Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2015
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Wendy Gillis
Page: A1

AN APPEAL TO FACEBOOK, A JAIL TERM CUT SHORT

Lawyers Point Out Mistake in Mandatory Minimum Sentence, Leading to 
Sarnia Man's Freedom

Call it trial by Facebook.

When justice wasn't served inside a Sarnia courtroom this month, an 
unconventional appeal was spontaneously mounted in a much less 
hallowed hall: an online comment thread.

On Jan. 15, James Trevor Munroe, 23, was slapped with a year in jail 
after pleading guilty to possessing just over three ounces of 
marijuana for trafficking, a relatively small amount that typically 
garners a 30- or 60-day sentence.

But the federal prosecutor, Munroe's lawyer and even the judge, who 
called the sentence "extremely harsh," said their hands were tied: 
Canada's new mandatory minimum sentencing laws dictated the penalty 
must be one year in jail.

"This is mandatory. Not much I can do," the Sarnia Observer quoted 
Munroe saying afterwards.

But within days, a ragtag team of Toronto lawyers and prosecutors 
serendipitously assembled on Facebook, at first decrying the steep 
penalty before discovering the amount of marijuana did not even 
qualify for mandatory minimum sentencing.

After the mistake was brought to the attention of a federal 
prosecutor in charge of Ontario's criminal appeals unit - again on 
Facebook - Munroe was released on bail, just over a week into his 
year-long stint. "My legs gave right out," Munroe told the Star. "If 
crying wouldn't have made things worse in jail for me, it would have 
been a time I cried."

The virtual retrial began on Jan. 17, when Toronto criminal lawyer 
John Struthers posted a news article about Munroe's sentence on his 
Facebook feed.

"I was sort of outraged by this," Struthers said in an interview. "I 
was thinking: 'Is this the new normal?' This is getting to be absurd, 
for three ounces of pot."

Friends in Struthers' network, many of them lawyers, began weighing 
in, debating the merits of tougher drug legislation, passed in 2012 
under the Safe Streets and Communities Act.

Soon, debate turned to curiosity - did it even apply?

Munroe had 97 grams, or 3.4 ounces, of marijuana, and a recent prior 
drug trafficking conviction.

But according to the legislation, there must be three kilograms of 
marijuana to warrant a mandatory minimum sentence of one year, even 
with the previous trafficking conviction.

Several lawyers piped in, linking to the law online and saying the 
mandatory minimum didn't apply in the case. "Someone get this fellow 
bail," one said.

Nick Devlin, another of Struthers' Facebook friends, who leads the 
federal criminal appeals unit in Ontario, then joined in to say he 
knew about the issue and his office was looking into it.

By the end of last week, court officials in Sarnia were briefed on 
the misinterpretation. Neither David Stoesser, Munroe's defence 
lawyer, or Michael Robb, the prosecutor on the case, returned 
requests for comment.

On Monday, a short hearing was held and Munroe was granted bail while 
his sentence is being appealed. The news came to Munroe while he was 
working in the Sarnia jail kitchen, making him go "full-out 
noodle-legged." By the time his grandmother picked him up from jail, 
he was "four feet in the air," she said.

"He said it was the worst 12 days of his life," Carol Munroe said, 
adding her grandson is a "very tiny kid" who complained that everyone 
in jail is big.

"And I said: 'You remember it'. . . He was wrong and I really want 
him to know, he did do wrong." When he got home that night, Munroe 
said, he didn't want to go to sleep, afraid he would wake up back in jail.

"You know? Like, who does that kind of stuff happen to?" he said.

Munroe is grateful to the lawyers who realized his sentence was too 
long, though he admits he doesn't completely understand why he's out 
- -"I'm just happy I am."

He plans to start sleeping and eating right, "get my mind better," 
then apply for school.

"It made me realize, people are given second chances and there are 
people that are interested. So I guess I owe those people," he said. 
Though Munroe may be resentenced to 30 or 60 days in jail, it's 
likely he will be given credit for time already served.

Calling the mandatory drug sentencing requirements "convoluted, new, 
messy and subject to interpretation," Struthers said he can 
understand how the mistake was made. The avid Facebook user says he's 
just glad he posted the story so the sentence could be set right.

Devlin agrees, saying it's a testament to the power of social media.

"While a lot of people in the criminal justice system are wary of 
putting too much of their personal lives on social media, this case 
sort of shows the strengths and benefits of a collegial legal 
community, whether its virtual or face to face," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom