In case you missed the buzz yesterday, the Ontario privacy commissioner has asked every Crown office in Ontario to file a report disclosing whether they’ve conducted hush-hush background checks on potential jurors in the last three years. The move came in the wake of a mistrial earlier this month in a Windsor murder trial, where it was discovered that Crown attorneys had asked police to perform illegal background checks to determine the “quality” of potential jurors. Similar practices have been confirmed as routine in Thunder Bay and Barrie. On Monday, Premier Dalton McGuinty said that the Ontario government has done “all it can” to stop this illegal investigation of prospective jurors.
Crown offices check themselves
Illegal background checks for potential jurors in a murder case has prompted the investigation
- By Claire Ward