The Verdict Is In.

[thomasng]

This afternoon, at around 5pm, all 12 of us reached our verdict in the murder trial, after deliberating from 10am-11pm on Thursday, and 7am-5pm on Friday today. I was the foreperson in charge of the deliberations, and made sure everyone acted sensibly and rationally.

We filed into the packed courtroom, full of family members of the accused and victim, along with spectators and news reporters. The defendants began to shake as we entered the courtroom orderly, one by one.

A minute later, the court clerk asked us for our verdicts, on each count per person, I loudly and clearly read out our responses as the charges were read out.

Defendant #1-

First Degree Murder- Guilty

Attempted Murder- Guilty

Conspiracy to Commit Murder- Not Guilty

Comitting Indignities to a Corpse- Not Guilty

Rape- Guilty

Break and Enter- Guilty

Armed RObbery- Guilty

Sexual Assault with a Weapon- Guilty

Defendant #2-

First Degree Murder- Guilty

Attempted Murder- Not Guilty

Conspiracy to Committ Murder- Not Guilty

Committing Indignities to a Corpse- Not Guilty

Rape- Not Guilty

Break and Enter- Guilty

Armed Robbery- Guilty

Sexual Assault with a Weapon- Guilty

As soon as I read the Guilty verdict on the First Degree Murder charges, both the defendants fell over beside each other in the prisoners box and started sobbing uncontrollably.

I filed a request to the judge, that we can be allowed to return to the courtroom to hear the sentecing after.

The judge thanked us for our duty, and discharged us from duty.

All 12 of us filed back into the courtroom, standing in the back of the room.

The judge then said "This was a horrific crime, one committed in cold blood, with clear intent to kill, and withoput absolute regard for human life."

"As a result, Mr. XXX You have been convicted of First Degree Murder, I must sentence you to Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 25 years, the automatic sentence for First Degree Murder in Canada.

"Mr. XXXXX, you have also been convicted of First Degree Murder, I must also sentence you to a mandatory sentence of Life Imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 25 years."

"Do you have anything to say for yourselves?"

Both the defendants then continued to profess innocence and racism, and called the jury "racist".

The judge then said, take both of these scumbags out".

The defendants then looked at their family members one more time while being cuffed and led away, while the victims family was hugging each other, consoling each other, and were clearly happy by the verdict.

And that's it, after 2 months, justice has been served.

[KB]

Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 25 years

In the end it could be no other sentence.......................................could it?

Congratulations Thomas, justice has been served.

Ken

[Leeroy697]

Good job. Its good to see people get what they deserve.

[SubFrog]

Wow...what a great story. Justice served...I'm glad to hear it.

Where I live, it's just the opposite. The judges are corrupt and the race card is often used. Our prisons are so over crowded that they are letting out criminals by the dozens. Anyone that committed a misdemeanor or lesser crime not committed to a human is set free. One other reason is that we can't put together a good jury...there's not enough people here. So, if they've been in jail over 4 to 6 months, awaiting trial...they are just let go.

I may not be in this city long...I'm just tired of waiting for justice. We need JOE ARPAIO. "America's Toughest Sheriff"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio

Great of you to serve your country in that manner.

[thomasng]

Now I reflect on my last 2 months of sitting in the stuffy courtroom in downtown Toronto, I am very proud now that I was able to serve my adopted country, by bringing justice to society. I may have hated the idea from the beginning, but as I reflect, I see that it is important to have a citizens voice in the conviction of criminals, and of course, with heinous crimes like these, society chose to lock them up forever.

It is an experience that is not to be forgotten, the heated discussions we had in the deliberation rooms, the pressure on us that the 2 men can be locked up for life or set free just because of us.

And I have no idea how the jury (us) could be called racist. The racial makeup of the jury was 1 Black, 1 South Asian, 2 East Asian and 8 White, which is more than representative of minorities in Canada, all of us of varying ages, occupations. We based our conclusion completely on DNA and other scientific evidence, and I made sure of this.

All I can say is, I am happy for the family of the victim. Their 6 years of waiting for justice has finally come to an end, and it can provide some closure.

[Willith]

Good work Thomas and by the rest of the jurors. It's too bad the max they could get is only 25 years, from what you said earlier I think they deserved more, but at least they were convicted. So, do they do 25 years and then face the sentencing for the rest of their crimes or just the 25? Since this is all over you can get back to some seriously expensive watch shopping?

[Johnkaz]

My wife recently did jury service, death by dangerous driving, the poor kid killed was 16. It really upset her during the trial, because she could not discuss it with anybody outside the court. Two months with a bad trial must have screwed you up at times. Now the scumbags will waste thousands of taxpayers money on an appeal.

Well done have a holiday.

Cheers Johnkaz.

[thomasng]

Good work Admin and by the rest of the jurors. It's too bad the max they could get is only 25 years, from what you said earlier I think they deserved more, but at least they were convicted. So, do they do 25 years and then face the sentencing for the rest of their crimes or just the 25? Since this is all over you can get back to some seriously expensive watch shopping?

From what I understand, and was told, they officially are imprisoned for life, and are eligible for parole in January 2026, since they were arrested in January 2001, and the time is counted from the date of arrest, not from sentencing. They may make their first application for parole on this date, and may or may not recieve it. They will not face sentencing for their other crimes, the judge stated, as the harshest sentence available in Canada has already been handed out. It's really unfortunate that by the time they may get parole, they will still be in their early 40s (Both defendants were 18 in 2000, when the crime was committed).

I also found out today that this is the second trial for these two men. A publication ban was issued before the trial began, to prevent us, the jury from finding out about the men's criminal history, and to prevent us from knowing another trial was held in 2003. After the trial, we now know a lot more.

Apparently, in 2003, another 2 month trial was conducted, and the two men were found guilty by another jury after less than 8 hours of deliberations, and sentenced accordingly. They appealed the sentence and conviction, on the grounds the judge erred on his instructions to the jury, deeming them prejudicial, and the conviction was overturned by an appeals court in 2005, and the new trial was held in March 2006, and we convicted them yesterday again.

We now know a little more about the criminal history of the men. Numerous convictions for robbery, break and enter, sexual assault were on the records of the men, and none of them served any jail time for their previous crimes.

[Guest TTK]

Hanging's too good for these bar stewards......a good kick up the [censored] is what is required........preferably with a 500,000 volt Doc Marten boot.....!

[sevomd]

They'll be getting all sorts of things up their [censored] for the next 25 years.

Eddy

[ratchpot]

......a good kick up the [censored] is what is required........

I think they'll be getting something else up the [censored] in jail....

[Pugwash]

Welcome back and well done.