Law Times

November 22, 2010

The premier weekly newspaper for the legal profession in Ontario

Issue link: https://digital.lawtimesnews.com/i/50365

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 15

PAGE 2 NEWS November 22, 2010 • Law Times Arrested lawyer decries police tactics BY MICHAEL McKIERNAN Law Times A prominent Kitchener, Ont., defence lawyer has been charged with obstructing justice. Police say Hal Mattson, who once represented Michael Raf- ferty, one of the accused in the murder of eight-year-old Vic- toria Staff ord of Woodstock, Ont., tried to infl uence wit- ness testimony in an attempted murder case. Waterloo Regional Police Service spokesman Olaf Hein- zel says police received a com- plaint in October during the preliminary stage of a criminal trial for fi ve people charged with attempted murder and drug off ences last year related to a shooting in Cambridge, Ont. Mattson didn't represent any of the accused when the alleged obstruction occurred but was involved in the case at one time. While he won't comment on the EARLY BIRD SPECIAL prices as low as $ based on standing order of 100 copies or more 55 With more than 1,400 pages of essential legal references, Ontario Lawyer's Phone Book is your best connection to legal services in Ontario. Subscribers can depend on the credibility, accuracy and currency of this directory year after year. More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario than any other source: • More than 26,000 lawyers • More than 9,300 law firms and corporate offices • Fax and telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, office locations and postal codes Lists of: • Federal and provincial judges • Federal courts, including a section for federal government departments, boards and commissions • Ontario courts and services, including a section for provincial government ministries, • boards and commissions • The Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario • Small claims courts • Miscellaneous services for lawyers Contact information that is current, up to date and easy to find: • Alphabetical tabs on every page for quick reference • Complete address information in every lawyer's listing • Special binding that allows the directory to lay flat when opened and stay flat • "Blue pages" to highlight government listings Catch the savings before they're gone! This special offer expires December 1, 2010 Ontario Lawyer's Phone Book Considered the industry standard for more than 40 years Perfectbound • December 2010 • P/C 0514140999 • ISSN 0845-4825 Multiple copy discounts: 1-5....$63 • 6-49....$59 • 50-99....$57 • 100 or more....$55 (Please add 13% HST) For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1.800.565.6967 For a 30-day, no-risk evaluation call: 1 800 263 2037 or 1 800 263 3269 www.canadalawbook.ca Canada Law Book, a Thomson Reuters business • Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. www.lawtimesnews.com LT - 1-2pg 4X.indd 1 10/28/10 12:06:33 PM HA1010 Hal Mattson believes police could have approached him in private. charges, he says he's looking for- ward to defending himself. "In my own head, I'm cer- tainly thinking about it quite a bit," he says. "One of the most frustrating things is you really want to talk to people about it and you'd really like to say what you feel but you can't." Th e Cambridge case wrapped up on Nov. 9 with three of the accused pleading guilty to aggra- vated assault. A fourth person pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, while charges against the fi fth were withdrawn. Th at same afternoon, police made their move on Mattson, picking him up inside a Tim Hortons coff ee shop across the street from the Kitchener court- house. According to Mattson, four detectives approached him with a warning that more were stand- ing by. Th ey then took him outside while handcuff ed and carted him away to the nearest police station. Th e public nature of the arrest irritated Mattson, especially given that police were eventually willing to release him on a promise to appear. "I thought it was unnecessary to arrest me in a public place, put handcuff s on me, and hold me for three-and-a-half hours," Mattson says. "Th e police have their tac- tics, and I'm not sure why." Mattson feels police could have approached him in private or asked him by phone to go to the police station, but Heinzel as-usual approach by representing clients as normal and attending court every day. "I'm getting through the days, but it's a little tough," he says. "Th e diffi culty I'm having I have a new-found understanding of how people feel when they're being arrested and put through the process I was. Because we do the job every day, we just assume it's nothing. defends offi cers' actions as an ef- fort to try to be consistent in the way they arrest suspects. "Police do what they need to do to en- sure that somebody is taken into custody safely," he says. "It's not unusual to do arrests like that, although it's not as common to be arresting someone who's fairly known in the community. It was done smoothly and without incident, and if he has concerns about how it was handled, we do have a complaint process." Since then, Mattson says he has tried to adopt a business- is the same problem everybody has when they're charged with an off ence. It causes them a little consternation. It's always worrisome when you're put be- fore the court system. "I know that from having been a criminal lawyer for 25 years." Th e episode has changed Mattson's perspective on the ex- periences of clients who come to him for help, he notes. "I have a new-found understanding of how people feel when they're being ar- rested and put through the pro- cess I was. Because we do the job every day, we just assume it's noth- ing. But having been through it, I think there's a lot of people who are in positions of authority who would gain a lot of understanding of how arrested persons feel if this happened to them." Mattson says he has been pleased with the reaction by fel- low members of the Kitchener bar to his arrest. "I'm sure some of them are a little tentative because of the adversarial roles we play every day, but overall, I think people have been very supportive of me." Kitchener prosecutor Bill Wilson says the Crown turned Mattson's fi le over to the re- gional Crown offi ce in London, Ont., because of the accused lawyer's long involvement with the local bar. "It's a confl ict," Wilson says. "He works here and he has for years." Mattson represented Raff erty for about six weeks from the time of his arrest in connection with Staff ord's murder. But after relations between the pair broke down, they parted ways. "We came to a fork in the path that wouldn't allow us to represent him, and I don't think he would have appreciated our representa- tion, unfortunately," Mattson says. "Our solicitor communica- tion had broken down." Mattson, who has also repre- sented suspected gang members and defendants in complex cases, says the one that led to his arrest was much more straightforward. "Th ere's nothing really unusual about the case and the role of the lawyer in my opinion. It wasn't like some sort of Hells Angels case with a secret informant. Th ere was nothing unusual." At the same time, Mattson be- lieves the complaint has nothing to do with his reputation and rel- atively high profi le in the region. "I don't believe there's any mali- ciousness in this and I'd be very disappointed if that's the case." Mattson is scheduled to ap- pear in the Ontario Court of Justice on Dec. 8. LT 2010 Robert Wilson, Waterloo Region Record, Ontario, Canada

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Law Times - November 22, 2010