Mistaken Release Of Prisoners Causes Concern

Recently a second prisoner has been released by mistake from a court, this was unveiled by Justice Minister David Ford.

The prisoner C onnolly James Cummins appeared in court last Friday and mistakenly released even though his file was ‘on hold’ as he was being investigated for other charges which included aggravated vehicle taking and theft.

The Justice Minister Mr Ford admitted that the error occurred whilst talking about another accidental release recently. This time the released prisoner was meant to be answering to charges of rape. The police are said to be still looking for this prisoner. The HM Prison Service were supposedly told by the court that the holding charges had been withdrawn but they claimed to not know that he was expected to face further charges in the Crown Court.

The judge involved in the case made the following comments regarding the premature release, ‘”It is my understanding however that Mr Cummins’ file was marked ‘hold’ on the basis that he is still awaiting trial on other charges, namely theft, aggravated vehicle-taking and using a vehicle without insurance.

“It appears that a prison custody officer failed to take these charges into account and released Mr Cummins in error.”

Since the releases there have been calls for the Justice Minister to step down from his position as other civil servants have resigned over much less serious incidents.

Although the mistaken release of the second prisoner was discovered just after he was released the prisoner has still not been found.

Justice Minister Mr Ford admitted that it was ‘clearly a serious situation,’ with the release of the prisoner awaiting a rape trial but that the theft prisoner was much less serious.

An enquiry is now due to take place in order to discover whether or not an individual will be held responsible for any aspect of the releases.

The minister said these were isolated incidents out of about 6,000 cases over the past five or six years.

A defence attorney can help advise anybody facing criminal charges. Fraud solicitor Burton Copeland can help with a wide range of cases.

How To Become A Criminal Lawyer In Canada

Criminal lawyers work for both the government and private sectors. They are mainly concerned with the issues surrounding a person who has been accused of committing a crime. If you have a passion for justice and a love of helping people, learning how to become a criminal lawyer may be right up your alley.

Develop good study habits during your high school years and carry them over to college. The road to becoming a lawyer is very difficult and paved with studying and essay tests. Understanding and developing time management skills will be helpful as well.

You will need to first complete four years of college before attending a law school. It will be helpful if you major in politics or law but it isn’t necessary. Find a few campus activities you are interested in and try to at least maintain a 3.0 grade average. Pre-law groups and clubs will look very good on your law school applications.

Sign up for and begin studying for the Law School Admissions Test. The exam is given four times a year at many locations across America. Once you decide on the date of your test, start studying immediately. The LSAT consists of five different sections, designed at gaging the test taker’s aptitude for law. The Law School Admissions Test’s score goes from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty. To get into the school of your choice, you should aim at scoring at least 160.

You can begin the process of law school applying after you have received your test results. Make a list of the top ten law schools you want to attend and apply to them. These schools can either be located in cities you like or just close to home. You should also apply to other schools to increase your chance of getting accepted.

Law school requires three long years of extremely hard work. After you graduate, you won’t be practicing law right away even though you have a law degree. You should use the time after you graduate to engage in temporary but eye opening law firm internships.

To be able to do law in your state you will need to take the bar test in your state. The bar test is a very hard test that many lawyers have to take a few times before they pass. After you pass the hard bar, you will get a license to do law in your home state.

Find Quebec Lawyers and list of lawyers in Canada.

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Guilty Of DUI For Operating A Wheelchair While Impaired In Canada

Did you know that in Canada, our DUI laws can result in being arrested and found guilty for operating a motorized scooter while drunk?

Yes, and the reason is section 2 of Criminal Code defines a \”motor vehicle\” to mean any vehicle that is drawn, propelled or driven by any means other than muscular power.

In R. v. Shanahan the accused while drunk in a motorized scooter crossed a road. While doing so, the police saw him and pulled him over. He failed a breathalyzer (approved screening device), and was arrested for DUI.

One piece of important information in this case is the defendant could move about on his own some – approximately one hundred to one hundred and fifty meters.

The Ontario Court hearing the case found that a motorized personal device, such as a personal device is a motor vehicle under the Criminal Code. However, the defendant then made an application under section 15 of the Charger arguing his equality rights were breached.

The section 15 Charter breach hearing (equality rights) dealt with these two issues.

1. Were the accused\’s section 15 equality rights breached?

J.D. Wake J. held that the Canada DUI laws (section 253 of the Criminal Code) does not make a distinction between people reliant on motorized wheelchairs and people who don\’t need motorized scooters.

Equality rights assessments use a comparator group. In this case the comparator group were all able-bodied persons who drank too much alcohol. This was the critical finding – the Court held because the accused was not completely immobile that he was not disadvantaged compared to the comparator group.

Moreover, able-bodied people who walk in public while drunk can be arrested and convicted for mischief – therefore lessening any distinction even more.

2. What about the dignity of the defendant under s. fifteen of the Charter?

The honourable judge found the following regarding the accused\’s dignity.

\”The argument in favour of striking down s.253 seems to be that the dignity of a disabled person can only be sustained if he is afforded the right to behave with a lack of dignity. In my view s.15 of the Charter should not be used to support the result of such inverted reasoning.\”

At the end of the day, Canada DUI laws mean a person cannot be drunk while operating a motorized wheelchair.

Considerations:

This specific case involved someone not totally disabled. Therefore, the outcome could be different if a person was 100 percent disabled.

Is it possible a person could be found guilty of our DUI laws if while on pain medication used a motorized wheelchair?

Given Canada\’s DUI laws that you can be convicted seated in the driver\’s seat of a car not moving, could this happen if not moving in motorized wheelchair?

Want to find out more about defending a DUI, then visit Metro Vancouver criminal lawyers Dykstra & Company, where you can read more information written by MetroVancouver lawyer Jon Dykstra.