The latest monthly newsletter from the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime is now available on their website.
Among the many excellent bits of information is this "recommendation" from the RCMP that victims should stay away from the trial of Robert Pickton:
RCMP TELLS VICTIMS TO AVOID PICKTON HEARINGS
By: Jesse Henneberry -->
Sub-title(s) -->
The RCMP has notified families of Vancouver's missing women to stay away from future court appearances by Robert Pickton, who is now facing 27 counts of first-degree murder. The advice has outraged some families who are worried they are being shut out of the trial.
The letters from the RMCP inform the families that they may be called as witnesses and therefore should not be present at pre-trial proceedings.
Some families are also worried about an application made by Pickton's lawyer asking the court for a wide ranging publication ban, including prohibiting those in the public gallery from repeating anything heard in the courtroom to anyone outside the courtroom.
The highly unusual ban is aimed at foreign media and Internet sites that could sidestep a traditional ban on publication. "The court would remain open, anyone in the public could attend, but the information they learn, they could not communicate to others," said Peter Ritchie.
If adopted, the ban would make it a crime to tell someone over a cup of coffee about what happened in court. Reporters could not tell their editors and. Members of the victims' families could not tell others who did not attend court.
The case has been subject to intense media coverage so far, and Mr. Ritchie contends that media scrutiny will likely increase, rather than decline as more information is revealed before the trial.
posted by John Allore @ 6/20/2005 05:19:00 PM
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