“Justice, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder!” A magical exprsssion that splits its alliance between society’s demand for due process, and the justice system’s less ethical process of, “The end justifies the means,” to meet out justice. Determining what is right or what is wrong is not always as cut and dry as we are led to believe. Defense Lawyers, Crown Prosecutors and Judges are burdened with the same prejudices and frailties as the rest of us, and in cases where strong emotions come into conflict with the administration of fair and equal justice, due process can quickly be compromised.
Such was the case in the fall of 1991. At forty-one years of age, a family man with three children, I assaulted another man. Absent a criminal record as written about in Poor Man’s Justice, and my posts at dhmitchellbooks.com, those involved in my defense and prosecution, including the courts, initiated a character assassination that led to a sentence of three-and-a-half-years. They did so while relying on promises of early parole to silence talk about the removal of a number of mitigating circumstances in the case.
Without going into the details as exposed in my first book, after months of seeing my life slip away, under the influence of alcohol and anti-depressants, I assaulted the other man in my wife’s life. I was told that the knife wound I inflicted left him recovering in hospital for five days. I also arrived at the hospital that night; as a half-hour after the assault, I was found huddled against the wall of our community’s lone police station, incoherent, knowing I had done something wrong, but unable to explain what it was. Held without bail for six months, I accepted responsibility for my actions, not withstanding the forensic psychiatrist’s conclusion that my disassociated state of mind was a factor to be considered in sentencing. While the length of sentence I received can be debated, it in fact, is not what this story is about…This story is about the aftermath of a deceitful offer to a plea bargain that turned one late-night tragedy into another that had no end.
The offer was a promise of release that would get me back home to my children by the summer. A sentence of two years, less a day, with early release as it was explained to me. (Sentencing date was set for late spring) I accepted the offer when my legal-aid lawyer informed me the prosecutor agreed to have a social worker’s degrading innuendo’s removed from a forensic report, something I had been demanding for months (The accusation showed me as having a life-long history of violence that had regrettably spread into my marriage…six years later, in family court, the children refuted the social worker’s writings, as did their mother who gave testimony to a single slap and a push in our near twenty-year marriage)
Expecting a quick hearing on what I had agreed to, at sentencing I listened to the prosecutor falsly claim that I had been captured that night, well after the incident. Despite the falsehood, my lawyer, knowing I had been found in a catatonic state, huddled against the police precinct within a half-hour of the assault never objected.
After the one-sided attack on my character had ended, confused and shocked by the three-and-a-half year sentence that was issued by the judge on top of time served, I was driven off to Federal Prison, where I filed for an appeal. Eight months later, despite interference from Corrections Canada, I was granted the hearing. (Note: The justice system suppressed my evidence and application for a reduced sentence through two Appellate Court hearing; which are documented in; Poor Man’s Justice, first published in 2004)
Three weeks after the appeal was denied, and two-and-a-half-years after the assault, I was released on full parole, but not without conditions. (First labled by the social worker as someone who had engaged in spousal abuse, Corrections Canada had added their own falshoods to the demeaning documentation during my imprisonment. I considered it the most vile and degrading accusation a husband and father could ever be accused of.)
The condition Corrections Canada and their parole counterpart imposed prevented me from returning home to my children, which forced me to assume residence in the nearest city outside the restriction. Confident I could expose the truth about the deceitful tactics used by the lawyers and the dehumanizing reports initiated by Corrections Canada, I set my sights on an upcoming family court hearing.
Hoping to help my case, days before I was to address the court I informed my parole officer that I was going to challenge the parole condition and enter the community to pick up my three children, who, with their mother’s permission were looking forward to spending the day bowling with their father. I expected to get a slap on the wrist, but felt it worth it to show the restriction was unwarranted. After the day ended and I dropped the kids off, the following morning Corrections Canada had me arrested for violating their travel restriction. Joined by a parole supervisor in prison, he told me that the infraction was a minor one; and smiling politely, said if I waived my right to a revocation hearing, I would receive a quick paper decision and be released.
To say I was naïve in my response would be an understatement! Agreeing to sign the waiver, Corrections Canada’s true motive for the request was realized too late. With my signature secured, I was held for weeks while prison case management threatened me with revocation. When I refused to give in to the intimidation, I was then told that I had to ask for the hearing they had just had me waive. But this time, with their threats ringing in my ears, they demanded that I be nice to my case manager, and presumably the board, or face the possibility of missing my oldest son’s high-school graduation which was drawing near.
When I refused to grovel for my release and held Corrections Canada to the promise of a quick paper decision; without notice and, yes, without a hearing, my parole was revoked. (In a civil suit filed a decade later…through discovery, correctional documentation was found that stated I had, “Reluctantly,” waived my right to a revocation hearing. There was no reason attached to the lie, and no mention of the quick release promised) Using the deceitful waiver as cover, Corrections Canada, acting as judge and jury, had gone on to initiate a vindictive act of abuse that even the most trusting supporters of our justice system would find hard to imagine.
After prison officals had spent weeks damning me for challenging the parole condition, feeling lost and helpless, I rose from bed and wandered down to the duck pond in the center of the minimum -security institution. When I was spotted returning to my room, I was transferred to the hole in the Matsqui prison for being outside my unit after hours. Depressed to the point of no longer caring, I was stripped naked…trapped in world of lies and deceit that would take me into a fourth year of incareceration, this time behind the walls of British Columbia’s most secure mid-level prison.
Wishing it all to end, I twisted the cell’s lone bedsheet around my neck and tied it to the window bars. Lowering myself against the concrete wall, I called out to my children, who’s presence pulled me back from the brink that night. The year was 1994, and now, three decades later, I feel compelled to speak out once again.
Poor Man’s Justice tells the story of my legal proceeding from start to finish, including the abuse that took place behind the walls of Canada’s penal institutions, which lasted until my mandatory release in 1995. It lays out the deception as it happened, along with the cover-up initiated by lawyers and judges who had been invovled in my case, before and after my release.Thinking only of themselves and disregarding the needs of my youngest son, they used deceptive court proceeding to banish me from the community after growing nervous about the number of interviews I was conducting for my book. Three of those interviewed. implicated Corrections Canada and the parole service as being involved in documentation that was written to demean and dehumanize me in an attempt to hide the truth of their actions after the fact.
[Note: In the civil suit, filed in 2001, I asked for compensation for psychological abuse during my incarceration. Attorneys for the justice system used the defense; that statements in correctional documents were only opinions, and were not actionable in a court of law, adding that the only damages I had suffered were hurt feelings. Discovery documentation also showed that Corrections Canada’s reason for my parole revocation had been manufactured. To cover their abuse, they had inserted a lie into one of their reports, which stated, “Mr. Mitchell was out in the community plotting and seeking revenge.” There was of course, no mention that it was a day of bowling with my children that had triggered the suspension.
The assertion, “Out in the community, plotting and seeking revenge” was attributed to my community counselor, who, during an interview after my release said he didn’t recall saying anthing of the sort and signed his own statement declaring such. In it, he made it abundantly clear that he had relayed his view to Corrections Canada, telling them that I was only concerned about injustices in the system, and that I had always maintained to him that my intentions were to pursue those issues through the court process. In support of the counselor, the parole officer, who was also interviewed for my book, admitted that the statement, “Out in the community, plotting and seeking revenge,” was in reference to my pursuit for justice in the courts, while at the same time, making the point that I had valid complaints to pursue. (Both points were referenced in a correctional document found during discovery, which had been forwarded to Corrections Canada)
I have since published a fictional novella, A Hateful Chill, a murder mystery about a family man’s rapid transition into homelessness after years of institutional abuse. Feeling strongly about this issue, I penned this blog article to create public awareness and show the need for legislation that would open the door to more scrutiny of our justice system. I am currently doing research that is focused on the need for a signed plea-bargain agreement, much like the one I forwarded to Ottawa in 1999; titled, ‘The Bill of Integrity. It’s been over two decades since that proposed bill was seen by Members of Canada’s Parliament, and eventually delivered to the justice minister’s office in 2002. The written response I received back, stated that, “the integrity of the courts need not be questioned as it is an honorable institution beyond reproach.” Of course, this is not supported by the facts as we now know them. With that in mind, I am making no judgement, but the coincidence of career advancement for some involved is worth consideration. Three of the lawyers involved in my case: Two Crown Prosecutors (sentencing and appeal) and my Appellate Court lawyer, were later awarded provincial judgeships in British Columbia. (My defense lawyer at sentencing, who had stayed silent on the plea, moved out of the country after being confronted about the misrepresentations that had occurred regarding the plea-bargain.)
One thing is certain, the cost in pain, distress, and public dollars could have been avoided if a signed plea-bargain agreement had been presented to the court in my case. (According to statistics from 1994, the vindictive revocation of my parole cost taxpayers, $100,000 that year.) Sadly, without a signed plea to keep the justice system honest, the system can deny such an agreement ever existed, and sadly, the deception can still be used against others to this day.
To stop the abuse, legislation requiring signatures to a plea needs to be made mandatory, including those of the judge and defendant. It would also bring an end to thousands of needless appeals and abusive revocations that cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Manipulating a citizen’s right to due process is about as low as you can go when it comes to violating the principles of fair and equal justice. In today’s world of government control, out of sight, prison hierarchy have been quietly expanding their powers beyond our penal institutions.You need look no farther than Corrections Canada. The institution has taken control of the parole process by dominating the boards which were once the realm of everyday citizens. The bureaucracy has an insatiable appetite for control, and if allowed to grow will soon control more of our policing institutions. Victim rights offices are one example. Corrections used their regulations to designate my estranged wife as being the victim of my crime, despite the fact that she was not the subject of my assault. This use of extended power given to the correctional service allows it to add victims to crimes for the purpose of inflaming public outrage. In this case, done so by falsely, and underhandedly, labeling me a domestic abuser, Corrections Canada was able to use its regulations to manipulate the system as it pleased.
This abuse, hidden by unaccountable bureaucrats and obedient politicians, make public inquiries into government control over its citizens difficult to expose. The justice system’s media departments are quick to use fear as a means of swaying public opinion. Listing the country’s vilest offenders whenever the subject of punishment arises is one common ploy. While this instilled outrage of the public takes place, warranted in some instances, there are thousands of other incarcerated citizens who are left unseen and unheard, and almost all are abused if they refuse to play the parole game as demanded by prison officals. Questions and answers are needed, maybe more so in this area than anywhere else in our justice system.
Who writes the legislation that allows for such abuse? Who are these people? Who gave them the right to speak out on our behalf without meaningful consultation? How deep is Corrections Canada involed in policing institutions. (My case and early research shows it is near the surface of many) It begs the question, how can the rights of due process be protected in an atmosphere of plea-bargaining and newly sought bail reform when those in control have only one rule, ‘Play the game or else! And the questions must not stop there. Are we being pushed into a society where an accused citizen can be imprisoned for years without trial? Plea bargaining and parole, born of good intentions, are the two most abused entities in our justice system; and without more oversight, I fear bail is about to become the third…Sadly, it appears it is easier to pass legislation that attacks due-process, then it is to gain support for ones that would enhance the integrity of the legal process in our justice system.
Since I have started my search for answers to these and other questions, I can say that the response from the judicial branches of government to my inquiries have been avoidance at best. Feedback from my provincial MLA and federal MP’s offices have been mostly unhelpful. Requests for sit downs with my provincial and federal area politicians were turned down. And in response to my ‘Bill of Integrity, which would enhance the public’s trust in plea bargaining, my federal MP’s answer was as frightening as it was astonishing to hear. Holding the position of justice critic, the answer that came out of his office stated that plea-bargaining was not a federal responsibility. As dumbfounding as that response was, it is even more ridiculous when you realize that ninety percent of all inmates in our federal institutions are imprisoned by way of a plea bargain.
Let me say in closing, when we can no longer rely on those who have been given the privilege and honor to represent us as elected officials, our last and only hope for a fair and honest judicial process rests with a vibrant and emanding press. When this backbone of our democracy weakens and grows dark, I fear our personal freedoms will be lost forever. Least we forget, “Power and control invites abuse, and silence feeds the growth of both.”
David Mitchell: Father, grandfather, and proud Canadian who’s experience tells us we can do better.