PUTTING JUSTICE ON TRIAL
LAWYERS SAY POLITICIANS PUT JUDICIARY AT RISK WITH COMMENTS ON BOUSHIE CASE
Activists, First Nations leaders and some lawyers are demanding change after an allwhite jury Friday acquitted a white farmer who shot and killed a young Indigenous man in rural Saskatchewan.
In press conferences, online and at rallies across the country, they pressed the message that Canada’s justice system is broken and must be fixed.
However, some lawyers are worried that politicians now weighing in on the case are going too far and may even be putting the independence of the country’s judiciary at risk with their comments.
“Saying anything that amounts to commenting on the correctness of the verdict, to improve your public image or ensure an appropriate approval rating, should be criticized in Canada,” said Michael Lacy, a partner in the criminal law group Brauti Thorning Zibarras LLP in Toronto.
On Saturday, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said in a tweet that Canada “can and must do better,” after a jury found Gerald Stanley not guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Colten Boushie.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also weighed in at a news conference in California, saying Canada has “come to this point as a country far too many times.”
Edmonton-based criminal lawyer Tom Engel said when politicians, especially the justice minister, appear to criticize verdicts, the public may believe that future decisions by the courts are influenced by the remarks.
Lacy added that politicians “have no business at all” in commenting on the outcome of a trial. “It undermines the independence of the judicial branch,” he said in an email.
Stanley’s trial heard that Boushie was shot in the head while he was sitting in an SUV that had been driven onto Stanley’s farm near Biggar, Sask. Stanley testified that he was trying to scare off Boushie and the others in the vehicle. He said the fatal shot occurred when he reached into the SUV to grab the keys out of the ignition and his gun “just went off.”
Chris Murphy, a lawyer for Boushie’s family, said Sunday the investigation into Boushie’s death and the subsequent prosecution of Stanley were both fundamentally undermined by systemic and legislative problems in the Canadian justice system.
He believes the RCMP probe of the shooting was lacklustre and arguably botched. The Mounties, he said, failed to bring in a specialist interrogator to interview Stanley when he was arrested. The force also declined to fly in a blood expert from Alberta to personally inspect the SUV where Boushie was shot.
“The defence, rightfully so I think, made a big to-do about it at the trial, because she had not examined the vehicle, she was going off of photographs,” he said in a telephone interview. “I think the RCMP has got to be asked ‘Why did you not take this case seriously enough to send a blood spatter expert out to look at that vehicle?’ ”
The RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Murphy also took issue with the fact that Stanley, despite living in an area with a large Indigenous population, was tried by an all-white jury. Stanley’s lawyer was able to use peremptory challenges to prevent any potential jurors who appeared Indigenous from sitting in the final panel, Murphy said.
Engel said the case does raise questions about the diversity of a jury and how members are selected. He said politicians could use this as an opportunity to look at how legislative changes can improve those processes, while steering clear of discussing the verdict.
The federal Conservatives also criticized Trudeau, accusing him of “political interference.”
While some also expressed their condolences to Boushie’s family, they nonetheless blasted Trudeau and his ministers for weighing in on a specific case.
“The tragic death and pain for the family of (Colten Boushie) is unimaginable, and our thoughts are with his community,” Conservative Indigenous affairs critic Cathy McLeod wrote on Twitter.
However, she added: “We need to let the many steps of an independent judicial process unfold without political interference.”
Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt and finance critic Rob Nicholson also criticized Trudeau and WilsonRaybould, with Raitt questioning whether the prime minister and justice minister were implying that the jury arrived at the wrong verdict.
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh tweeted: “There was no justice for Colten Boushie.
“Already Indigenous youth live with little hope for their future, and today they have again been told that their lives have less value. We must confront the legacy of colonialism and genocide so they can see a brighter future for themselves.”