Everything you need to know about Staying the Trial vs. Full Exoneration.
What is the difference between a Judge ruling a case Stayed vs. Granting full exoneration?
Stay of trial: In layman’s terms, this means that all court proceedings are put on hold for an unspecified amount of time. In many cases it is implemented so that the prosecution may find more evidence, while not infringing on the defendant’s rights. Other things to be considered when a stay of trial is granted:
· It is NOT a concrete proclamation of one’s innocence
· Suspends court proceedings and therefore gives the Crown the right to continue the case at a future date.
· In some situations it is a way for defendants to stay out of jail (for those who are likely innocent), while NOT giving a judgement of innocence.
· Examples of Stayed court proceedings:
o James Driskell
§ Convicted to life in prison for the murder of Perry Harder after three hair samples were found in his vehicle. After further test results it was found that the hair did not belong to the victim and the Manitoba justice system was forced to re-open and try the case again. They instead declined to further prosecute and decided to stay the trial, instead of fully exonerating Driskell.
Exoneration: A complete change in the status of guilty to innocent. Those who have been completely exonerated have the distinction of the Crown admitting that though they were once found guilty, they are now without a reasonable doubt, innocent. Some things that may arise from this include:
· Freedom from incarceration
· An expunged record and apology from the Crown
· Allows those who were exonerated to take legal action against the Crown, because there has been a proclamation of fault on their part.
· Can lead to financial restitution
· Examples of Exonerated people in Canada:
o David Milgaard
§ Convicted in 1969 for the rape and murder of Gail Miller in Saskatoon, SK. After decades of claiming innocence DNA evidence provide that he was innocent. This same evidence also proved that Larry Fisher (a man already tried and found guilty of other sexual assaults), was the true perpetrator of the crime. In 1997 Milgaard was finally exonerated.
What does this all mean? In many cases a stay of trial is implemented to fix injustices within the legal system, however this does not fully expunge an innocent person’s record, nor does it force the judicial system to admit to any fault. This can also leave the door open for future prosecution and therefore infringes on a person’s right to a speedy trial. This legal grey area is truly an excuse for the Crown to gloss over wrongful convictions and not admit to wrong doing.