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Letters to the Editor
Letter To Leo April 19, 2004
Defence Lawyer Walsoff’s Attack Unfounded
In Sunday April 18ths NSN I happened upon a letter written in response to a Leo Knight article about North Van Provincial Court Judge Judith Gedye “Judge Judy” or Let em loose Judy”, as she is known to the North Van criminal element. (Judge's tongue-lashing lacks follow-through)
This letter, written by a defence lawyer, Mr. David Walsoff, was written in defence of Judge Judith Gedye and the criminal justice system in general.
Mr. Walsoff explains how proud he is to defend one of the most prolific property crime criminals on the North Shore. This is an accused with so many convictions of breaking into North Shore citizens houses that you couldn’t count them without a calculator. Mr. Walsoff goes on to further state that “Judge shopping” didn’t exist in this case and doesn’t exist altogether. While I am here to tell you it does exist especially when "Judge Judy" is available. The Court Administrators in the North Vancouver Provincial Court building are constantly being called by the members of the N.V. RCMP and advised that the accused they arrest most often, will say outright that they will have their counsel request adjournments and delay the proceedings until they can get before “let em loose Judy”.
Mr. Walsoff doesn’t agree, but wait, remember he gets paid more for every adjournment and court appearance, so the longer he delays his client (the guy who breaks into your home and mine) in going before a judge then he takes home a bigger paycheque.
Let’s take a moment to review Judge Judy’s past, she a former defence lawyer, whose big claim to fame was defending one of the infamous “Squamish 5” suspects. You remember them; they were the closest thing BC had to terrorism back in the 80’s. Looking at her record, I challenge anyone to find a case where she has given a serious career criminal the maximum penalty allowed by the criminal Code of Canada. Even with statutory minimums set by lawmakers, many Judges still refuse to adhere to these statutory requirements letting repeat offenders off with probation. Don’t take my word for it, just take a few minutes and read the NSN “Day in Court” I guarantee you will see probation as a punishment after every single decision summary by “Let em Loose Judy”. Probation is a requirement given to those found guilty of a crime (along with the punishment) it is not a punishment in itself.
Perhaps Jason McConville should be let loose on Bowen Island so Judge Judy can see first hand why probation isn’t the appropriate choice for someone with this type of career criminal record.
The North Shore is a very safe place to live and there are only a handful of true career criminals that are constantly in and out of the local courts, Jason McConville is one of these repeat property crime offenders who prey on unsuspecting residents while making Mr. Walsoff a very wealthy man.
Let me be the first to remind the citizens of North Vancouver of the Policing costs involved when a Jason McConville is arrested. Surveillance is typically done for weeks by an 8-10 member squad. Times those staff costs by the dozens of times McConville has been arrested and you get the picture of the true cost.
The North Shore courts are little different from the rest of BC and that’s why most of our countries hardened criminals always waive their charges out to BC Courts for the well known leniency that “Let em loose Judy" provides. Mr. Walsoff asks Leo Knight for some solutions, so let me help with a couple of my own Mr. Walsoff.
First, Judges are elected not appointed like Canada and if they conduct themselves like “Judge Judy” they get the boot and go back to working as lawyers.
Second, there is no bottomless pit of Legal Aid tax payer money available for the David Walsoffs of the world. If maximum fees were set for specific offences you would see the guilty pleas skyrocket because the lawyers wouldn’t want to parade their “Jason McConville” up in front of an elected Judge known for convicting the guilty and sending them to jail.
North Shore residents should know Leo Knight’s articles are bang on and based upon facts that shed the spotlight on a reality those lawyers like Judge Judy and David Walsoff don’t want you the tax payer to be aware of.
inally, Mr. Walsoff points out that the Crown didn’t appeal the sentence handed down by “Judge Judy”. Well why would they? They know McConville and Walsoff will be back in a few months trying to get in front of “Let em loose Judy” anyway!
Brad Brewer