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Criminal Law And Supreme Court Essay

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Criminal Law and Supreme Court; McLachlin J.
Facts
An aboriginal by the name of Victor Daniel Williams, was charged in the year 1993 with the robbery of a pizza parlour. He was elected a trial by judge and jury where he pleaded not guilty to the crime. His defence was one of mistaken identity, claiming he was not involved in robbery, and that the robbery was committed by someone else. Nevertheless the jury convicted him of robbery . At his first trial, Williams argued that his rights under the grounds of sections 7, 11(d) and 15(1) of the Charter had been violated, given that he was denied the right to challenge potential jurors for cause to determine whether they displayed a racial bias against aboriginals, which might impair their impartiality. Williams challenged that potential jurors were racially biased under s. 638 of the Criminal Code of Canada; which states that “an accused is entitled to any number of challenges for cause on the ground that . . . a juror is not indifferent between the Queen and the accused.” Judge, Hutchinson J, ruled to accept the jurors be challenged with two questions regarding if their competency to critically decide on the case without bias, or if they would be effected by the fact the accused is of Indian decent.
The Crown applied for a mistrial on the grounds of procedural errors and the “unfortunate publicity” of the selection of jurors. The trial judge granted the Crown’s application. Williams submitted a motion for an order

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