Law Times

Page 16 October 28, 2013 Law Times • u The u Bizarre Briefs InsIde story By Viola James GROOM JAILED OVER WEDDING DAY BOMB HOAX LIVERPOOL, England — In a lesson about facing up to your mistakes before you make things worse, the court has handed a 12-month sentence to a groom over a bomb hoax aimed at stalling his wedding after he failed to complete the required documentation for the ceremony. According to The Guardian, Neil McArdle went to a phone booth the day of the wedding to call the Liverpool register office to warn of a bomb at St. George's Hall. Authorities quickly evacuated the building and emergency workers arrived on scene. It later emerged there was no booking for the wedding, according to The Guardian. "He realized the day before the wedding was not going to take place and because he did not want to let his fiancé down or [he was too] embarrassed to tell his family, he panicked in the morning and rang St George's Hall," The Guardian quoted prosecutor Derek Jones as saying. "He was hoping all weddings would be postponed and it would give him time to book the wedding in the future." Speaking for the defence, Charles Lander noted McArdle, 36, had failed to go through the forms to make sure the wedding was legal. He realized the oversight the night before the wedding, The Guardian reported. But by then, he couldn't face telling the bride, Amy Williams, who had gotten up at 4 a.m. to put on her wedding dress. According to The Guardian, the two are still together. McArdle, however, must serve the 12-month sentence after pleading guilty to communicating false information with intent. HINDU RITUAL CITED IN DRUG DEFENCE LITTLEDEAN, England — A woman on trial on drug charges has raised a novel excuse for the substance found in her home: she was going to burn the cannabis as part of a Hindu spiritual healing ritual. According to the Gloucester Citizen, Katarzyna Dryden Chouen maintains she never planned to sell the large amounts of drugs police found. "You may notice as you go through the diaries, the growth narratives are interspersed with what appear to be references to Hindu deity Shiva and personal thoughts," the Gloucester Citizen quoted prosecutor Paul Grumbar as telling the jury. "She said she was educated as a homeopath, practising Ayurveda, an ancient healing system in India. She said she grew it because she was a Brahma and once it had dried out it would be burnt in a small pit." Police, however, have suggested otherwise since their raid on her home last year. The woman and her husband are facing multiple charges including possession of cannabis with intent to supply and money laundering, according to the Gloucester Citizen. IP RULES TOSSED AS SOCCER TEAM DONS KNOCK-OFFS BOGOTA — It wasn't a great day for upholding intellectual property rules, but at least a Colombian soccer team got to play. According to Reuters, Colombian side Independiente Santa Fe played in knock-off versions of their own shirts bought from street vendors outside the stadium after forgetting to bring their change uniforms to an away game. Opponents Boyaca Chico, from the neighboring province of Boyaca, refused to switch to their own reserve uniform to resolve the bind caused by clashing colors of the two top-flight teams' regular kits. According to Reuters, Bogota-based Santa Fe began the game in their grey training kits, adding numbers with surgical tape, while an assistant bought counterfeit shirts on the street for 12,000 pesos ($6.37) apiece and scrawled names and numbers on them with a red marker pen. LT "So, Ms. Jones, provided you maintain living-dead status, zombification has no effect on your pension benefits." ADR INSTITUTE HONOURING WINKLER SET TO OPEN As Ontario Court of Appeal Chief Justice Warren Winkler prepares for retirement, Osgoode Hall Law School is getting set to establish a dispute resolution institute in his honour. The opening of the Winkler Institute for Dispute Resolution, a centre focused on developing new approaches to dispute resolution, will coincide with Winkler's retirement this year. "The Winkler Institute for Dispute Warren Winkler Resolution is intended both to be a lasting tribute to Chief Justice Winkler's outstanding service to the justice system and to be a leader in developing and implementing new approaches to dispute resolution in the service of improving access to justice," said Osgoode dean Lorne Sossin. "As a law school with a long tradition of leadership in the dispute resolution field, we are tremendously excited about this initiative and honoured that the chief justice has agreed to lend his name to it. There are numerous Osgoode faculty and students whose work will fit within and be enhanced by the creation of this institute." Fundraising for the institute will continue throughout the fall. Funds collected for the centre currently stand at more than $2 million through a combination of donations from more than 40 law firms and individuals as well as York University. JP CHALLENGES MISCONDUCT FINDING Ontario justice of the peace Errol Massiah has filed a judicial review application challenging a Justices of the Peace Review Council decision that found him guilty of professional misconduct after six court staff accused him of sexual harassment. Massiah's notice of application claims that in its April 2012 decision, the hearing panel "erred in law and deprived the applicant of natural justice and fairness in the manner of the disposition of the allegations against him." The panel found Massiah guilty of misconduct after court staff accused him of making sexually suggestive comments, eying female court staff up and down, and, in one case, slapping someone's buttocks. Since then, five other female court staff members, including a prosecutor, have made further complaints about alleged inappropriate behaviour by Massiah. CHAMPIONS OF WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP HONOURED Three of Catalyst Inc.'s champions of women's leadership in Canada are members of the legal profession. McCarthy Tétrault LLP chairman and chief executive officer Marc-André Blanchard, Dentons Canada LLP partner Kate Broer, and Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP counsel Purdy Crawford made the list this year. Catalyst honours leaders who have made efforts for the advancement of women in business. "You can't make change without champions leading the charge," says Alex Johnston, executive director of Catalyst Canada. "It takes real courage to stand up, speak out, and shatter barriers and biases that can block women from leadership roles. These extraordinary champions have taken bold steps to transform the workplace for women, and inspired others to follow their lead. That's how you create the ripple effect needed to make change stick, for today and future generations." POLL RESULTS The results of the latest Law Times online poll are in. The majority of respondents agree with former Supreme Court justice Ian Binnie that Canada should follow Australia's lead in requiring other corroborative evidence beyond DNA in criminal cases. Eighty-three per cent of respondents agreed that DNA should be conclusive only in the presence of other evidence. Among those who feel otherwise is one of the prosecutors in the O.J. Simpson case, Rockne Harmon, who told Law Times there are few cases where DNA evidence has led to a wrongful conviction. LT A DAILY BLOG OF CANADIAN LEGAL NEWS [ WWW.CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/LEGALFEEDS ] LegalFeeds-BB-LT-Apr23-12.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com POWERED BY CANADIAN LAWYER & LAW TIMES 12-04-16 11:56 AM

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