We just experienced a bit of court drama. It’s the first, but I’m sure not the last.
It’s devastating and frustrating news actually. The dates for Thomas Brine’s first degree murder trial have been postponed. His legal representative Todd Bourcier submitted an application on Monday, September 15, 2014 to step down as Brine’s legal representative due to ethical reasons. Bourcier said he had a disagreement with his client, and can no longer represent Brine.
So just like that, we wait again. Back to square one.
We can’t help but feel like this was a tactic. How convenient that this “disagreement” happened exactly two weeks before trial.
I’m enraged that I’m forced to just sit back and watch an accused killer control the length of this process.
Has anyone in the law courts realized how this has impacted dozens of family members and friends? Not to mention the hundred others involved - all the employees that lined up these trial dates, summoned the witnesses and prepared the jury members, the Crown, the Judge. The Court of Queen’s Bench is backed-up but yet we’re willing to let that court room sit empty for two weeks because an accused has “the right” to back out whenever he wants?
Tell anyone in law enforcement this frustrating story and they’ll say, “Yup, it happens a lot.” They’re numb to this. They’re so used to important trial dates being moved around that it barely fazes them when we tell them that these precious two weeks of trial have so easily been moved.
Not only did we take vacation time off work to attend trial, but we put our life on hold. Actually, emotions filled our soul as soon as September 1, 2014 came around. It was like, this is the month trial happens, boom, emotions came flooding back!
I personally wasn’t myself all month. Thoughts of court would cloud my mind at all times. I cried at random times, not sure why, but I had a heavy heart all month. I guess the anticipation of what we were soon to hear was getting heavier and heavier as the days went by.
We’ll have to go through those emotions all over again.
How is there not a time limit for the accused and their legal counsel to commit to trial? Couldn’t there be a rule or a deadline of some sort? I’m all for giving him fair rights, but at this point, it’s safe to say that this was a loophole in the system.
Come on guys, it’s 2014, we’ve figured it out. Let’s put an end to this nonsense. Here it is, I'll write it out in one line: “Please select your legal counsel and have your discussions settled six months prior to your trial date.” There you go. It’s a simple clause that needs to be added in case a “disagreement” arises; the accused has six months to find another legal counsel, in time for the scheduled trial dates.
If we have to respect the accused’s rights, why can't the accused respect the Court of Queen’s Bench schedule?
-Cg
It’s devastating and frustrating news actually. The dates for Thomas Brine’s first degree murder trial have been postponed. His legal representative Todd Bourcier submitted an application on Monday, September 15, 2014 to step down as Brine’s legal representative due to ethical reasons. Bourcier said he had a disagreement with his client, and can no longer represent Brine.
So just like that, we wait again. Back to square one.
We can’t help but feel like this was a tactic. How convenient that this “disagreement” happened exactly two weeks before trial.
I’m enraged that I’m forced to just sit back and watch an accused killer control the length of this process.
Has anyone in the law courts realized how this has impacted dozens of family members and friends? Not to mention the hundred others involved - all the employees that lined up these trial dates, summoned the witnesses and prepared the jury members, the Crown, the Judge. The Court of Queen’s Bench is backed-up but yet we’re willing to let that court room sit empty for two weeks because an accused has “the right” to back out whenever he wants?
Tell anyone in law enforcement this frustrating story and they’ll say, “Yup, it happens a lot.” They’re numb to this. They’re so used to important trial dates being moved around that it barely fazes them when we tell them that these precious two weeks of trial have so easily been moved.
Not only did we take vacation time off work to attend trial, but we put our life on hold. Actually, emotions filled our soul as soon as September 1, 2014 came around. It was like, this is the month trial happens, boom, emotions came flooding back!
I personally wasn’t myself all month. Thoughts of court would cloud my mind at all times. I cried at random times, not sure why, but I had a heavy heart all month. I guess the anticipation of what we were soon to hear was getting heavier and heavier as the days went by.
We’ll have to go through those emotions all over again.
How is there not a time limit for the accused and their legal counsel to commit to trial? Couldn’t there be a rule or a deadline of some sort? I’m all for giving him fair rights, but at this point, it’s safe to say that this was a loophole in the system.
Come on guys, it’s 2014, we’ve figured it out. Let’s put an end to this nonsense. Here it is, I'll write it out in one line: “Please select your legal counsel and have your discussions settled six months prior to your trial date.” There you go. It’s a simple clause that needs to be added in case a “disagreement” arises; the accused has six months to find another legal counsel, in time for the scheduled trial dates.
If we have to respect the accused’s rights, why can't the accused respect the Court of Queen’s Bench schedule?
-Cg