Pubdate: Sat, 02 Oct 1999
Source: Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 1999
Contact:  200 Granville Street, Ste.#1, Vancouver BC V6C 3N3
Fax: (604) 605-2323
Website: http://www.vancouversun.com/
Authors: Jeff Lee and Harold Munro. Vancouver Sun

CRIMINALS LET FREE TO AWAIT TRIAL

Hundreds of violent criminals, drug traffickers and thieves facing new 
charges are walking Vancouver's streets because judges refuse to jail them 
before trial.

Frustrated Vancouver police officers call this a "revolving-door" syndrome 
that is clogging provincial courts, wasting police resources and shaking 
public confidence in the justice system.

B.C. provincial court Chief Judge Robert Metzger acknowledged Friday that 
some people are being released on bail who should be jailed because his 
courts are overburdened.

"It's not like Law & Order on television, where they only handle one case," 
Metzger said. "It's very onerous for these judges, who can face dealing 
with between 40 and 200 cases in a day. Judges are people just like you and 
me."

But police complain that even career criminals with a history of violence 
are not being held in custody when facing more charges.

They cite the case of 41-year-old Wesley Lizotte, a career criminal with 82 
convictions dating back 25 years for everything from assaulting a police 
officer to theft and drug trafficking. Lizotte is on probation for cocaine 
trafficking, faces multiple drug charges and is wanted in Ontario for 
assault and failing to appear in court.

Despite his record, Judge Kerry Smith released Lizotte on Aug. 24 without 
conditions after he had been arrested on his fourth breach of a court order 
prohibiting him from an area where he had been previously arrested for 
selling drugs.

In court transcripts, Smith said he was astounded that Lizotte would have 
been released following a previous drug-trafficking charge.

"But, never mind, you were. I don't think I would have released you," the 
judge said. "But, you know, I actually believe we should treat people 
fairly; even people with long, long criminal records like yours."

He then released Lizotte on an undertaking to appear.

Lizotte's case is just one of several that officers listed in a report to 
the city's police board this week that accuses judges of allowing criminals 
back on the street within hours of arrest.

Metzger said he can't comment on Lizotte's case, but is aware police and 
politicians perceive the court system is soft on criminals.

In June, the chief judge met with a dozen Lower Mainland mayors, including 
Vancouver Mayor Philip Owen, to hear their complaints. And he says he 
welcomes the creation of a community-based Court Watch program in which 
volunteers will observe judges' decisions with a view towards offering 
constructive criticism.

On Friday, Owen harshly condemned the provincial court, describing 
Vancouver as a haven for criminals who know the courts will treat them with 
leniency.

Owen wholeheartedly supports Court Watch, which is being funded by the city 
through seven community policing centres. The mayor said it's time judges 
start listening to city residents.

"We are paying their salaries. They should be listening to the community," 
Owen said. "The judges don't like us to go in this direction, but I'm 
saying the citizens have had it."

Metzger was taken aback at the mayor's tough language, saying Owen did not 
express those views in their summer meeting.

"I am a little bit surprised by his strong language," the chief judge said. 
"It is not an accurate assessment. Judges are not free to do what they 
want. They must obey the Criminal Code, which says that everybody must be 
released unless the Crown can produce enough evidence to show why they 
should remain in jail."

But Lizotte's case is not the only one Inspector Chris Beach cited when he 
addressed the police board Wednesday, arguing that "convicted drug 
traffickers do not appear to be deterred by the light sentencing received 
by the provincial courts."

"As a police department we are only one component of the criminal justice 
system," he continued. "We respect that each component has its own set of 
problems and restrictions, but we have become increasingly frustrated with 
decisions being made at the provincial court level."

Beach recounted another case before Judge Smith last November. In 
sentencing 31-year-old Hon Meng Lee for heroin possession, Smith began by 
acknowledging the extent of the drug problem in the city.

"Mr. Meng, on August the 12th the police caught you in possession of some 
heroin in this part of our city, which means you were caught committing a 
crime that hundreds, probably thousands were committing . . . around here 
on that date," the judge said.

Smith then sentenced Meng to one day in jail in addition to the three 
months he had already served in custody awaiting trial.

Police also highlighted a case before Judge C. L. Bagnall in July in which 
the Crown sought to have 18-year-old Teresa Lynn Tattersall held in jail 
after she failed to appear in court twice and was arrested five times for 
breaching bail conditions that prohibited her from being on Vancouver's 
Downtown Eastside.

"I'm reluctant to detain you," the judge said. "You should be detained, 
it's probably a travesty for me not to detain you, but you're 18 years old."

The young woman was released on the condition that she report to her bail 
supervisor and attend substance-abuse counselling.

Owen told of an incident last year in which a man facing a seven-to 10-year 
sentence for heroin trafficking pleaded guilty in Edmonton but opted to be 
sentenced in Vancouver. The mayor said the man received only a $2,000 fine 
in Vancouver provincial court.

Constable Anne Drennan, Vancouver police's media liaison officer, said 
senior officers, including acting chief Terry Bligh, met with federal 
department of justice officials two weeks ago to ask why career criminals 
continue to be released without conditions.

"The response from the department of justice people are that it was in the 
hands of the judiciary," Drennan said. 
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