Court Appearances and Canadian Legal Terms

[Juballee]

You're brilliant, yes, he serialized his autobiography and sent it on to his #1 fan, who collected all the chapters and passed them on to the media, who had always got it wrong up to this point. This was DM's chance to set them straight (a task no family or friend would take on, but a groupie would)

So DM played all these dating games type games with the groupie to show the way he really is.

So he's presented himself in the best possible light I'm sure to this unconditionally supportive unnamed woman.

Do you think his charm comes across?

You know what I think would be brilliant and funny at the same time? If DM was in fact writing an autobiography of his time in prison, in the format of a series of letters. Perhaps he was sending them to his various friends to proof-read and edit. It could be said that when he found out that his book was being previewed by the guards in regular mail, that he thought it best to protect his material by working around the guards. If that were the case, would anyone be able to write a book that was 10% of another book and call it their original piece of art? Wouldn't that be a copyright nightmare?

 

[SnooperDuper]

You know what I think would be brilliant and funny at the same time? If DM was in fact writing an autobiography of his time in prison, in the format of a series of letters. Perhaps he was sending them to his various friends to proof-read and edit. It could be said that when he found out that his book was being previewed by the guards in regular mail, that he thought it best to protect his material by working around the guards. If that were the case, would anyone be able to write a book that was 10% of another book and call it their original piece of art? Wouldn't that be a copyright nightmare?

No that would be legit. If you are doing analysis, criticism, research where you need to illustrate your points with text, you'd have to provide many excerpts to make your point.

Someone could take all DM's best material weave a book around it, and as long as he was credited, it's fair dealing.

 

[Juballee]

I think DM blew all expectations of confidentiality when he continued to write the letter-leaker after the very first letter between them ended up posted on social media.

Also this groupie was a presumed stranger who made contact with DM...if you are willing to spill your heart to someone you've never met, who shares you with the internet, can you realistically expect privacy?

The source was named ("Copies were provided by a source requesting anonymity") and the author was DM.

I don't think there are any issues really.

I must have missed when it was established that all the letters came from the one source, can you please provide a link to that verification? Wouldn't the blogger have been suspicious of the true motivation behind a person who claimed to be his friend and lead him on, only to sell him out?

I wonder if this will turn into a cottage industry, anonymous letter writers pretending to befriend a lonely suspect only to gather personal letters to sell to the media?

 

[SnooperDuper]

"a series of letters from jail to family and friends"

Sorry I was just thinking of the one writer there.

New friends in a time of crisis...If I were in jail and I got fan mail, I am not sure that I would respond to it, especially if I had the resources ($$$) to sort things out myself.

 

[Juballee]

No that would be legit. If you are doing analysis, criticism, research where you need to illustrate your points with text, you'd have to provide many excerpts to make your point.

Someone could take all DM's best material weave a book around it, and as long as he was credited, it's fair dealing.

Personally, if I had a choice between reading two books; one written by the subject in their own words, with those words being in the full, original consecutive order, in the context in which they were meant; or a second book that contained up to 10% of those original words arranged in any sort of cut and paste order after being chosen from a limited batch and written by someone who has never met the subject, I would have to unequivocally say I would choose the one written by the subject themselves.

To me, the interest in reading his letters comes from trying to see what this person is like by looking at his own writing, his own words, not by looking at the writing of someone who wants to tell me what they think of his writing. But that's just my preference.

 

[Juballee]

"a series of letters from jail to family and friends"

Sorry I was just thinking of the one writer there.

New friends in a time of crisis...If I were in jail and I got fan mail, I am not sure that I would respond to it, especially if I had the resources ($$$) to sort things out myself.

I'm confused, how does having money stop you from being lonely when it's your first time in jail and you spend the first two years in solitary confinement? Does he have his money in there to keep him company? Can he use it to buy better pen pals? Do they have friends he can buy at the cantina? Or is the money to grease the guards into sorting out his mail better and losing the crazies before they get through?

 

[Kamille]

I must have missed when it was established that all the letters came from the one source, can you please provide a link to that verification? Wouldn't the blogger have been suspicious of the true motivation behind a person who claimed to be his friend and lead him on, only to sell him out?

I wonder if this will turn into a cottage industry, anonymous letter writers pretending to befriend a lonely suspect only to gather personal letters to sell to the media?

People writing to jailed, high profile suspects awaiting trial and then publishing that correspondence is already way more than a cottage industry IMO. I've been following the recent trial of Jodi Arias. Some of her jailhouse letters are all over the Internet in their entirety. Her attorneys have tried everything possible to get a mistrial but this is not one of the reasons. She wrote the letters and sent them. Once received they become the property of the recipient to do with as they please.

Luka Magnotta got tons of "fan" mail and wrote "thank you notes" while awaiting trial and media were able to see some of those as well...

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/08/27/luka-magnotta-answers-fan-mail-from-jail-report

I'm sure there are many more examples of this and there is a lot of information on different cases and trials both in Canada and all around the world on this board outside the Tim Bosma forum. It can be very eye opening. There is absolutely nothing special about Dellen Millard and his time in custody awaiting trial. In fact, he may have the least amount of "fans" writing to him for a somewhat high profile suspect. Maybe if he didn't involve practically everyone he knew in his crimes, he might have had more people he could trust that were allowed to contact him. Something tells me he still would have written to strangers.

A poor lonely triple murder suspect who doesn't know what to do his first time in jail so he's been duped by strangers writing to him and flirting with him? He himself considers himself worldly and well read. He hung around with people who had been in jail. He was not naive as to what to expect IMO. It probably has been difficult, especially for someone who is used to a different kind of freedom than most of us. I'm talking about financial freedom and never having to want for anything. But it's nothing compared to what prison will be like if he's convicted. And I'm sure he'll have even more groupies if and when that happens.

Jail guards are risking their jobs and livelihood to copy and pass on his letters to an independent journalist/blogger, likely for nothing? Now that's also a hard one to believe. Why not hold out for Rob Ford crack video type money from some major media outlets? You'd think crooked jail guards would be more savvy than that. It would also be hard to believe that this independent journalist/blogger was willing to pay anything for his musings. She was probably the only one interested enough to try to get them published in MSM. Even then it was not a top outlet.

Dellen Millard has been playing and manipulating people for a long time IMO. I think for those who knew, perhaps loved and/or trusted him, the trial is going to be a traumatic event. There is always huge collateral damage in cases like this and he hasn't been charged with 3 murders on a whim IMO. If that were the case he would have been picked up after the first one when LB's ex boyfriend tried to bring suspicious behavior on his part to LE's attention. Unfortunately that was a situation where poor LE policy regarding certain "types" of missing persons likely resulted in a murderer going free. And at least two more people are likely dead because of it. I still have yet to hear from any women claiming to have been with him and menstruating on that yacht he rented. But I haven't been following that closely for a while.

I have faith in LE to do the right thing with regards to investigating when this type of case comes along. There was a large task force formed to deal with the intricacies of this case so we've got a lot of checks and balances in place. DM is still charged and awaiting trial so I have to believe the evidence continued to point to, rather than away, from him. And I also believe it's been about 3 decades since someone was wrongfully convicted of murder in this country. LE and prosecutors have learned from their mistakes. There's been a lot of advancements in science and technology (which has resulted in a much higher burden of proof) in that time to prevent mistakes from happening in the present time. Ultimately it will be up to a jury to decide whether the prosecution has proven their case. Weak evidence doesn't cut it with juries anymore. They call it the CSI effect. If anything, it's also responsible for a lot of criminals going free IMO.

MOO

 

[Kamille]

I'm confused, how does having money stop you from being lonely when it's your first time in jail and you spend the first two years in solitary confinement? Does he have his money in there to keep him company? Can he use it to buy better pen pals? Do they have friends he can buy at the cantina? Or is the money to grease the guards into sorting out his mail better and losing the crazies before they get through?

Are you suggesting he's bribing the jail guards to sort his mail? :waitasec:

He is in jail, not prison. He has a lot of rights at the moment. And I'm sure his team of attorneys are making sure he is afforded every one of them. That's what his money pays for.

MOO

 

[Arnie M]

.

There is no privacy in jail , dont kid yourselves , you cannot send or receive mail or packages without everything being screened by guards or prison staff .

Heck , you cannot even go to the bathroom in private , the toilets are right out in the open.

An inmate may be entitled to private meetings with his lawyer but that is about it. If friends or family visit , everything is monitored , observed , and listened to.

In some cases , medical , drug withdrawal , suicidal , a camera may even monitor the cell 24 hours a day.

It is weird to see posts where the journalist is made out to be the criminal , and the accused triple murderer is made to look like a victim.

 

[Juballee]

Are you suggesting he's bribing the jail guards to sort his mail? :waitasec:

He is in jail, not prison. He has a lot of rights at the moment. And I'm sure his team of attorneys are making sure he is afforded every one of them. That's what his money pays for.

MOO

Perhaps my sarcastic point went over some people's heads, my apologies. I was responding to what I feel is the ridiculous notion that solitary confinement is easier for someone with the kind of money DM has. My point was that there is nothing in jail, (or prison if you are fussy on the word) that DM can buy that anyone else there cannot. I do not think that his wealth is giving him any sort of advantage over the other inmates or making it any easier on him. And personally, I can't help but hear an air of almost jealousy every time someone mentions how much money he has, how his financial freedom somehow made him different than the rest if us. I have some news for some people, the rich really aren't that different from most people at this level of wealth, sorry to disappoint. All of this is my opinion only, of course.

 

[Juballee]

She was probably the only one interested enough to try to get them published in MSM.

I find that hard to believe. In my opinion, most real media outlets have a high standard of verification of facts before publishing them, and I suspect that would be why they were not picked up by all the papers, the way new stories are these days.

I still have yet to hear from any women claiming to have been with him and menstruating on that yacht he rented. But I haven't been following that closely for a while.

I have faith in LE to do the right thing with regards to investigating when this type of case comes along. There was a large task force formed to deal with the intricacies of this case so we've got a lot of checks and balances in place.

MOO

RSBM If you have so much faith that LE has done the right thing in their investigations, why is the poor yacht girl still being brought up? LE have assured the public that nothing went amiss on that trip, so it seems like a disturbing lack of faith to say that unless that woman comes forward that you don't believe that LE investigated it properly and came to the right conclusion. It almost sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory to me, like it is being implied that maybe the cops didn't really talk to her and verify that she is alive.

I remember when my daughter had an incident in Junior High School where she unexpectedly got her period and was so horribly humiliated that she never wanted to go back there again. I felt terribly sorry for her, and that was just an embarrassment in front of a small school, I can only imagine how horribly embarrassed the young woman on the yacht was when all the media outlets were commenting on her period mishap. Do we really need the woman to come forward and publicly say, "Yes, I'm the woman who got an unexpected period on a boat a few years ago, please media, ask me all the menstration questions you have." Why can we not leave this poor woman alone? The police say that she is alive and unhurt, why can't that be good enough for some people who claim to have faith in LE?

 

[MsSherlock]

Perhaps my sarcastic point went over some people's heads, my apologies. I was responding to what I feel is the ridiculous notion that solitary confinement is easier for someone with the kind of money DM has. My point was that there is nothing in jail, (or prison if you are fussy on the word) that DM can buy that anyone else there cannot. I do not think that his wealth is giving him any sort of advantage over the other inmates or making it any easier on him. And personally, I can't help but hear an air of almost jealousy every time someone mentions how much money he has, how his financial freedom somehow made him different than the rest if us. I have some news for some people, the rich really aren't that different from most people at this level of wealth, sorry to disappoint. All of this is my opinion only, of course.

IMO, DM is probably better off than most in Barton- he probably doesn't have to worry about funding his canteen account. But, I don't think white collar criminals have a problem funding their "in jail" perks either. IMHO, there's absolutely no evidence that DM had any form of substantial wealth that wasn't funded by WM. IMO, we'll have to wait for the trial to find out how the money flowed from WM to DM. I think it's safe to say that DM's only real chance of success was being a CEO for a company his Dad was trying to create. But, back to DM in jail with a well funded canteen account? Totally believable that he would have the max in his jail account. Financially free? IMO, it's major speculation to assume that DM was or is financially free- his Daddy "had been" and his Daddy may have funded DM's lifestyle to a certain degree, but IMHO, we have to wait until the trial to find out just how "financially well off" DM really was before WM died. MOO

 

[SnooperDuper]

Perhaps my sarcastic point went over some people's heads, my apologies. I was responding to what I feel is the ridiculous notion that solitary confinement is easier for someone with the kind of money DM has. My point was that there is nothing in jail, (or prison if you are fussy on the word) that DM can buy that anyone else there cannot.

Top-tier lawyers?

I do not think that his wealth is giving him any sort of advantage over the other inmates or making it any easier on him.

THREE top-tier lawyers?

And personally, I can't help but hear an air of almost jealousy every time someone mentions how much money he has, how his financial freedom somehow made him different than the rest if us.

It's not jealousy, it's morally driven righteous anger. How can someone with everything, including a good education, throw it all away for a life of crime?

I have some news for some people, the rich really aren't that different from most people at this level of wealth, sorry to disappoint. All of this is my opinion only, of course.

DM may be one of "the rich" but he's also one of "the criminals". That makes him a bit different from the merely rich and the rest.

 

[Kamille]

Perhaps my sarcastic point went over some people's heads, my apologies. I was responding to what I feel is the ridiculous notion that solitary confinement is easier for someone with the kind of money DM has. My point was that there is nothing in jail, (or prison if you are fussy on the word) that DM can buy that anyone else there cannot. I do not think that his wealth is giving him any sort of advantage over the other inmates or making it any easier on him. And personally, I can't help but hear an air of almost jealousy every time someone mentions how much money he has, how his financial freedom somehow made him different than the rest if us. I have some news for some people, the rich really aren't that different from most people at this level of wealth, sorry to disappoint. All of this is my opinion only, of course.

DM is technically in a private cell in a jail. Not solitary confinement in a prison. Big difference. I understand his legal team did not think it wise to make any move to try to have him released on bail. Please correct me if I'm mistaken on that. His "notoriety" has allowed for him not to have to share a cell with any other inmate for his own safety. I dare say the alternative would be much more difficult on him. He is allowed all of the privileges of the other inmates without having to intermingle with them. Which most of the time I'd think he is grateful for. If you think the letters were an invasion of privacy, how about the stories that the other inmates would tell as they are released about their time with DM and everything he said to them. Oh wait...maybe he would welcome the chance to "get his story out" via that avenue. And his wealth is making sure that he has the absolute best defense that he can buy. A legal team who probably spend a LOT more time on his case and dealing with any issues he may have while incarcerated, than most other inmates at the jail. I can't speak for anyone else but I can assure you that there is not one ounce of jealously in my mind towards DM and the fact that he had money. I am astounded at how he didn't utilize the opportunities given to him, but rather used his wealth for notorious purposes. That is my only thought when it comes to why he would allegedly steal and murder when he had the funds to purchase most anything he wanted. I think we may find out that he rather enjoyed it. He certainly would not be the first serial killer who did.

MOO

 

[Kamille]

I find that hard to believe. In my opinion, most real media outlets have a high standard of verification of facts before publishing them, and I suspect that would be why they were not picked up by all the papers, the way new stories are these days.




RSBM If you have so much faith that LE has done the right thing in their investigations, why is the poor yacht girl still being brought up? LE have assured the public that nothing went amiss on that trip, so it seems like a disturbing lack of faith to say that unless that woman comes forward that you don't believe that LE investigated it properly and came to the right conclusion. It almost sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory to me, like it is being implied that maybe the cops didn't really talk to her and verify that she is alive.

I remember when my daughter had an incident in Junior High School where she unexpectedly got her period and was so horribly humiliated that she never wanted to go back there again. I felt terribly sorry for her, and that was just an embarrassment in front of a small school, I can only imagine how horribly embarrassed the young woman on the yacht was when all the media outlets were commenting on her period mishap. Do we really need the woman to come forward and publicly say, "Yes, I'm the woman who got an unexpected period on a boat a few years ago, please media, ask me all the menstration questions you have." Why can we not leave this poor woman alone? The police say that she is alive and unhurt, why can't that be good enough for some people who claim to have faith in LE?

Media outlets are a lot different than they used to be with regards to real investigative reporting and fact checking. Online news and the haste to be the first to get stories out there have made that happen unfortunately. Most just regurgitate information coming off the news wires. Sometimes word for word. They have very few actual reporters on staff and the ones they do have a lot to cover. We're two years out from the actual crime and DM is just not that newsworthy at the moment. It will certainly pick up once the trial begins and each news outlet has a reporter stationed in the courthouse but in the interim, only court related news seems to be making it into MSM. I'm sure if the letters hadn't surfaced until that time, they would have been a hot ticket item for all media outlets. Coming out in the interim is just not that interesting to most people other than those who follow true crime on the internet.

I admit I have not been around Tim's forum in a while. So LE have been in contact with the young lady from the yacht and everything has been verified? I was not aware of that and it's a relief to hear. Thank you for putting that to rest for me.

MOO

 

[Alethea Dice]

I think DM blew all expectations of confidentiality when he continued to write the letter-leaker after the very first letter between them ended up posted on social media.

Also this groupie was a presumed stranger who made contact with DM...if you are willing to spill your heart to someone you've never met, who shares you with the internet, can you realistically expect privacy?

The source was named ("Copies were provided by a source requesting anonymity") and the author was DM.

I don't think there are any issues really.

Gee, thanks for confirming in a back-ackwards way that the source was NOT named.

 

[Alethea Dice]

I have faith in LE to do the right thing with regards to investigating when this type of case comes along. There was a large task force formed to deal with the intricacies of this case so we've got a lot of checks and balances in place. DM is still charged and awaiting trial so I have to believe the evidence continued to point to, rather than away, from him. And I also believe it's been about 3 decades since someone was wrongfully convicted of murder in this country. LE and prosecutors have learned from their mistakes. There's been a lot of advancements in science and technology (which has resulted in a much higher burden of proof) in that time to prevent mistakes from happening in the present time. Ultimately it will be up to a jury to decide whether the prosecution has proven their case. Weak evidence doesn't cut it with juries anymore. They call it the CSI effect. If anything, it's also responsible for a lot of criminals going free IMO.

MOO

rsbm

You believe that the only incidences of wrongful conviction are those cases that are high profile with publicized judgements awarded to the accused? It is impossible to get accurate figures on wrongful convictions for various reasons - there may have no overturning of the conviction and therefore no recognition of it, the accused may not have appealed or may have failed in their appeal, they may have unsuccessfully tried to have the verdict vacated, they may have confessed to get a lesser sentence or to just get it over with depending on the charges.

There is scholarly opinion that wrongful convictions may be less rare than they are commonly thought to be, and at the same time the opinion of some is that without "investigating every conviction there is no way to know what proportion of those presently imprisoned are factually innocent."

In Canada, notwithstanding our obligations as a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 58 the only procedure available to be found materially innocent is by way of application under s.696.1 of the Criminal Code to the Minister of Justice for the exercise of the royal prerogative of mercy. Successful applications under this provision are exceptionally rare and almost always result in a referral back to the court of appeal in the province or territory where the final conviction was found.

Therefore, based upon an academic exploration as to the incidence of wrongful conviction, a subjective yet comparatively modest assumption can be made that one per cent of all criminal cases resolved in favour of the Crown are wrongfully decided and the accused is indeed innocent. Extrapolating this “best estimate” to the data provided by Statistics Canada stands for the proposition that there were 2,470 wrongful convictions in Canada in 2012.

To look at actual cases where a court exonerates an accused for the purposes of counting wrongful convictions is not unknown. Samuel Gross suggests that one way to get beyond the issue that wrongful convictions are unobservable thereby requiring an inference on the frequency of same is to look at cases where a false conviction comes to light as a function of new evidence of innocence. For this purpose Gross references the previously mentioned National Registry of Exonerations. For the reasons noted herein, this definition is too narrow. As such, there were 12,664 real cases that were wrongful in Canada in 2012, which includes cases where the accused has been either or both materially and probatorily innocent. This number of real cases when seen within the context of the total number of acquittals and findings of guilt provides a prevalence rate of wrongful cases at 4.58%.
It matters not whether these cases are seen as carriages or miscarriages of justice or if they subsume or are in addition to the 2,470 cases included in the unobservable “best estimate” of wrongful convictions. They are certainly beyond the infinitesimally few cases that find relief by way of the extraordinary remedy of s.696.1 of the Criminal Code.

http://www.ccja-acjp.ca/cong2013/presentations/14.pdf

 

[SnooperDuper]

So nobody is crying about wrongful arrest because apparently DM was rightfully arrested.

However people are crying over a wrongful conviction when DM is not even convicted yet because they know that's the coming outcome.

 

[Alethea Dice]

DM is technically in a private cell in a jail. Not solitary confinement in a prison. Big difference. I understand his legal team did not think it wise to make any move to try to have him released on bail. Please correct me if I'm mistaken on that. His "notoriety" has allowed for him not to have to share a cell with any other inmate for his own safety. I dare say the alternative would be much more difficult on him. He is allowed all of the privileges of the other inmates without having to intermingle with them. Which most of the time I'd think he is grateful for. If you think the letters were an invasion of privacy, how about the stories that the other inmates would tell as they are released about their time with DM and everything he said to them. Oh wait...maybe he would welcome the chance to "get his story out" via that avenue. And his wealth is making sure that he has the absolute best defense that he can buy. A legal team who probably spend a LOT more time on his case and dealing with any issues he may have while incarcerated, than most other inmates at the jail. I can't speak for anyone else but I can assure you that there is not one ounce of jealously in my mind towards DM and the fact that he had money. I am astounded at how he didn't utilize the opportunities given to him, but rather used his wealth for notorious purposes. That is my only thought when it comes to why he would allegedly steal and murder when he had the funds to purchase most anything he wanted. I think we may find out that he rather enjoyed it. He certainly would not be the first serial killer who did.

MOO

A private cell? Allowed all of the privileges of the other inmates?

Inmates live either in ranges (blocks of cells) or dormitories (an open space with bunk beds and a common area where low-risk inmates have more freedom), or in segregation, where high-risk inmates are locked up for up to 23 hours a day.

Each of the jail's five floors has two ranges with a dorm in the middle.

Those in cells are let out at 9 a.m. for breakfast and can spend the day playing cards, watching TV or reading books in a common area — unless they have a court appearance.

Bedtime is 8 p.m.

In the dorms, they can watch TV, too, without the strict schedules of the ranges. Each bunk has a cubbyhole where inmates can store their belongings — magazines, sandals, toiletries.

http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/news-story/4413905-barton-jail-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence/

And, due to over-crowding, you're still not guaranteed a cell to yourself.

McPhee was sharing a cell in the protective custody unit with two other bunkmates — one of whom was sleeping on the floor — during the attack on Nov. 22.

Police said it was early morning when McPhee lashed out at one of his cellmates, causing a "catastrophic" head injury.

The other man attempted to step in and was also assaulted.

http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5258210-police-charge-barton-jail-inmate-with-attempted-murder/

 

[SnooperDuper]

A private cell? Allowed all of the privileges of the other inmates?



http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/news-story/4413905-barton-jail-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence/

And, due to over-crowding, you're still not guaranteed a cell to yourself.



http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5258210-police-charge-barton-jail-inmate-with-attempted-murder/

Clearly DM should have thought ahead and not committed these crimes. Now he has to face the living conditions criminals do.