To: Greg or e who wrote (35371 ) 4/18/2013 10:53:38 PM From: average joe Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 69300 Don't recall you standing up or doing anything to help here. Too worried about filling your own bowl I guess. Airdrie sex abuse failure spurs changes – Alberta Justice Christopher Walsh | April 13, 2013 | 0 Comments Airdrie sex abuse case exposed ‘culture of acceptance of delay’ in Alberta justice system – report Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis at Friday press conference. Photo: Christopher Walsh. A report into the Alberta justice system’s handling of an Airdrie sex abuse case that saw charges dropped due to delays had Justice Minister Jonathan Denis apologizing and pledging to enact new regulations to avoid similar cases in the future. “As Attorney General for the province of Alberta, I want to extend my personal apologies to the young woman at the centre of this issue,” Denis said at a press conference in Calgary. “This is an issue that should not have happened and we will take steps to ensure it does not happen again.” The Airdrie sex abuse case involved a woman who asked police in 2009 to investigate repeated sexual assaults she suffered, some as far back as when she as a child. Last fall, the crown stayed the charges because the process had dragged on with delays and adjournments and violated the defendant’s right to a timely trial. Denis said serious, violent, criminal cases like this will never be dropped again because of delays. “We intend to continue to put victims first because victims’ rights always have to be above the rights of criminals,” he said. The independent report into the case entitled, ‘Injecting a Sense of Urgency’, detailed what went wrong and highlighted solutions for avoiding the same mistakes in the future. Greg Lepp, assistant deputy minister in charge of prosecutions and author of the report, said a number of issues resulted in the Airdrie case being lost, including repeated delays and adjournments, as well as a lack of communication between the police and crown prosecutor. One of the biggest issues involved the Airdrie sex abuse investigation still being completed after the charges were laid. That added to time constraints. “If that one thing had have been different, this case would not have been lost,” Lepp said. Lepp recommended better communication between all justice parties, limiting the amount of adjournments and in certain cases, not rushing with charges before the investigation is complete. Another problem is that the Alberta courts are swamped with motor vehicle tickets that take precious court time away from addressing serious crimes. He recommended implementing further court case management programs across the province that would permit people to handle less serious matters without taking up court time. Lepp also recommended potentially moving cases to other courts around the province if it would save time, as well as delaying less serious matters to free up the courts for action on serious, violent crimes. “It would be a last ditch effort,” he said. “But I think Albertans would be comfortable … if worse comes to worse that we delay [less serious] cases so that we can accommodate … serious and violent cases.” Among the most troubling of Lepp’s findings is what he called “a culture of acceptance of delay” in the province’s justice system that grants adjournments without much questioning or demonstrated need. “There is a cultural and systemic acceptance of delay in the criminal justice system,” he said. “In my view, that culture has to change. The time has come to change it and change it significantly.” Lepp said changing that would be a challenge but necessary in order to get serious cases to trial in a timely fashion. “The system failed this young victim and it failed Albertans,” Lepp said. “It is not acceptable for serious violent cases of crime to be lost due to delay.” Denis said all recommendations would be acted upon and pledged an update on progress in 90 days.beaconnews.ca