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The Toronto South Detention Centre has quickly become Canada's most notorious jail, which holds many non-convicted accused while they await trial.
The facility is notoriously short staffed, and the jail's solution is to simply hold the prisoners in solitary confinement while they await trial. Justice Schreck recently sentenced a man to 9 years in prison, but reduced the sentence to 33 months because the jail conditions were so bad while he was awaiting trial: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2020/2020onsc188/2020onsc188.html
"Mr. Persad was locked down for 47% of the time he was at the TSDC. During those periods, he was confined to his cell and sometimes went for days without access to a telephone, shower or fresh air. The reason for the vast majority of the lockdowns was staffing shortages. The problem of frequent lockdowns due to staff shortages has been the subject of repeated expressions of concern by the judiciary over the past four years to the effect that the conditions at the TSDC are inhumane and fail to comport with basic standards of human decency. It has become clear that the Ministry of the Solicitor General, which is responsible for the operation of the TSDC, has chosen to ignore that judicial condemnation."
The stories keep on coming.
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2020/2020onsc232/2020onsc232.html
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...security-gown-without-socks-or-underwear.html
For the first day of his murder trial, the Toronto South Detention Centre sent an accused to trial in a "security gown".
"The scene with Mr. Baichoo sitting in the prisoner’s box covered by the security gown bore little resemblance to a Canadian courtroom. A reasonable observer with no knowledge of our usual procedures or juridical culture, seeing Mr. Baichoo sitting in the prisoner’s box in the security gown, could only have concluded that the justice system goes to great pains to thoroughly humiliate those accused of serious crimes. Such an observer could only anticipate with horror what the next step for Mr. Baichoo would be.
This spectacle was profoundly troubling. A prisoner has probably never appeared in Brampton Superior Court in only a security gown, let alone on the first day of his murder trial. It has happened on rare occasions in the Ontario Court of Justice for brief appearances in bail court or assignment court."
And why was he in a security gown? Well, because he tested positive for contraband in a scanner. And how did the police know he had tested for contraband?
"[32] The scanned images of Mr. Baichoo in which contraband was said to be visible were projected in court as part of Sgt. Munir’s evidence. The first scan shown purportedly displaying contraband was the one from the day before, January 29, 2019 at 8:32 a.m. Over several pages of transcript, detailed questions were asked by Mr. Whitehead and answers given by Sgt. Munir. The contraband was identified in the projected scan and there was some discussion of what it might have been. It was reiterated that it was not a weapon. A weapon would show up as a distinct and clear shape.
[33] A second scan was then shown on the screen in court. This one was said to be taken after the first one. Sgt. Munir pointing to it, testified that the contraband was not as concentrated as it in the previous image, it has been broken apart to make it look smaller in an effort to attempt to deceive the scanner. According to his evidence, to make it smaller, Mr. Baichoo would have had to take it out of his rectum, get rid of some of the contraband, and re-insert it. In Sgt. Munir’s view, the contraband was changing size. It now had a “tail” on it.
[34] When questions were asked about why the stamped time on the second scan was the same as on the first scan, Sgt. Munir testified that it might just have been the time it was saved on the computer. However, these questions led Sgt. Munir to realize that the true answer was that this image was actually the same as the first scan. They were the exact same image. Sgt. Munir had merely changed the exposure slightly on the second image to highlight some aspects of it. It appeared lighter but it was the same photographic image. He had forgotten that he had done this.
[35] Sgt. Munir admitted that he had made a mistake. The contraband had not been moved, it had not become smaller, there was not a tail on it now when before there had not been. It was the exact same.
[36] This was not a momentary lapse. Sgt. Munir is one of the most experienced officers at TSDC in reading scans. Yet he spent considerable time in court labouring over the second image and explaining how it showed some major differences. It was only when it was pointed out to him that the digital times recorded on the images were the same that he became aware of his error.
[37] This was a persuasive demonstration of the unreliability of the reading of body scans."
Canada's jails are being run by clowns.
The facility is notoriously short staffed, and the jail's solution is to simply hold the prisoners in solitary confinement while they await trial. Justice Schreck recently sentenced a man to 9 years in prison, but reduced the sentence to 33 months because the jail conditions were so bad while he was awaiting trial: https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2020/2020onsc188/2020onsc188.html
"Mr. Persad was locked down for 47% of the time he was at the TSDC. During those periods, he was confined to his cell and sometimes went for days without access to a telephone, shower or fresh air. The reason for the vast majority of the lockdowns was staffing shortages. The problem of frequent lockdowns due to staff shortages has been the subject of repeated expressions of concern by the judiciary over the past four years to the effect that the conditions at the TSDC are inhumane and fail to comport with basic standards of human decency. It has become clear that the Ministry of the Solicitor General, which is responsible for the operation of the TSDC, has chosen to ignore that judicial condemnation."
The stories keep on coming.
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2020/2020onsc232/2020onsc232.html
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...security-gown-without-socks-or-underwear.html
For the first day of his murder trial, the Toronto South Detention Centre sent an accused to trial in a "security gown".
"The scene with Mr. Baichoo sitting in the prisoner’s box covered by the security gown bore little resemblance to a Canadian courtroom. A reasonable observer with no knowledge of our usual procedures or juridical culture, seeing Mr. Baichoo sitting in the prisoner’s box in the security gown, could only have concluded that the justice system goes to great pains to thoroughly humiliate those accused of serious crimes. Such an observer could only anticipate with horror what the next step for Mr. Baichoo would be.
This spectacle was profoundly troubling. A prisoner has probably never appeared in Brampton Superior Court in only a security gown, let alone on the first day of his murder trial. It has happened on rare occasions in the Ontario Court of Justice for brief appearances in bail court or assignment court."
And why was he in a security gown? Well, because he tested positive for contraband in a scanner. And how did the police know he had tested for contraband?
"[32] The scanned images of Mr. Baichoo in which contraband was said to be visible were projected in court as part of Sgt. Munir’s evidence. The first scan shown purportedly displaying contraband was the one from the day before, January 29, 2019 at 8:32 a.m. Over several pages of transcript, detailed questions were asked by Mr. Whitehead and answers given by Sgt. Munir. The contraband was identified in the projected scan and there was some discussion of what it might have been. It was reiterated that it was not a weapon. A weapon would show up as a distinct and clear shape.
[33] A second scan was then shown on the screen in court. This one was said to be taken after the first one. Sgt. Munir pointing to it, testified that the contraband was not as concentrated as it in the previous image, it has been broken apart to make it look smaller in an effort to attempt to deceive the scanner. According to his evidence, to make it smaller, Mr. Baichoo would have had to take it out of his rectum, get rid of some of the contraband, and re-insert it. In Sgt. Munir’s view, the contraband was changing size. It now had a “tail” on it.
[34] When questions were asked about why the stamped time on the second scan was the same as on the first scan, Sgt. Munir testified that it might just have been the time it was saved on the computer. However, these questions led Sgt. Munir to realize that the true answer was that this image was actually the same as the first scan. They were the exact same image. Sgt. Munir had merely changed the exposure slightly on the second image to highlight some aspects of it. It appeared lighter but it was the same photographic image. He had forgotten that he had done this.
[35] Sgt. Munir admitted that he had made a mistake. The contraband had not been moved, it had not become smaller, there was not a tail on it now when before there had not been. It was the exact same.
[36] This was not a momentary lapse. Sgt. Munir is one of the most experienced officers at TSDC in reading scans. Yet he spent considerable time in court labouring over the second image and explaining how it showed some major differences. It was only when it was pointed out to him that the digital times recorded on the images were the same that he became aware of his error.
[37] This was a persuasive demonstration of the unreliability of the reading of body scans."
Canada's jails are being run by clowns.