Today, Red River College Creative Communications students took their second trip to the law courts and low and behold, I experienced something I’m sure I’ll never forget.
I came face to face with a murderer…or at least, he’s accused of first-degree murder (innocent until proven guilty, I know….but for the sake of argument, let’s call him Mr. Murderer.)
Our assignment was to get to the Law Courts and cover something interesting. And boy, was it ever.
Yvonne, Jessica, Kim, and I sat through the day long proceedings where we saw an accused first-degree murderer go on trial. The Crown presented three witnesses in the case, and the defence lawyers cross-examined them. The trial continues on for the next few weeks but the first day was a good indication of what was to come.
The jury sat and listened and I couldn’t help but think, wow…I am so glad I am not them.
Why? Because I found my opinion changing as the day went on. In the morning, I was sure, its first degree murder…lock him up! Then as the day went on, I became less sure…maybe its second degree murder or maybe its manslaughter.
After the day was over, all four lawyers and the judge were kind enough to hang with us journalism students in the courtroom and answer some our questions. This was the best part because we had the chance to clarify things with them (such as, why was the accused in normal people clothes? Turns out they do that so the jury members won’t catch on to the fact that he’s in jail for other charges right now….they don’t want to sway their opinion.)
I also asked the lawyers if they defended people they knew were guilty. They replied, “of course, it’s the nature of the job. The Crown has to prove the person is guilty….even if I know they are, it’s their job to prove it. If they can’t, the person goes free.” I don’t think I could do it….but the two defence lawyers just shrugged and said, “it’s the nature of the job.”
Crazy. An exciting day it was. I had never considered court reporting before, but now, I don’t think I’d mind it at all.
Except for the fact that you have to spend time around potential murderers….err. That part isn’t so great…
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The person you mention is Mr. Accused right now.
ReplyDeleteIf convicted of murder, he will be Mr. Murderer.
If he's convicted of a lesser crime, he will be Mr. Lesser Crime.
If found not guilty, he will be Mr. Not Guilty.
A big thank you to the judge for taking the time to speak to the students.
Good post Kiran, you'd be a great court reporter. I could not be a defense lawyer and defend murderers, rapists, etc.). I could not live with myself if a murderer walked free because I did too good of a job presenting a case. Our justice system is very disappointing at times.
ReplyDeleteA few years back I interviewed Jack Montgomery, who was Winnipeg's crown prosecuter, and I remember him telling me how horrible it was sometimes, and how sick our justice system is. He said it was hard working through a rape trial where a girl was only 3 or 4 and the rapist got hardly any time.