For BB: Alberta Prosecutorial Tizzy

[crazy canuck]

Let's just say it's been well drilled into me that you should never say my job is to get convictions.

And you have been pretty clear that you don't view it as such.  For that you are to be commended. 

[dps]

Let's just say it's been well drilled into me that you should never say my job is to get convictions.

And you have been pretty clear that you don't view it as such.  For that you are to be commended. 

Well, if you had BB's record, you wouldn't want anyone to think that it was your job to get convictions, either.

[Barrister]

[deleted]

[Tonitrus]

I think you meant to say that you "saw justice was done" today. 

[MadImmortalMan]

MEOWTF?

I got a conviction today, thank you very much.

Now, now. This is not a confessional. 

[Razgovory]

Question:  Do defense attorneys think justice is more important then winning cases?

[Eddie Teach]

Question:  Do defense attorneys think justice is more important then winning cases?

Well, Keanu Reeves [spoiler]threw his case[/spoiler] in The Devil's Advocate. 

[Admiral Yi]

Beeb, if the mob turns on you, I'll do what I can but it's not much anymore.

[Razgovory]

Beeb, if the mob turns on you, I'll do what I can but it's not much anymore.

Me too.  Wait, what kind of mob war we talking about?

[Martinus]

Question:  Do defense attorneys think justice is more important then winning cases?

They shouldn't. Their job is not "justice" but representing their client to the best of their ability. The judge/jury should care about justice, not defense attorneys.

[Martinus]

Also, is anyone surprised by some of BB's attitudes here on Languish after reading this story?

[Martinus]

A whole lot of nothing.

Discussing the role of a Crown is tricky, because yes, they're right - the SCC has repeatedly told us that our job is not to get convictions, but merely to see that justice is done.  But in seeing that justice is done we are frequently asking courts to convict people.  It's easy to slip up and, incorrectly, say that our job is to get convictions.

This would be worrisome if it was part of a memo about a decision whether or not to prosecute.  But it isn't.  It was in a memo about a dispute about whether or not our salaries should be disclosed.

So, I take it you will not be writing angry letters calling for resignations like the dude mentioned in that article? 

Since those people are both my boss's bobb's boss, no I think it would be unwise of me to call for their resignations.   

I thought the People of Canada were your bosses and you were supposed to represent their interests. I guess this thread sheds new light at your various morally dubious stances taken every so often.

[The Brain]

I agree with BB that convictions are just a means to an end. The purpose is to put people in gaol.

[The Brain]

Also, is anyone surprised by some of BB's attitudes here on Languish after reading this story?

No. Meaning I didn't read the story.

[dps]

Let's just say it's been well drilled into me that you should never say my job is to get convictions.

And you have been pretty clear that you don't view it as such.  For that you are to be commended. 

Well, if you had BB's record, you wouldn't want anyone to think that it was your job to get convictions, either.

MEOWTF?

I got a conviction today, thank you very much.

Hey, for the most part I'm fairly straightforward here and what I say is what I think, so I don't have much of a shtick (unlike some posters I could mention).  But pretending that you lose all of your cases is a big part of what little shtick I do. 

In all seriousness, though, isn't this whole issue largely a distinction without a difference, at least during a trial?  If your job is to see that justice is done, isn't a big part of that getting the guilty (or those you believe to be guilty) convicted?  If you don't believe justice would be done by getting a conviction, you shouldn't have prosecuted the accused in the first place (not taking into account situations in which potentially exculpatory evidence comes to light after the trial has stared, which I would assume is relatively infrequently).