NATIVE_NEWS: Canada News Briefs (cont)
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 09:47:52 -0400 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED],[EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Lynne Moss-Sharman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Canada9/23/99 RICHARD CONDO Ottawa Sun 9/23/99 Condo heated in court By RICHARD ROIK, Ottawa Sun Career criminal Richard Condo accused a justice of the peace of being "unjust" yesterday after his latest court appearance ended with heated words. Condo, the 35-year-old Ottawa man accused of abducting his ex-wife and savagely beating her while out on bail last May, had hoped a special court appearance yesterday would get him a quick trial date. But Justice of the Peace Mike Jolicoeur shot down the bid before Condo had finished. "Can I have this remanded to Monday?" Condo then asked. "No," Jolicoeur answered. "How's that?" Condo continued. "Because I told you so," the JP answered."That's a little unjust," Condo shot back. Only moments earlier, Crown prosecutor Des McGarry had said he was willing to start the trial "very quickly," but noted that Condo is still undergoing a psychiatric assessment at his own request. McGarry also pointed out that Condo's girlfriend, lawyer Diane Magas, is now a co-accused in the case and should be present for any legal proceedings. Condo faces a host of charges connected to the abduction of his estranged wife Yvonne McGuire on May 31. He was out on bail on charges of criminally harassing McGuire and assaulting both her father and her lawyer. NEPHEW GUILTY MANSLAUGHTER, UNCLE Roseau Reserve Winnipeg Sun 9/23/99 CRIMEBRIEFS COLUMN A nephew who killed his uncle with a "vicious, savage" beating should spend the next 10 to 12 years in prison, court heard yesterday. Crown attorney Dale Tesarowski said Arthur Arnold Nelson, 27, deserved the penalty for pummeling Riley Earl Nelson, 49, to death at a house party at Roseau Reserve in October 1998. Nelson was charged with second-degree murder, but a jury convicted him Sept. 3 of manslaughter. Nelson is "mortified" by the pain he has caused his family, said defence lawyer Amanda Sansregret. "His mother's brothers and sisters aren't talking to each other. The family is decimated ... by the death of a family member." Justice Theodore Glowacki reserved his decision until a report on the impact Nelson's aboriginal background had on his crime is ready. ~~~ WARRIORS TRIAL Winnipeg lSun 9/23/99 Gang delay fix By KATHLEEN MARTENS, COURTS REPORTER Another day, another delay in the Manitoba Warriors trial. But this two-week recess should put the complex legal case back on track. The massive conspiracy trial, which accuses an alleged city street gang of organized crime, has bogged down amid conflict-of-interest problems. Justice Ruth Krindle proposed a solution yesterday: The legal firm Phillips Aiello can stay on the case if six independent lawyers canvassed its six clients about the situation. If the clients agree, their original lawyers will defend them during the lengthy trial as planned, but independent lawyers would take over when an alleged gang-member-turned-Crown-witness testifies against them. The move is needed to distance Phillips Aiello lawyers from ex-client Kingsley Kline. The firm cannot cross-examine a former paying customer. Krindle's other choice was removing Phillips Aiello from the case over the protests of its clients, who wanted to keep their lawyers. That move could have delayed the trial another three to six months. Dave Phillips, a partner in the firm, said his firm wasn't prepared to pick up the tab for more lawyers. Defence lawyers are being paid by legal aid, while the salaries of Crown prosecutors, court staff, the judge and security officers are also funded by taxpayers. The province also spent $3.5 million building the special Chevrier Boulevard courthouse for the trial. Krindle said she'd deal with the financial question later. ~~~ MASS SUICIDE THREATENED: COLUMBIA 9/23/99 Mass suicide threatened by Colombian tribe Opponents of oil drilling Knight Ridder BOGOTA, Colombia - An Indian tribe that has threatened to jump off a 425-metre Andean cliff in a collective suicide if oil development proceeds on ancestral lands has heard some bad news: Exploratory oil drilling will go ahead. Juan Mayr, the environment minister, issued a permit on Tuesday for Occidental de Colombia to drill a single exploratory well at a site abutting an U'wa tribal reserve. Occidental de Colombia, a subsidiary of the Occidental Petroleum Corp. of Bakersfield, Calif., said drilling of a 500-metre well at a site known as Gibraltar would begin in mid-2000. A spokesman for the U'wa, a remote tribe that believes oil is the sacred blood of Mother Earth and should be kept in the ground, said the group was "deeply saddened." "We are looking at the information to see what action the community will
NATIVE_NEWS: CANADA: NEWS BRIEFS
And now:Ish [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 08:24:29 -0400 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED],[EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Lynne Moss-Sharman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Canada Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" 9/16/99 Toronto Star Ipperwash officer's defence was flawed, court told By Peter Edwards Toronto Star Staff Reporter The lawyer representing an Ontario Provincial Police officer convicted of slaying a native activist was either misled at the trial or was incompetent, the Ontario Court of Appeal was told yesterday. The comments were made by criminal lawyer Alan Gold, who is representing Acting Sergeant Kenneth Deane as he appeals his 1997 conviction for criminal negligence causing death. Deane was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to perform 180 hours of community service. At Deane's trial, Judge Hugh Fraser ruled that the officer knew Indian activist Anthony (Dudley) George was unarmed when he fatally shot him with a sub-machinegun at Ipperwash Provincial Park near Sarnia on Sept. 6, 1995. Gold told a three-judge panel at Osgoode Hall that Deane was denied a fair trial because key evidence about natives having weapons was not introduced at the trial. No equipment or police officers were hit with bullets the night George was killed, and no weapons or bullet casings were recovered from natives. Gold listed the names of 17 people yesterday who he said could have given evidence that the Indians were armed and angry before and after the shooting. He also argued that Fraser couldn't hear a tape in which an officer said police were under fire from natives because a police officer blundered when trying to tape record it. Deane's original lawyer, Norman Peel, didn't introduce any of that evidence because he was either misled by the crown or he was incompetent, Gold said. ``He was misled about an agreement or he was not performing as to standards,'' he said. During the trial, Peel argued that Crown Attorney Ian Scott broke a pre-trial agreement not to discuss muzzle flashes in the park. At the time, Scott reacted angrily and challenged Peel to produce any evidence that such an agreement had been reached. Fraser also found that Deane and fellow OPP officers lied on the stand during the trial. George was among 30 Indians occupying a patch of land in the park. They said the park was built on a sacred burial ground, a claim that was later verified by the federal government. Peel is a respected lawyer who headed a legal team representing former defence chief Gen. Jean Boyle at the public inquiry into the ill-fated 1992-93 Somalia mission. The hearing continues today. from Ottawa Citizen 9/16/99 Ipperwash natives armed, dangerous, lawyer says WENDY MCCANN TORONTO (CP) - New evidence shows natives occupying Ipperwash Provincial Park were armed and dangerous before one of the protesters was shot dead, Ontario's appeal court heard Wednesday. Alan Gold, the lawyer for the provincial police officer who fired the fatal round, told the court that he has affidavits from 18 civilians and army members who saw guns in the natives' hands or heard shots around the time of the 1995 protest. Acting Sgt. Kenneth Deane, who killed protester Dudley George, is appealing his conviction of criminal negligence causing death. Among the most startling new evidence, Gold said, is testimony from a cottager who says she was told by natives about a week before the standoff that they had military assault rifles and submachine-guns and were "ready for anything." Another couple living near the park say they heard an officer say "they're shooting at us; return fire," on a radio scanner the night of the deadly altercation, court heard. A fourth resident of the Lake Huron cottage community says she saw George riding around in a car with a high-powered rifle not long before his death. The testimony paints a very different picture than one portrayed by the Crown during Deane's 1997 trial, Gold told the three-judge panel. During the trial, the Crown maintained the natives were unarmed and engaged in a peaceful occupation of the park they said contained an ancient burial ground. The Chippewa protesters - who were refusing to leave - had been there just 48 hours when about 40 provincial police officers armed with shields and laser-sighted rifles marched in formation on the park. George was killed in the ensuing melee. Gold wants the province's highest court to order a new trial for Deane based on the new evidence. Earlier Wednesday, he argued for a mistrial, saying the provincial police officer was not treated fairly. Deane's trial lawyer was operating under the false impression that the Crown had accepted as fact that the natives had shot first, Gold told the appellate judges. Deane's lawyer didn't bother to introduce evidence that would have proven the officer felt threatened because he assumed that
