by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
PEMBROKE — A justice of the peace stepped down from a provincial offences court case Wednesday morning in Pembroke.
Justice of the Peace Barry Moran was to hear a case regarding two residents in Whitewater Region Township, John Felix Cull and Garry Burns, who each were charged with failure to buy a dog tag in 2013.
This is the 14th time this case has been in court in Pembroke.
Wednesday morning, the township’s prosecutor Jessica Fuller, who was standing in for Mark Huckabone, was concerned with information in a letter to the editor published “in a local newspaper” that was authored by Donna Burns, the wife of defendant Mr. Burns. She questioned if there could be a perceived conflict of interest with JP Moran because it was he who signed a by-law in 2000 when he was the County Warden regarding conflict of interest guidelines for municipal elected officials and employees.
While no name is mentioned in the letter by Donna Burns, Haley Station, it does state: “It seems, a specially “selected” Justice of the Peace was “asked” to sit on their particular court case. One can only assume it was the municipality’s prosecutor that made this request. For some unknown reason, the last four court hearings he sat on have been adjourned. It would appear to all who witnessed these hearings the JP hesitates to give his decision on this question of authority.”
The question of authority is also included in Ms. Burns’ letter: It seems these two people have learned the by-law officer hired by the municipal council did not have legal authority to even enforce a by-law, not only in this municipality, but in others as well. Therefore, in their opinion, this is grounds for dismissal. After all, if the by-law officer never had a contract with the municipality, or was never appointed by council and never sworn in to perform his duties, then where is the authority for him to enforce any by-law?”
As stated, no name is mentioned in the letter to the editor, however, Justice of the Peace Moran has been the justice of the peace the last few times this case was heard, and he was Warden of Renfrew County when Bylaw 26-00 was passed, could he be in conflict, the prosecutor questioned.
She noted she sent a letter to Terrance Green, lawyer for the defendants, questioning if this letter had anything to do with the court case.
While she did receive a letter back from his office, there was no response in that letter to her query.
Mr. Green advised he did not respond to any reference to the letter to the editor query because “it has nothing to do with the matter before the court.”
The court appearance on Wednesday was to get a decision on the Motion to Dismiss from the Jan. 26 court appearance, Mr. Green said.
JP Moran said since his name is on the by-law, and he has been the justice of the peace for this case the last few times, he would like Mr. Green to address that issue of whether he is in conflict.
Mr. Green said while the letter is relevant as to what is expected by municipal officials, of which JP Moran is one now, it has nothing to with the Motion to Dismiss.
On Jan. 26, it was identified by the defence that there was no contract in place for Jim McBain and no bylaw in effect to “direct the bureaucracy of the municipality to appoint Mr. McBain,” Mr. Green said.
JP Moran noted that on Jan. 26, Mark Huckabone, the prosecutor for the township, was unable to attend court due to a family illness and he was not prepared to make a decision on the submission of only the defence.
JP Moran asked that prosecutor Ms. Fuller provide him with a copy of the documents regarding her issue and he would take a recess to review them.
Mr. Green said following the recess, he has the transcript that states there was no contract in place for Mr. McBain and a decision was to be made on the motion.
JP Moran said, “I respect your submission” but did not agree with what he was saying.
Following a short break, JP Moran returned to the bench.
“I’m of the decision that I can see where there could be a perception of a conflict of interest as I was the warden of the County of Renfrew in 2000 when this (bylaw) was passed.
“For that reason, I’m going to recuse myself from this trial,” Justice of the Peace Moran said.
As for the letter’s concern that a specially “selected” Justice of the Peace was “asked” to be on this trial, JP Moran explained how justices of the peace are chosen.
“The scheduling for all justices of the peace and all the trials, is done by the regional seniors office in Ottawa. A justice of the peace and prosecution have no input whatsoever as to who sits on what trial.”
As for this case, he adjourned it until June 22 when a date to arrange for this matter to continue will be set. He noted the seniors office will be advised of what occurred.
Justice of the Peace Moran said, “Sorry for the inconvenience, however, we feel, because there is that perception of conflict of interest there is no use in going any further and then have to, down the road, start over again. Thank you.”
Following court, Ms. Fuller had no comment regarding how the case went today.
Mr. Green said Justice of the Peace Moran “put it quite clearly, it’s coming back to be spoken to on June. 22.”
As for the letter to the editor written by Ms. Burns, Mr. Green said, “My client’s wife, my client, are entitled to write letters to the editor.
“There’s no reason why they should send letters to me before publication. My understanding is there’s no names mentioned in the letter. I read it after it was published.”
When asked why this line of questioning regarding the letter, and the response being because of the letter it’s going to another court date, Mr. Green said, “No, that is not what the JP said at all.”
While he attempted to say more, his assistant Jeff Bogaerts said, “No more comments.”
Editor’s Note: The full letter to the editor by Ms. Burns was published in the April 8, 2015 edition of The Eganville Leader and included in the April 22 Whitewater Region Township council package.
