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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A P R I L 2 0 1 8 11 \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP I t is a very difficult problem. Juries in criminal trials on the Prairies — in fact, across Canada — tend to be predominantly white. In Western Canada, the accused tend to be overwhelmingly Indigenous, pri- marily because of the enormous over- representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. The result is that often all-white juries sit in judg- ment of an Indigenous accused. At the very least, that lends an aura of unfair- ness to proceedings. In the Gerald Stanley trial in Bat- tleford, Sask. earlier this year, the same old story had a slightly different twist. It was a white farmer, Stanley, before the court on second-degree-murder charges in the death of a 22-year-old Cree man, Colten Boushie. Stanley's defence was that he shot Boushie accidentally, that he did not intend to fire the weapon he was holding dur- ing a confrontation on his farm with a drunken Boushie and three of Boush- ie's friends. The jury in the trial appeared to be all white. Because this was a mur- der trial, the Criminal Code allowed Boushie's lawyer and the Crown pros- ecutor to each make 20 peremptory challenges. In other words, either side could refuse to accept up to 20 poten- tial jurors without giving any reason. The Crown made no such challenges. According to some observers, the defence rejected anyone who looked Indigenous. The defence does not have to reveal its strategy and Stanley's law- yer is not giving interviews. In some eyes, notably in the eyes of Boushie's family, the defence was seek- ing an all-white jury because it would be more favourable to an acquittal. And an acquittal is exactly what that apparently all-white jury delivered. The jury not only rejected second-degree murder, it also refused the lesser option of manslaughter. "The deck is stacked against us," Alvin Baptiste, Boushie's uncle told reporters. "Where is the First Nations say in all this?" University of Manitoba law profes- sor David Milward, who has written on the case, says "peremptory chal- lenges need to be done away with, immediately." He points out that most other Anglo-American court systems have either abandoned or significantly reduced peremptory challenges. Stanley trial sparks jury selection debate Continued on page 12 ;m|u-Ѵb;71-v;ķl-;uķ-m71om|-1|l-m-];l;m| -r|u;lou;0bѴѴ-0Ѵ;_ouv-m7=;;v -vbѴl-m-];|uv|-11omঞm] (bv-Ѵ-m-Ѵঞ1v=ou0vbm;vv7;1bvbomv SHARPEN YOUR "LAWYER'S EYE VIEW" -]b;vou;-Ѵঞl;-11;vv|o;;u-vr;1|o=ouCulbmou7;u|o l-m-];1Ѵb;m|ķl-;uķ-m70vbm;vvbm=oul-ঞomĺ|bv|_;bm7v|uŊѴ;-7bm]ķ -ѴѴŊbmŊom;voѴঞom=ou|uv|-m7];m;u-Ѵ-11omঞm]|_-|ruob7;v-m -|ol-|;7bmob1bm]-m7-11om|vu;1;b-0Ѵ;vv|;lķ-m7-vou1;=ou 0vbm;vv-m-Ѵঞ1vo=ঞl;-m7=;;7-|-ĺ obm|_;ƐƒķƏƏƏ-m-7b-mCulvvbm]-our]u-7;ou;bvঞm]vo[-u; |o|_;m;;v|;uvbomĺCall 1-800-328-2898oubvb|pclaw.ca PCLaw ® helps you manage your legal business lexisnexis.ca/pclaw ntitled-1 1 2018-03-16 10:37 AM

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