Jurors deserve better support
Gruesome would be an understatement when it comes to describing the evidence laid bare these past few weeks during the trial of Douglas Garland.
The Calgary man was found guilty Thursday on three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Alvin and Kathy Liknes, and their five-year-old grandson Nathan O’Brien in June 2014. On Friday he was sentenced to 75 years in jail.
The trial included 50 witnesses, 1,400 pieces of evidence.
It was horrific to the average citizen reading and watching the proceedings from afar, so one can’t even begin to imagine the impact that the evidence had on the nine men and three women who served as jurors for the trial. There’s evidence that trials like the Garland one, and even those without as many grisly details, can have a lasting impact on jurors. Digesting the graphic images and testimony can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
And yet across Canada, there is a lagging in counselling services provided for jurors.
Alberta was the first province to launch a juror support program. This happened in 2015.
The program means that jurors can access counselling during a trial or up to two months after the conclusion of the case.
But as anyone with experience concerning PTSD knows, a few months is not necessarily enough. A few sessions aren’t necessarily enough.
It took until this past fall for Ontario to launch a program so that jurors can receive free counselling services. The impetus for this came from reporting done by CBC Toronto on a juror who was diagnosed with PTSD, and ultimately had to pay for his own counselling.
Professional counselling, for those who aren’t aware, can start at the hundred dollar range per session.
But aside from this, aside from some debriefing, most provinces don’t have a comprehensive programs in place follow up with and support jurors. There may be some debriefing, but not much follow-up.
The people who step forward on our behalf to do their duty as citizens deserve better than piecemeal, disjointed supports for afterwards.