Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
This is the third trial, this seems like it’s getting ridiculous. If this guy was innocent (which our system presumes him to me) For 8 years this has been going on for. Is it reasonable to subject an innocent person to persecution for 8 years?
|
They're presumed innocent until proven guilty after a fair hearing. The delay has been necessary in this case to ensure that they receive a fair hearing. It's good to know that in extraordinary cases, the system will actually go to these types of lengths to ensure that the process happens the way it's meant to.
The reasons given for the ABCA decision make sense. The comments made by Clackson were odd, particularly because they seem so unnecessary. He could easily have said he didn't find the expert's testimony convincing without specifically talking about his accent and fluency. That said, it actually is the case that a thick accent matters - we do in fact take that into account when choosing experts. I've had instances where an expert's accent even helps... I'm thinking of one I've used who had a very down-to-earth presentation accompanied with a southeastern drawl that was easy to listen to and at the same time gave the impression of no-nonsense candor. Presentation of expert opinion becomes all the more important when the evidence is hard enough for a layperson to follow just due to its technical nature.