Fiscal Justice

September 28, 2007 @ 08:44

Sometimes you can perfectly understand why people lose faith in the Canadian justice system.

You know what they say, money buys justice and it's often played out in Ontario court rooms on drunk driving charges. As the saying goes, if you've got ten thousand dollars to spend, you're pretty well guaranteed to get off your impaired charge.

We might see a bit of that happening in a Newmarket courtroom where former Maple Leaf Rob Ramage has pleaded not guilty to five charges including impaired driving and dangerous driving causing death.

In December 2003 with former NHL Keith Magnuson as his passenger, Ramage crossed the divided line on Rutherford Rd. and hit another car head on. Magnuson died, the other driver survived.

Because he was injured in the accident Ramage never received a breath test, but blood samples taken at the hospital revealed a drug alcohol level nearly four times the legal limit and there were several empty beer cans found in the car.

But here's where a good lawyer comes in. Ramages attorney Brian Greenspan has argued that the alcohol swab used to take the blood sample could be responsible for the high reading if it was administered improperly and the beer cans could have been full but exploded on impact during the accident.

It sounds far-fetched but that doesn't matter. All that matters is that Greenspan is raising doubt to the jury and he's doing a pretty good job.

It may not result in justice, but that's our justice system.