Law Times

Page 20 April 25, 2016 • lAw Times www.lawtimesnews.com u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story SNIFFER DOGS FAIL AT FINDING DRUGS BUT DO FIND SAUSAGES. #WINNING MANCHESTER, England — A team of sniffer dogs set up at a British airport at a cost of more than $2.26 million have proved adept at discover- ing small amounts of cheese and sausages but not so good at finding smuggled drugs, a report said. An inspection of border security at Man- chester Airport in northern England found that during a seven-month period, the six dogs had failed to find any illegal class A drugs, such as heroin or cocaine. "e deterrent effect of the detection dogs was difficult to measure, but seizures alone represented a low return on investment, given [more than $2.26 million] spent on new kennels and the costs of operating the unit," said the re- port by the independent chief inspector of Bor- ders and Immigration. Each dog has its own speciality in detecting goods such as drugs, tobacco, cash, and meat being illegally brought into the airport by the 22 million passengers who use it annually. However, the report found that although the sniffers had helped customs seize 101 pounds of cigarettes and 399 pounds of meat, they had uncovered no class A drugs between November 2014 and June 2015. It said one dog trained to find smuggled animal products had made "mul- tiple accurate detections, but most were of small amounts of cheese or sausages" brought back by holidaymakers. POINTS FOR CREATIVITY AUSTIN, Tex. — A Texas county jail inmate who escaped custody while receiving treatment in a hospital was found in the dishwasher of his girlfriend's apartment in boxer shorts and wear- ing handcuffs with the chain severed, a sheriff 's department said. "He took out the racks and made himself a nice cubby hole," said chief deputy Glenn Blank of the Jasper County Sheriff 's office in East Texas. e inmate, Wesley Evans, 20, was captured and taken back into custody aer an escape that lasted about 24 hours. CHEETOS. GROIN. BAD COMBO. INDIAN ROCKS BEACH, Fla. — e Smoking Gun reports a Florida woman allegedly assaulted a convenience store worker, aer the worker told the woman to return a package of cheezies the woman had allegedly hidden in her groin area to take from the store. e Smoking Gun has an arrest affadavit that indicates the 49-year-old woman, Melissa Mow- er, allegedly placed the cheezies under her sun- dress and then grabbed a six-pack of beer. Mow- er allegedly returned the beer but did not return the cheezies before walking out of the store. e Smoking Gun reports store employee Holly Harris followed Mower aer she le the store to retrieve the cheezies, and then was alleg- edly punched by Mower in her le eye. Mower was apprehended by a sheriff, said e Smok- ing Gun, and booked into a county jail. She is charged with the and battery. LESSON LEARNED? SANTA ANA, Calif. — The Orange County Register reports a man and a woman have plead- ed not guilty to planting weapons and rugs in an- other person's truck. The Register reports Jennifer Michele Beale, 37, and Kevin Brown, 42, were arrested and charged with a variety of crimes. e pair are ac- cused of planting a BB gun, a knife, and meth- amphetamine in a truck of a woman they know, reported The Register. Police allege that Beale contacted authorities with fake reports the woman had been waving a gun around. The Register reports aer police headed to the victim's home, officers found the gun and the drugs in the victim's vehicle, and the victim recognized a sunglasses case that was filled with meth as belonging to Beale. Police then turned their attention the two suspects, said The Register. e pair is due to appear in court later this month. LT © 2015 Stewart. All rights reserved. We put legal professionals front and centre and we put our efforts into keeping real estate transactions where they belong – in your office. Learn more about our level of support, call (888) 667-5151 or visit stewart.ca. Ally Untitled-4 1 2016-03-02 10:19 AM CHANGES AT MCCARTHY TÉTRAULT McCarthy Tétrault LLP has an- nounced shifts to its senior lead- ership team. The changes come after Dave Leonard was ap- pointed the firm's new chief ex- ecutive officer. Kim Thomassin is the firm's national client leader, Barb Boake is the national practice leader, Shea Small is the inter- national and business strategy leader, Matthew Peters is the national innovation leader, and Tracie Cook will continue as the firm's chief operating officer, said a news release. "I am confident this talented and business-focused group of pro- fessionals will meet our vision to grow as an innovative, market-lead- ing firm," said Leonard, in the release. "Each of these individuals has the passion and proven track record to help lead the firm." NEW REPORT FROM COMMUNITY LEGAL EDUCATION ONTARIO A research report has been re- leased on the availability of legal information for people in Ontar- io. A Community Legal Edu- cation Ontario news release said the report "identifies almost 1,700 legal information resourc- es on a range of topics produced by over 180 organizations." "This abundance means that people looking for legal informa- tion may have difficulty finding and identifying what is relevant and reliable — particularly when looking for information online," said the release. The report, called "Public Legal Education and Information in Ontario: Learning from a Snapshot," con- tains recommendations to ad- dress these issues. It can be accessed at www. ple le a r n i n ge xc h a n ge .c a /w p - content/uploads/2016/02/PLE- i n-Ontario-Learni ng-f rom-a- snapshot_Final-report.pdf. SELF-REPRESENTED STATISTICS The National Self-Repre- sented Litigants Project an- nounced its first Canadian self- represented litigants outcomes data. The data is from Loom Analytics, a legal analytics com- pany in Toronto, and is based on decisions in CanLII. "Thus far, Loom Analytics has provided NSRLP with out- come details for cases where one side was represented by counsel and the other side was self-repre- sented, decided in the Ontario Superior Court between Janu- ary 1, 2012 and April 7, 2016 — a snapshot of the last 52 months," said the web site. Data presented on the NSRLP web site indicates 73 per cent of self-represented litigants who took part in hearings lost, and 14 per cent won, while the rest result- ed in split decisions or no order. More of the findings can be accessed at representingyour- s e l fc a n a d a . c om /2 016/0 4 /18/ finally-canadian-data-on-case- outcomes-srl-vs-represented- parties/. LAW TIMES POLL This week, Law Times reported that lawyers for convicted officer James Forcillo are challenging the Charter regarding manda- tory minimum sentencing. Readers were asked if they agreed with this course of action. About 26 per cent said yes, mandatory minimum sentences are designed to penalize those involved in criminal activity, not police officers on the job. The other 74 per cent indi- cated they did not agree, and that Forcillo should face the same sentencing provisions as other offenders. LT Matthew Peters is the national innovation leader at McCarthy Tétrault. 74 % YES TO MANDATORY DO NOT AGREE 26 %

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