted against the 30-month time limit.
Greenspon said the case highlights the fact that, even in the Jordan era, bereaved families can wait many years for answers from the justice system.
“It’s yet another indication that the system is slow, and the delay that Jordan heralded is still very much there,” he said. “The answers are critical for them (the Abdi family) so that they can move forward with the grieving process. But it’s something they’re going to have to endure.”
Montsion has been suspended with pay since charges were laid by the SIU.
查看原文...
