Five members from Canada’s 2018 world junior team (Hart, McLeod, Dube, Foote and Formenton) told to surrender to police, facing sexual assault charges

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oldunclehue

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Jun 16, 2010
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So we've been playing the same game, just different "teams" and "positions" for about the same amount of time (20 years).

As I said, it appears we're arguing semantics. I am hearing from you that police consider an accused as "charged" when an information is sworn. From defence counsel perspective, I don't consider my client "charged" until they've been arrested (with or without warrant) or they've "attorned to the jurisdiction" in Court.

It's easy for laypeople to be confused over what these words mean when even the professionals have different definitions!
R vs Jordan stipulates once the charges are laid they are formally charges. Their names and photos can be released to the public. R vs Jordan has changed the game in regards to how we have to do things. In fact I currently have a file where its being challenged. A forcible confinemnt of a woman, firearms, drugs and stolen vehicle investigation with a prolific offender with a CR a mile long. He fled to a different Province and was arrested on a home invasion there. The provinces refused to extend warrants and subject was in custody for 2 years. He returned to my province and was picked up on my warrant. Now his defense is challenging why it took so long to bring the charges to court....challenging R Vs Jordan as the charges were laid and the clock starts right then and there.
 
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I am toxic

. . . even in small doses
Oct 24, 2014
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The wording of it is kinda weird, to be honest.

Not sure why they're definitively saying they will be charged, but haven't been yet. It's a five year old case. It's not like this happened yesterday and you're trying to arrest them immediately and haven't had the time to file formal charges. It's been five years.

Maybe it's a difference between US and Canadian criminal system that I'm not aware of. I dunno.
The authorities effed up royally five years ago.

This case is almost as much an indictment of the London police / justice system as it is about a gang rape.

There will be political jockeying behind the scenes as certain people cover their asses, each step of this case will be doubly scrutinized, hence the horrific delays.
 

waitin425

Registered User
Jan 10, 2009
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Mods be like......

black-cat-typing-fast-z5sz7os422wrp0pt.gif


I already had one speculative post removed, so now I will resort to funny gifs.

Love our Mods, they truly do great work!
 

Tob

Registered User
Sep 16, 2017
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The Virtanen case is a great example of one of the worst charges laid on a defendant when it was clear as day he was innocent yet was still charged.

Posters that are saying rot in jail clearly don't understand how life works.
 

ERYX

'Pegger in Exile
Oct 25, 2014
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The threshold of reasonable and probable grounds is not hard to reach in the Policing world, I have been challenged hundreds of times on files in court and have never had anything tossed out based on a warrantless arrest. In fact the only time we seek a warrant at first instance is if the accused is actively avoiding arrest. R vs Jordan would be an issue in almost all cases if we swore charges, sought a warrant and then arrested. Once charges are laid....the clock starts on reasonable timeline of prosecution.
Agreed the threshold is low, but some officers are not as careful as others in ensuring they have enough evidence all the same. Probably not all officers are as good at articulating their grounds as others. Clearly, you are not only a very experienced officer, but also one who never goes off half-cocked and doesn't make arrests without making sure you have enough to go on.

This is not universal, and the hundreds or even thousands of reported cases out there of evidence being excluded over wrongful arrests attests to this.

There is no doubt significant jurisdictional variation. Some forces have better training, or more experienced mentors than others. Some judges are more forgiving of police than others. Lots of variety.

Also, I'd say the majority of cases where I have been successful in challenging warrantless arrests is in cases involving CIs and the police/Crown wanting to keep their ID hidden. But the judge in court can only rule on what they're told, so often significant evidence is left out to protect the snitches, and then the arrest ends up being ruled a violation of s. 9. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
 

PaulD

Time for a new GM !
Feb 4, 2016
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A lot of cases have publication bans in Canada, especially sexual assaults. In which case it is illegal for the media or any person to discuss the details of the case, especially the names of people/witnesses involved.
My understanding. Publication bans do not include names of people charged. Only the day to day court details in the ongoing case. Once charged the names are public information.
 

ERYX

'Pegger in Exile
Oct 25, 2014
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Ontario, Canada
R vs Jordan stipulates once the charges are laid they are formally charges. Their names and photos can be released to the public. R vs Jordan has changed the game in regards to how we have to do things. In fact I currently have a file where its being challenged. A forcible confinemnt of a woman, firearms, drugs and stolen vehicle investigation with a prolific offender with a CR a mile long. He fled to a different Province and was arrested on a home invasion there. The provinces refused to extend warrants and subject was in custody for 2 years. He returned to my province and was picked up on my warrant. Now his defense is challenging why it took so long to bring the charges to court....challenging R Vs Jordan as the charges were laid and the clock starts right then and there.
Interesting. I've not had the opportunity to argue any R. v. Jordan cases myself, since the courts locally are generally quite fast. I'll have another look and remember what you've said. The only case similar to yours that I argued was pre-Jordan and in that case the Court held that the clock didn't start running until my client was arrested.
 
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oldunclehue

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Jun 16, 2010
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Agreed the threshold is low, but some officers are not as careful as others in ensuring they have enough evidence all the same. Probably not all officers are as good at articulating their grounds as others. Clearly, you are not only a very experienced officer, but also one who never goes off half-cocked and doesn't make arrests without making sure you have enough to go on.

This is not universal, and the hundreds or even thousands of reported cases out there of evidence being excluded over wrongful arrests attests to this.

There is no doubt significant jurisdictional variation. Some forces have better training, or more experienced mentors than others. Some judges are more forgiving of police than others. Lots of variety.

Also, I'd say the majority of cases where I have been successful in challenging warrantless arrests is in cases involving CIs and the police/Crown wanting to keep their ID hidden. But the judge in court can only rule on what they're told, so often significant evidence is left out to protect the snitches, and then the arrest ends up being ruled a violation of s. 9. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
Thanks for the compliment, I pride myself in being a good member. I find big municipal Policing has a lot less success in court. Likely better lawyers in the cities and more crime.

All in all I predict they will be arrested, interviews attempted and released likely on undertaking with conditions not to contact or communicate with the victims and co-accused's and to turn over passports. Their names may not be released right away depending on how Police deal with their release.

Also depending on interviews etc...they may be released pending further investigation as well.
 

John Mandalorian

2022 Avs: The First Dance
Nov 29, 2018
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I get that. But what I'm getting it, from my own perspective, is I'd rather have the arrest warrant authorized by a prosecutor and judge than just make a PC arrest.

Now, I'd do a PC arrest all day if it's a matter of "We don't have charges on this guy yet but he's in our custody now and if we let him walk away he's a flight risk". But if I have time on my side (And again, this case is five years old and nobody's currently in custody) I'd rather have the arrest warrant than arrest on PC and file charges later.

... I'll let you read between the lines on my background. :laugh:

You're missing the big picture. Salt Lake City might get an NHL team. Don't you see that now? ! 😬
 

LemonSauceD

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Jul 31, 2015
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I've been out of the loop on this one for awhile. What's the details on this to date?

Last I had heard it was pretty generally accepted that a bunch of them had sex with this girl, but that they apparently had a video where she basically said she was going to have sex with them and consented?

Wasn't the contention essentially whether she was too inebriated to make that decision?
They took turns having sex with her while she was very inebriated. The alleged 5.
 
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