Dozens of Calgarys were summoned for jury selection immediately during lunch at a downtown Calgary mall this week, citing a rare procedure imported from England.
Alberta agents on Thursday issued 50 subpoenas to people at the Core Mall, documents requiring the recipient to go immediately to the Calgary Courts Center, a few blocks away.
The unusual course of action was enacted after the court found that the group of jurors was not large enough for an upcoming trial, as many jurors were exempt due to several factors, said Donna Spaner, a prosecutor. of selection of the jury that was in the court on Thursday. Among those factors were the summer vacation and the object of the trial, according to Spaner.
That prompted a Queen’s Bank judge to issue the subpoena to fill that gap, he said.
“The court clerks and the sheriff went to the mall and started handing out to the members of the people at the center’s lunch this summons that forced them to attend court,” Spaner said.
I’ve been 20 years and I haven’t seen it before.- Donna Spaner, selection prosecutor for the Alberta jury
“I can tell you for sure that a number of people who were upset on Thursday afternoon weren’t particularly excited.”
He said justice did a good job of keeping the afternoon “as efficient as possible” and acknowledging the imposition it had on people.
“But looking at it from the perspective of someone who is involved in the system, it’s really remarkable that someone charged with an alleged felony … can have so much influence in a community,” he said.
“I’m 20 and I hadn’t seen him before.”
Balfour Der, a criminal defense lawyer and author of criminal law textbooks, said the procedure invoked on Thursday is called Talesman and was imported into Canada from England.
Balfour Der is a criminal defense attorney and author of criminal law textbooks in Alberta. (Lucie Edwardson / CBC)
“They’re just people who haven’t been named. They’re just taken out on the street and introduced to be part of the potential group of potential jurors who could be chosen for a particular jury.”
But those looking for a soft pretzel or a pair of new shoes shouldn’t be afraid to go to the mall: Der says it’s rare that a potential jury bid is completely exhausted for an upcoming trial.
“It’s rarely used. It’s very rare that you never run out of a panel of potential jurors, but it can happen.”
Last used 26 years ago
A spokesman for Alberta Justice Minister Tyler Shandro said the last time the procedure was enacted was in 1996 in Calgary and in December 2020 in Edmonton.
“Article 642 (1) of the Penal Code provides that the president of the court may … summon persons from nearby places to fill vacancies on a jury when the jury has been exhausted before selecting a full jury,” the press release.
In this case, 80 potential jurors went to court to act as jurors and there were not enough people to select two jurors. The first jury was selected, but the second had six short juries, so additional people were needed: it took one or two hours a day, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said that if the people who were brought in on Thursday are selected to serve on the jury, they should return to court for trial.
“Jury trial is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system. Implicit in the right to a jury trial is that the jury will be chosen at random, and will be impartial and representative of the community at large. jury is working hard to avoid the need to rely on the Talesman procedure, “the spokesman said.
“Unfortunately, and as mentioned above, the number of possible exempt jurors in the previous days and the day of jury selection finally resulted in their use.”