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21/04/08
Plea Bargain a Joke
By Lee Hanlon
Three so-called soldiers, Brian Deganis, 23, Jeffrey Hall, 24, and Mountaz Ibrahim, 25, all from the Queen’s Own Rifles admit to beating to death 59 year-old homeless man, Paul Croutch in 2005. I call these three ‘so-called reservist’ because they are, in my opinion, not real soldiers. A real soldier would have brought Mr. Croutch in from the cold and fed him. Real soldiers do their job to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Crown Prosecutor Hank Goody, accepted a mid trial plea bargain and Superior Court Justice Eugene Ewaschuk allowed it to be entered. The lesser charge entered is manslaughter, meaning the three accused will get off with an easy sentence. Once again, we can thank the so-called justice system for giving more rights to the accused and none for the victims. Unlike the US justice system, Canadian judges are not obliged to accept plea bargains, nor are Crown lawyers.
So, why did Mr. Goody accept the mid-trial plea bargain? In my opinion, any Judge, or Crown Prosecutor who accepts a plea bargain at any stage of pre-trial or mid-trial, especially in a horrendous crime such as this one, should be dismissed from their appointments.
At least these so-called soldiers will be given a dishonorable discharge from the service. Unfortunately that will have very little meaning for the family and friends of Mr. Croutch, as well as the community and society as a whole. I for one welcome the Conservative government’s ‘get tough on crime’ bill. And the sooner that bill becomes law the better.