And Justce For All......

How to Keep out of Jail
Last June I wrote about Guy Gagnon, a convicted drunk driver who  had successfully stalled his criminal court proceedings 32 times. Mr. Gagnon ran down a teenager while driving drunk out of his mind, over four years ago. He agreed to take a plea, but then changed his mind and has used a variety of stalling devices to keep out of jail.
I hoped by this time he'd be safely tucked away in prison, but alas after another four court appearances, he remains free as a bird. The judge is studying various aspects of the case and hasn't scheduled a new court date as of yet. Let hope his 37th court appearance will be the last. Don't bet on it....... Link (French)

Strange goings on in Prison
Guy Turcotte, the Piedmont cardiologist accused of killing his two children last February, was sent to the hospital last week after his second suicide attempt, this one in the Rivière-des-Prairies detention facility. He tried to end his life by taking an overdose of pills. Nobody was shedding any tears or was asking too many questions until another inmate at the same prison, killed himself this week after taking an overdose of pills as well. It seems that because of a shortage of personnel the prison distributed all the weekend medication to prisoners in one shot! Of course they deny that this had anything to do with the overdoses.Link (French)

Dogfight over Domain Name
You've got to give Pierre Barnoti, the disgraced ex-director of the Montreal branch of the SPCA credit for chutzpah. Under Mr. Barnoti's leadership the organization went broke, while he continued to do well for himself. He ran the SPCA as a personal fiefdom until his ouster by outraged board members. Of the assorted abuses he is accused of, he registered the domain SPCA.COM under his own name and now claims personal ownership.
The two sides are squaring off in court. LINK

Happy Birthday to You
A Quebec court judge has ruled that Brandon Pardi will be tried as an adult on charges of dangerous driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death. Pardi, now 20, is charged in the death of three-year-old Bianca Leduc in suburban L'Ile Perrot after a reckless driving incident.
Unluckily for him, he turned 18 on the exact same day that the fatal accident occurred. He tried to get his case heard in youth court, where sentencing is decidedly more lenient and failed.
Too bad, sucker! HA HA!!!

Drug Dealer wants Lenient Sentence Because Police Shot Him
Daniel Topey was shot by members of the Montreal police SWAT team after he fired on police as he tried to avoid arrest on drug-related charges in NDG in 2007. He was hit by police bullets and was severely injured.
Mr. Topey spent the last 2½ years in prison, part of the time in a coma and a good deal more in bed recovering from his injuries. The Crown is seeking a sentence of 12 years for an assorted shopping list of crimes, including attempted murder.
His lawyer has invoked the famous "Orphan" defence to demand less time.
Lloyd Fischler said his client has already served enough time behind bars for the crime he committed 2½ years ago;

"Given his young age, given the fact that he almost died, given the fact everything he and his family have been through [the jail time] is more than severe," Fischler said.

What's the "Orphan" defence, you might ask?
It's the joke in which a man standing trial, accused of murdering his parents, asks the judge for leniency because he's now an orphan.