In my previous posts we talked about a crime and a family tragedy that saw a father sentenced without the benefit of due-process. Throughout my many struggles with the justice system through the years, I never denied my actions on the night in question, and only sought to have the deception and abuse behind my sentencing and imprisonment exposed. But still, with 90% of all court cases in Canada settled by way of a government offered plea-bargain, a troubling question remains unanswered to this day: “Why is there no signed accountability in court documents that highlight the process?”

Sentencing agreements between prosecutors and defense attorneys should be subjected to the same scrutiny as any sworn evidence given at trial. Where innuendo and suspicion is questioned in open court in those cases, it can be left to slander and dehumanize an accused in an unregulated plea process. When untested and unchallenged accusations go into a court record as being factual, one thing is certain, more injustice’s are sure to follow in a prison system where the word corrections is as distant from the truth as fact is from fiction. In my case, when I was told the demeaning document that was being presented to the court had been edited, just as I had demanded, and that the length of sentence offered would bring about a quick release on time served, my agreement to the plea, as shown in my posts and in my book “Poor Man’s Justice, turned out to be a lie and was used deceptively to gain sentencing without due-process.

After my release, when I returned to my community and started interviews for my book on the subject, the lawyers, the courts, and corrections, fearing exposure, quickly manufactured falsehoods of threatening behaviour on my part and banished me from the community. False claims arose from people who associated themselves with the Victim Assisstance Program in the justice system, and early on, in one attempt to intimidate me, a phone call was made to the motel at which I was working and staying while trying to spend time with my youngest son and get re-established in the community. The call, catorgorized as disturbing and abrasive by the desk clerk, was documented and signed by the clerk.

Oct 21/96

To whom it may concern:

I received a phone call on Thursday, Oct 17 at approximately 1:00 pm. The caller said her name was Karen from the Victim Assistance Program in Cranbrook. (Sherry,(the clerks name) was asked if she knew my background, then the caller told her that I had threatened my ex-wife. (interviews for my book show this was a complete fabrication) When Sherry asked the person to leave her last name and a telephone number where she could be reached…the caller refused and hung up.

During this same period, I received a similar call, which I recorded and played for the local police.

Myself…”Why are you phoning and harrassing me?”

Caller: “I’m just letting you know, …you’re not welcome in this town, …So go, …you’re not welcome here!”

Myself: “Who say’s, …I’m not welcome here?”

Caller: “I’m telling you, …you’re not welcome here! …You will not be comfortable here!!”

Myself: “What are you going to do?”

Caller: “Make your life, not very much fun if you stay in this town! You won’t be able to work anywhere, …you won’t be abe to show your face anywhere!”

Myself: “Why wouldn’t I be able to get work?”

Caller: “Because this whole town will know your history!”

Myself: “What history?” (the caller hung up)

To the best of my knowledge, the police never attempted to identify the caller.

These attempts to threaten me by deploying false and degrading innuendo about me in a community I loved; was, I suspected, a vicious act designed to halt my book interviews and keep others in the community from hearing my story. This call was just the start of a ploy used by local lawyers and judges that was designed to support the character assassination used to bannish me from community; and as shown in the previous post…likely with the aid of Corrections Canada who were desperate to justify their revocation of my parole. Despite the angry and confrontational tone of these threats, which included those coming from the courts who took the lead in this effort to silence me, (This part of the story is highlighted in the late chapters of Poor Man’s Justice) there were some who were disturbed by the degradation they were being asked to support—One of those was an a parole office by the name of Dennis Larose:

Through 1995, 96, and 97, I had interviews with Dennis which were documented in “Poor Man’s Justice.” Dennis painfully acknowledged that the suspension of my parole in 1994 after a day of bowling with my three children, had been inititated as a ‘scare tactic, noting it was unfortunate that my children were caught up in the middle of it. Dennis made it clear that a few days after my suspension, he had requested that it be lifted. He quickly received a phone call from the National Parole Board…telling him that they did not support his request and took the decision away from him. Dennis said I was taking on a three-headed monster in challenging the courts, corrections and parole, that if pursued, would result in the system instilling further frustrations to the point where I would lose the ability to get on with my life. Dennis then declared that the revocation of my parole was: “Unnecessary,” then, repeating himself, he went on to say that if he had to do it over again, (Quote: “I would back out of it so fast it would make your head spin.”)

At the end of the interview conducted in Creston, B.C. in 1995, Dennis acknowledged that the revocation was unfair, improper, and based on manufactured suspicion and innuendo which was used to support the board’s action. On my drive back to Cranbrook that day I found it impossible to hold back the tears while gripping the steering wheel and asking myself…why? How could a day of bowling with my children have been so offensive to those who were in control of my life?

It is clear from the interviews and conversations I had with involved lawyers, correctional case management officials, counselors, and doctors throughout my incarceration and beyond, that the decision makers in charge of my future were aware that the deception and manipulation used in my case would leave behind emotional scars that I would have to live with for the rest of my life.

And while some would say that my struggle to expose those who were willing to exploit the weakest moment of my life on that night in October of 1991, was not worth the fight; I can only say, when it comes to maintaining ones dignity and self-respect, I am secure in my choice to defend my character, and proud to say I did so with the aid of my three children. It is my hope that the justice system, the politicians, and those in the media, can match the courage of my children, and ensure a “Bill of Integrity,” …in the form of a signed plea bargain agreement is passed into law in Canada. Slaying a three-headed dragon, as Dennis suggested, is never easy, but securing the principles of due-process is a worthy battle that needs to be won by all of us.

As promised, the closing post on my story will come in the form of a challenge to our politicians and those in the media who have chosen to protect the judicial bureaucracy, while leaving the underpriviledged citizens in our society open to courtroom and correctional abuse.

Note: “The Bill of Integrity” updated, is titled as such in a blog post on dhmitchellbooks.com