Ford weighs in on Kachkar murder case
Criminal defence lawyer Leora Shemesh was surprised to hear Mayor Rob Ford’s voice when a listener called in to Newstalk 1010 to discuss the ongoing Richard Kachkar trial.
Shemesh was a panellist on the legal round table of Closing Arguments with Steven Skurka, a program on the Newstalk 1010 radio. The panel was discussing the trial when Ford called in on air.
“I just think that it’s perplexing to have the mayor of the city calling in about this issue, particularly because it’s in front of a jury and he knew that, but more so because he seemed to be uneducated about not criminally responsible and what that means,” Shemesh said. Out of concern for prejudicing the jury as it’s about to start deliberations, the Star declines to repeat the mayor’s views on what Kachkar’s fate should be. But the fact that he weighed in at all at this critical moment generated criticism among defence lawyers. “It is truly astonishing that the mayor of Toronto espouses such a gross misunderstanding of the law and mental illness,” said Toronto lawyer Sean Robichaud. “There is also something unsettling and disrespectful to the justice system when a politician of his position provides his opinion on a verdict that he seems to know little about, the night before the jury is set to deliberate.” Both Crown and defence agree Kachkar, 46, on trial for first-degree murder and dangerous driving, was the person who killed police Sgt. Ryan Russell, 35, with a snowplow on a street rampage ending on the morning of Jan. 12, 2011. They disagree on whether his mental illness made him incapable of appreciating what he was doing was wrong; his trial hinges on that.
Ontario Superior Court Judge Ian MacDonnell began his instructions to the Kachkar jury on Friday, after both sides had delivered their closing arguments. The jury’s deliberations were expected to begin late Monday.
Before discussing the case, Skurka offered a warning to any potential jurors who may have been listening, telling them to turn the program off, Shemesh said. “In hindsight, maybe we all shouldn’t have been talking about it,” she said.
She thought it was “politically incorrect” for the mayor to call in. Ford’s office didn’t return a request for comment late Sunday.
“After Mayor Ford called, I think we were all a little surprised and then we just moved to the next topic,” Shemesh said.
“It was interesting, particularly because he was the only person who called in and it’s your mayor. It was a little surprising.” With files from Betsy Powell