Sarah Mills: NATO announcement shows difference between Carney and Trudeau
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is finally going to meet its NATO spending commitment, a move that shows just how...
A Regina defense lawyer is speaking out against the Gerald Stanley verdict backlash.
Stanley, a Biggar farmer, was acquitted in the August 2016 death of Colten Boushie of Red Pheasant First Nation.
James Korpan said battling racial injustices is something parliament needs to deal with, not the justice system.
“We say that that’s something parliament should be leading the issue on, instead of throwing the courts under the bus in order to score some political points,” he said of politicians weighing in on the verdict.
For juries, Korpan said it’s not about issues outside the trial, it’s about looking at the task at hand.
“A criminal courtroom isn’t a form in which to affect social justice, it’s there to determine the guilty of a particular accused,” he explained.
Korpan believes the jury in the Stanley trial did nothing wrong. He said the jury just took the evidence at hand and ran with it.
“It’s not a ‘what probably was the case,’ it’s ‘what did the crown prove beyond a reasonable doubt,’ and that’s a fundamental premise of our justice system,” Korpan said.
As for including Indigenous people in the justice process, Korpan said many in the legal community have already taken action.
Over the years, some courts have incorporated things like healing circles to increase communication.
