2017-01-10 Sentences should begin when you’re found guilty | Barrhead Leader

Published by Bretton McCann,

Sentences should begin when you’re found guilty

Tuesday, Jan 10, 2017 06:00 am

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What constitutes a miscarriage of justice these days?

An Edmonton man with a one-time connection to Barrhead, a man accused of murdering an elderly couple — charged twice and convicted once in September 2016 albeit to a charge down-pled from second-degree murder to manslaughter, may actually be a free man come Jan. 25.

The thought sickens me.

If Travis Vader’s attorney, through his closing arguments, managed to sway Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Denny Thomas with regards to sentencing, and Vader does get away with time served, to me that is a miscarriage of justice.

DNA evidence accumulated through searches of the vehicle owned by the McCanns put Vader in the hot seat of the RCMP’s investigation.

From 2010 until today, Vader has been the only person-of-interest with relation to this case.

I understand there were a few blunders in this investigation related to evidence.

Furthermore, I realize there was immediate criticism from legal experts following his conviction in September 2016 claiming the verdict relied on a law previously ruled unconstitutional.

The surviving McCann family members deserve closure and I believe it is something they will probably never get as the bodies of Lyle and Marie are, to date, still missing.

I feel for their son.

Personally, I would want justice for my parents if they were murdered by someone who, as it is in this case, was actually convicted of the heinous act.

The defense cannot prove that he is innocent and are seeking a downgraded sentence — something in the realm of six years.

Vader has been in custody for that much time.

Ergo, he gets to walk.

I don’t know about you but the idea that a convicted murderer could be free is absurd.

If he had not been convicted, I would be singing another tune but the fact is he was.

I’ve always felt that if you break the law and if you are indeed guilty, it should not matter how much time you’ve served in pre-trial custody.

I’m sorry if you take offence to that but the fact is, if you’re convicted, your time should begin the day they put you behind bars after the gavel comes down with the guilty plea.

For the same amount of time that Vader’s been held, released and held again, Brett McCann and his family have been held in suspended animation, waiting for justice.

I think its time someone at the federal level takes a real hard look at the Criminal Code and modernizes it so that this sort of thing never happens again.

After all, government employees make a pretty decent wage compared to the rest of us.









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