🚀 go-pugleaf

> 4newsgroups wrote:
> 
> > 
> > "Nobody" <not@home.anymore> wrote in message 
> > news:Xns99C87ABFE41771v2rt@204.153.245.131...

> > 
> > As for our recently criticized justice system, I expect that
> > they'll find him guilty, lock him up and throw away the key.  And
> > if that happens then I really can't agree that the "CDN Justice
> > system, a JOKE!" 
> 
> Me neither.  The thing is, why was he 'out' in the first place?
> 
> http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=586faea4-7cf2-
> 4eba-8898-98dcfa02a392
> 
> Man wanted in RCMP murder has long record

Maybe our Wpg Police should take some lessons from the RCMP or the 
Edmonton Police on how to get their man.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/v-printerfriendly/story/4057113p-
4661642c.html

Murder case voided, police blamed, accused walks 

Sat Oct 13 2007

By Mike McIntyre


A Winnipeg murder case was thrown out of court Friday after a judge 
faulted city police for the way they obtained a videotaped statement 
from a key witness. 

Scott Guinet, 34, appeared stunned when his preliminary hearing ended 
with the news he would be released from custody and sent home. 

Just moments earlier, he was facing the prospect of a life sentence with 
no parole for at least 10 years if convicted of second-degree murder. 

Provincial court Judge Rocky Pollock said investigators should not have 
waited nearly nine hours before they finally turned on the video 
recorder and took a statement from a woman who claimed Guinet had 
confessed to her. 

Frank Henry Lecoy, 31, was stabbed to death in December 2005. Police 
found the man lying unconscious in the area of Ross Avenue and Ellen 
Street. 

Cindy Anderson was dating Lecoy at the time, but claimed he raped her 
two weeks earlier. The Crown suggested that was a motive for the alleged 
attack by Guinet, who was also involved in a relationship with Anderson. 
She told police she and Guinet had sex shortly after Lecoy was attacked. 

Anderson claims Lecoy came to her home, which prompted Guinet to run out 
after him. She told police Guinet later admitted "beating him up" and 
said he never meant it to "be so bad." 

However, the woman's story changed when she was called to testify. She 
claimed police assaulted her and forced her to implicate Guinet 
following hours of off-camera discussions. 

Pollock said police should have turned on the camera as soon as they 
started speaking with Anderson, to avoid facing such allegations. 

Guinet may not be out of the legal woods yet. The Crown has the option 
of trying to revive the case by seeking a direct indictment from the 
provincial justice minister, which would render the preliminary hearing 
moot. 

The Crown has been using direct indictments with greater frequency, 
allowing cases to go directly to trial without a preliminary hearing. 
Defence lawyers bemoan the manoeuvre. 

Guinet's lawyer, Greg Brodsky, said this case is a perfect example of 
why preliminary hearings are important, because an otherwise "weak" case 
would have gone to a jury. 

This is the second homicide case dismissed this week. The Crown dropped 
a manslaughter charge in a controversial case where the victim was twice 
discharged from hospital before he collapsed and died at home. 

Dale Stephen Spencer, 48, died in the spring of 2006. An autopsy 
revealed he suffered a perforated colon as the result of blunt-force 
trauma. 

Prosecutor John Barr told the Free Press there were problems with 
witnesses and insufficient evidence against the accused killer. 

However, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority recently uncovered 
"issues of concern" after reviewing the conduct of all staff members who 
dealt with the victim at Grace Hospital, according to WRHA spokeswoman 
Heidi Graham. 

The WRHA has referred the matter to the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons for further investigation. 


www.mikeoncrime.com