If you filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, you’d expect the investigator would take the time to interview you. It even says so on the Commission’s website. “A human rights officer will interview everyone involved.” Tarrah McPherson is alleging that didn’t happen in her 2016 complaint against her former instructor, Michael […]
Justice
Posted inNews + Opinion
Defence tries to poke holes in murder case against William Sandeson
As the med-school student’s murder trial finishes its sixth week, lawyers defending William Sandeson have indicated through their cross-examination of Crown witnesses where their strategy might lie for the remainder of the trial. Sandeson’s defence team has indicated it may continue to argue there was an inadequate investigation by police. On May 8, before defence […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Finding Taylor Samson
Since the day he went missing, Linda Boutilier hasn’t stopped looking for her boy. On a rainy Mother’s Day last Sunday, Taylor Samson’s mom, brother Connor and best friend, Thomas McCrossin, have met to reminisce about the 22-year-old whose death is all the city can seem to talk about. William Sandeson, a 24-year-old Dalhousie medical […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Maybe don’t turn yourself in at Voluntary Surrender Day
Anyone with an outstanding warrant might want to think twice before attending this weekend’s Voluntary Surrender Day. There’s “not much” benefit to the accused, says lawyer Trevor McGuigan. “You have no obligation to turn yourself in.” Halifax Regional Police will be holding its inaugural surrender event this Saturday, April 29, at the Dartmouth North Community […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
A strong defence
One of the newest members of the Canadian Senate says a criminal case in Nova Scotia perfectly demonstrates what’s wrong with the justice system—even though the process has been fair. Senator Kim Pate is talking about the release of Christopher Calvin Garnier from jail for a second time. The 29-year-old is charged in the second-degree […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fewer than half of Nova Scotia’s sexual assault charges result in a conviction
Fewer than half of sexual assault charges in Nova Scotia from 2005 to 2014 saw a conviction, a number that almost mirrors individual results about the Halifax Regional Municipality. According to a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) report from the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, during that decade 437 reported sexual assaults saw a charge laid. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Don’t @ me: Why Halifax police are turning to social media to improve public relations
The day before Valentine’s Day, during a severe snowfall, the @HfxRegPolice Twitter account sent out a reminder to residents that it’s illegal to walk on the street. “No, that’s not what the law says at all,” responded Ben Wedge, a transportation advocate and former member of Halifax’s Crosswalk Safety Advisory Committee. “If you could leave […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Police accidentally release social media passwords to The Coast
It took several months of trying and a Freedom of Information request to get ahold of the police department’s Drug Exhibit Audit last year. Far easier than obtaining that public report was gaining access to the department’s private social media passwords, which Halifax Regional Police mistakenly and unknowingly released to The Coast. Two weeks ago, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Canadian Bar Association asks public to cool it with the name-calling
The Nova Scotia branch of the national Canadian Bar Association is condemning some of the emotionally-charged comments and commentary that have been voiced against judge Gregory Lenehan. Debate and complaints made in the proper channels are important features of the justice system that can lead to positive change, writes CBA-NS executive director Tina Tucker in a […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Screaming into the void, to no one in particular.
Most presiding judges are intelligent and humane and fair. Almost all judges, probably. Which is why the tiny minority of judges who are mother-wanking toss-baskets stand out so egregiously. It shocks the sensibility of every decent, thinking citizen when these neanderthal arse-waggers render a decision plumbed from the depths of some hideous stinking cesspool of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Sexual Assault Centre sees calls for help rise in wake of Lenehan ruling
When Judge Gregory Lenehan acquitted taxi driver Bassam Al-Rawi of sexual assault charges in a Halifax courtroom last week, Jackie Stevens’ phone started ringing off the hook. “Every time a high profile case like this happens,” says Stevens, executive director for the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, “it increases the number of requests for services.” Stevens says […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Lack of outrage over missing evidence surprises American policing expert
Maybe it’s our Canadian politeness, but one of America’s leading experts on evidence control is surprised by the lack of public outcry after hearing Halifax Regional Police have misplaced nearly 3,000 exhibits. “Here in the US, they would have challenged every case in the vault,” says Joseph Latta, executive director of the International Association for […]
