When I was younger and much more gullible, I dreamed of the day Dave Sayer would show up at my front door, clutching a fistful of helium balloons and a giant cardboard cheque. Dave Sayer, for those of you not of a certain age, is the public face of Publishers Clearing House. It's his job to track down people who are about to become instant millionaires. When snail mail was king, Publishers Clearing House was the stuff that...
It's amazing how, in a very short space of time, technology has changed the way we do things. The fact you're reading this on a screen instead of a piece of paper is just one small example. Recently, though, I've been struck by how much technology is prompting changes in our justice system. Again, it starts with the little things. More and more lawyers are consulting tablets instead of day-timers to find their next available court date. At the...
"Sorry seems to be the hardest word."I hate sappy ballads like the slice of 70s cheese that spawned the above lyric. But I've been sitting in courtrooms a lot lately, listening to a lot of apologies. That made me think of that treacly song.You see, there's a window of opportunity, after the accused has been found guilty, after the lawyers have haggled over an appropriate sentence but before the judge actually imposes a sentence, when the accused gets to speak....
My parents had a policy: if my sister got in trouble and they caught me gloating about it, they'd punish me, too. Of course, I never got in trouble, so my sister never got the chance to gloat. Yeah, right. My parents wanted to make sure my sister and I didn't celebrate other people's misfortune. I was reminded of that policy this week as I watched nine miserable-looking people trudge into Supreme Court in Halifax. They...
I would like you to try a little experiment for me: start counting out loud to 104 and see how long it takes you. Midway through, I want you to pause.Melvin Skeete Junior stabbed his girlfriend, Brittany Green, to death. He stabbed her 104 times. At some point during this horrific attack, he broke one of the knives he was using and had to switch weapons. Actually, his trial heard that the blades of two knives were found in the...
