Yes a judge has a lot of power but he can only act on the basis of the charges/evidence before him. if the Crown withdraws a charge, a judge can’t reinstate it.

the judge acted properly on the basis of the evidence before him.

there are rumours that the evidence re drugs/alcohol etc was tainted due to the improper actions of a rookie cop. crown counsel is only saying that there were problems with this evidence.

this goes back to my original point. crown counsel will be loathe to make public the rationale for its decisions.. especially if there are screwups.

the police will no be too happy with prosecutors if the police get blamed for that…

Crime reportage is a potentially libelous area which is why so many on-line media disable the commenting features on the publication of such news. Frankly, so many of the public don’t think of the possible legal implications before they hit the send button on a rant roasting the alleged criminal of the day.

Public criminal justice is a cornerstone of our legal system and one of the key principles which our legal traditions are based on. I really didn’t mention the Crown Attorney’s role, but quite frankly, the Justice did not have to accept the plea arrangement – it was within his powers to resist the arrangement made between the Crown Attorney and the Defense counsel – and even had a duty to do so if it would bring the justice system into disrepute – which it in effect it has done. These were very serious charges which were dismissed in exchange for a plea agreement to a very minor traffic offense.

I am not so reasonably sure the Crown’s reasoning was necessarily sound – especially in retrospect – given Jaffer’s acceptence of the deal – an innocent man with his financial resources would probably wanted to fight the charges at trial and be found ‘not guilty’ rather than have the accusations hang over him. Remember, he has not been found innocent in a public trial merely that the Crown believes there is a lack of reasonable evidence for a conviction. Two entirely different matters.

oh.. and if Mr. Jaffer ever hopes to get back into politics, he’s going to have to a lot better than his initial public response. as things stand now, he’s done like dinner.

Re: Israeli police

I am not going to spend a lot of time answering you – I have a whole host of other commitments but this is something which is spoken of quite freely in Israeli society. Last figures which stick out in my mind (circa 2007-08) suggested that 80% of the Israeli public had no faith in their ‘police forces’ and believe police corruption and brutality is epidemic. A number of police corruption scandals have hit Israel in the last 10 years – especially in the southern command. There was a blue ribbon panel/commission in/about 2007 or so when the witnesses to police corruption demanded not only immunity but to enter the witness protection program. Then of course there is the ‘regular’ run of police brutality charges. Take a look at this visit by the Israeli police to a Satmar yeshiva. I am not fan of Satmars but the random level of random violence used by police is completely appalling in a yeshiva setting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v37n0LBtseo

Then think back to Amona where even Knesset members who were protesting non-violently were brutally attacked – although the Yassam was also heavily involved in that instance.

The Dati-camp has been complaining along time about police brutality but their claims were treated dismissively and written off because their from the ’settler’ camp. Here is a right of centre blogger from Shiloh.

http://myrightword.blogspot.com/2008/03/illustarted-manual-for-police-brutality.html  

Kateland :
If everything from bananas and chewing gum are a Zionist plot – what isn’t?

you do realize i was joking kateland, i hope!
yr comment reminds of the latest leftoid meme that if everything is antisemitic then nothing is antisemitic.

re: rough types in jerusalem police…. you got some urls about the rough characters(not to criticize… just to learn)

it is sooooooooooooo creepy when you see these couples dressed IDENTICALLY coming down the street. There’s just something a little bit ‘off’ about them

beachnut :His rifle strap doesn’t match.And I think it’s tacky to wear similar shoes like his date.He should have his own style.