PEACE RIVER -- A northern Alberta man has been found not guilty of murder in a case that forced the RCMP to review its guidelines for responding to domestic violence cases.
Stanley Willier, 50, was found not guilty of second-degree murder in a Peace River courthouse Thursday.
Willier had confessed to police, but the judge threw out the confession because investigators didn't do enough to ensure Willier spoke to a lawyer
This is the kind of **** that ****es me off with the justice system.
First....the lady calls 911 and tells the dispatcher that her husband (exhusband) is trying to break into the house to kill her. The mounties never show up and she is found dead.
Second....the cops then arrest the husband and **** up the entire case by not giving him right to counsel.
Third....the judge throws out the confession because of the second reason. Now....not knowing the all the facts to the case, I still think that a confession like this backed up with evidence from the 911 calls indicating that the husband was trying to kill her, should be allowed even if right to counsel was questionable. I don't think justice would come into disrepute if the confession was allowed to be entered as evidence.
The system sure worked for this lady.
On a side note, how do those police officers confront the family of the dead women? They didn't respond to the call, then they don't do their jobs properly and the guy gets off. Sick
http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/...03479-sun.html