Some of you may recall the various horrors of the Paul Bernardo case. One of the lesser known ones, was the criminal charge of obstruction of justice laid against his first criminal lawyer.
Mr. Bernardo had told that lawyer where incriminating video evidence was in the subject house (it had been missed by the police in their search). The lawyer went to the house, obtained that evidence and that sat on it for a long time, feeling that to give it up to police, would violate the solicitor client communication rule.
Mr. Bernardo’s second lawyer turned the videotape over to police in a way where they could not easily show a chain of possession to use it against Mr. Bernardo.
In the meantime, the police charged the first lawyer and his matter went to trial. He was acquitted, only because the rules about what to do in that circumstance were not clear.
LSUC has now brought out a rule, 16 years later, that states that a defence lawyer cannot hide or conceal incriminating physical evidence.
Talk about the wheels of justice grinding slowly!