Will Jordan Manners' Killers Get Away with Murder?

Now this is a tricky one... This is one of those cases where even though there is clear evidence (at least in my opinion) that a person committed the crime; it can't be used because it was obtained via a violation of one's rights...

Here's the story from The Truro Daily News (from The Canadian Press):

Police committed ’serious violation’ of defendant’s rights, Toronto judge rules

A 20-year-old man accused of murdering Jordan Manners had a particle of gunshot residue on his hand after Manners was shot in a high school hallway, but a judge excluded that fact from the jury because police committed “a serious violation of his rights.”

“The infringement was not the consequence of a good faith error by police, but instead resulted from either a blatant disregard for or a widespread ignorance of the rights that J.W. had in respect of this search,” Justice Ian Nordheimer ruled.

The ruling, released Jan. 27, meant that the jury in the first-degree murder trial of J.W. and C.D. never heard about the single particle of gunshot residue, which the judge said, regardless, was of little evidentiary value.

The particle was taken from J.W.’s hands seven hours after the shooting, before he was a suspect. The prosecution admits he did not consent to the test, nor did police have a search warrant authorizing it.

The Crown argued that it wasn't practical to try and get a search warrant because that would have taken too long, and a sample for gunshot residue needs to be taken immediately...

I understand what the Crown is saying, and I also understand a person's right to only be searched when there is a search warrant, so this definitely was a tough call for the Judge...

At the end-of-the-day though, this thug was found with gunshot residue on his hand after Jordan Manners was shot through the heart... So whether this information was obtained justly or not, and whether the jury finds him guilty or not, we all know that he was indeed the killer, you know what I mean?...

In addition to this critical piece of evidence being thrown out, the Crown's Key Witness recanted her story (obviously because of threats to her family from the accused), so there went another key piece of the Crown's case...

I just feel horrible for Jordan's family and friends... How do you explain to them - regardless of the reasons whether justified or not - how Jordan's confirmed killers will get away with his murder? I don't even know how they'll be able to watch as the killers smile when the hand-cuffs come off and they walk away out of the court...

What a nightmare…

--jackandcokewithalime


(Image: Google Maps - Street View for C.W. Jeffery's Collegiate Institute)