I was thinking about stupidity and the people that take pride in being stupid. No, I'm not going to go on some tirade about the lame duck local government that we have here in Sarnia. Heck, I'm not even going to "count the ways" in which the Sarnia Police demonstrate their collective low intelligence quotient. If you're expecting me to rant on and on about Blackburn Radio Inc. in this thread, I'm afraid you're in for a bit of a disappointment.
I'm talking about genuine stupidity. The kind of stupidity that you'd typically only find in cartoons and comic strips, the kind of stupidity that makes it difficult for an observer to decide whether he/she should laugh or cry. Let me explain:
In the spring of 2002, I hired a lawyer to represent me throughout a criminal prosecution that I was entirely innocent of. Anyway, without getting into too much detail, I want to say that this lawyer was hired through the Ontario Legal Aid program and that the entire criminal prosecution lasted about five months.
Okay, so you're wondering where the stupidity is, right? Bear with me; I'm getting to it.
Anyway, for the entire time that I stood trial for the allegations brought against me, I was denied bail and incarcerated. There's a whole lot of stupidity inthis part of the story. Man, is there ever a whole lot of stupidity in this part of the story. As a matter of fact, the level of stupidity that I witnessed in the little Canadian court located in Sarnia, Ontario, has caused me to totally lose faith in and respect for the Candian Court system. However, that's not the stupidity that this little rant is all about.
By the way, I spent five months in jail for this alleged crime just because I refused to plead guilty and demanded that I have my day in court. To make a long story short, my day in court cost me five months in jail and guilty conviction for a crime that I didn't commit. However, I'm not about to make a big stink about the stupidity of the judge that convicted me, the stupidity of the prosecutor that prosecuted me, the stupidity of the investigator that (allegedly) investigated me, or even the stupid imbecile that brought the allegations against me. No, instead, I'm going to talk about the stupidity of the lawyer that represented me.
My lawyer, ah yes, my lawyer... A couple of days ago I received a letter from Ontario Legal Aid, advising that my Legal Aid Certificate had reached the end of its three year lifespan and had expired. What does that mean? Simply put, it means that the lawyer that I had hired to represent me three years ago did not close the Legal Aid file. In other words, he did not bill legal aid for the services he had rendered.
Why?
Why would my lawyer not seek compensation for the services rendered over that five month period in 2002? Was it because he knew that I was innocent and his conscience was bothering him because he had helped railroad an innocent man?
Was it because I had filed formal complaints against him with the Law Society of Upper Canada?
Was it because somebody else had paid him off in exchange for his cooperation in railroading me?
Or was it just because he's stupid?
Hmmm, there's a lot of factors to be considered, but one thing is certain: I was railroaded! Okay, there are two things that are certain. The other is that the people that railroaded me are, most definitely, the stupidest people on the planet!!!
Peace!
'tis such a sad time when innocent people are sent up the river without a fair trial.
We even have that in america too. We have too many problems with it down south too. Mainly, It eventually ends up with the court being corrupted and turning someone into a scapegoat.
Sorry to hear something like that happened to you
You're right, it is very sad. However, I'm not the type to give in without a fight. I'm still relatively young and have all the time in the world.
It would be much sadder if I give in without a fight.
Ya know, the more I think about it, the more I realize how incredibly stupid my enemies are. Take my lawyer for example:
He initiates the Legal Aid process by contacting the Legal Aid office.
He spends five months allegedly representing me in a criminal prosecution. (I say "allegedly", because he offered me about as much of a defense as the prosecution did.)
Then, after all is said and done, he doesn't even file with Legal Aid to collect his money. A mere oversight? I highly doubt it! After all, this is the same lawyer that continued to discuss my case with the Sarnia Police for years afterwards.
Someone might suggest that he worked Pro Bona and just provided his services for free. However, if that were the case, why would he initiate Legal Aid proceedings? More to the point, why didn't he offer a "real" defense as opposed to that kangaroo song and dance about his daughter going to school and the judge playing golf?
Retards! This city is filled with retards!
I really fail to see how I could possibly lose given the reality on the ground.
NOTE: My use of the word retard in no way signifies the mentally handicapped or the mentally challenged nor is my use of the word retard directed at the mentally handicapped or the mentally challenged. I use the word in a derogatory sense and apply it to local officials and/or media with the implication that they may or may not be imbeciles.
I hope no imbeciles got offended by you equating their condition to that of the derogatory ideal of "retard".
dan k
Unfortunately, although you probably meant that comment in humour, there is much truth in the title of your reply.
If you've been following much of my diatribe, you may have learned that Sarnia has been experiencing a rash of Sexual Assaults over the last couple of years. These sexual assaults cover the full gamut from the mundane public assault to the more sinister home invasion, to the male predator scoping out the ladies room at the local shopping mall.
I don't know that Sarnia has seen an increase in sexual assaults over the last few years; I just haven't seen any statistics. However, it is certainly most accurate to suggest that Sarnia has seen an increase in the number of reported instances of sexual assault over the last couple of years. At least, if newspaper articles are any indication of an increase.
It is something of a surprise that a fair percentage of these sexual assaults have turned out to be mere fabrications. That is, a sizeable chunk of these reported sexual assaults never ever happened. The alleged victim just made the whole thing up for whatever nefarious reasons that girls fabricate stories of abuse.
That's not what I find terribly alarming about this whole sexual assault thing though; I find it alarming that these girls thought that they'd get away with it. If you read between the lines, these girls have, no doubt, reached the same conclusion that I have: The Sarnia Police are not the brightest bulbs on the ol' Christmas tree.
Please don't misunderstand or misinterpret this post; I'm not saying that I fabricate stories of abuse, as these girls do, I'm just pointing out that these girls and I share the same perceptions with respect to the competence of the Sarnia Police.
If I understand correctly you say the the lawyer never filed the paper work to get paid for his work. And from this you jumped to the conclusion that someone paid him off in order to rail road you.
That is quite the jump there to make. Every professionals office that I have seen they have a office manager or other person that handles the billing. It is very possible that the person screwed up and never filed. Or filed incorrectly thus having the same effect. I've seen it happen before.
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Nah, I think it's fairly safe to attribute his failings to malice rather than stupidity. I find it hard to believe that anybody could be so demonstrably stupid. Especially a lawyer.
There are many factors to consider:
The lawyer did not return my phonecalls or correspondence throughout the prosecution -- it is dificult to reconcile these actions with anything other than malice.
Oh yeah, there was an approximate two month recess from the time the trial began till the time the time the trial concluded. My lawyer, wanting to refresh his memory and become familiar with what had occurred during the first part of the trial, ordered transcripts of what I had said during the trial. Yeah, he didn't care about what the prosecution or the witness said, he was only interested in what I had said. It's almost as though he were looking for lies in my testimony and was giving the accuser the benefit of the doubt by not subjecting his/her testimony to scrutiny. Again, these are actions that are difficult to reconcile with anything other than malice.
I'll mention one other thing on this matter too, I filed a complaint against my lawyer with the Law Society of Upper Canada for his gross incompetence/misconduct. My lawyer, in his response to my complaint, hinted at collaboration between himself and the prosecuting officer.
There's more too, but I can't reveal all of my cards; there's too much at stake.