This guy was used by the P.C. Party during the by-election in Saint John!
This was the only time that I ever saw Tim Smith very upset.
Well...this time around the guy couldn't have access to a lawyer. I know for a fact that the defense lawyer was very rude to me and I got Tim Smith as a witness.
How many poor people are in jail because they had to represent themselves in court?
There should be a Provincial inquiry on this issue.
Jeff Ducharme
Telegraph-Journal
Published Friday February 2nd, 2007
Appeared on page C1
Russell Perkins pulled out a number of papers from a crinkled plastic shopping bag and laid them on a table in a meeting room at the Admiral Beatty Complex - some handwritten, others typed. He pointed to a letter from the Saint John Police Force signed by police Chief Al Bodechon.
The letter calls his arrest on Nov. 27 a "clerical error," but offers no apology for the fact that he spent three hours in a holding cell at police headquarters or an explanation of how the error occurred. Perkins was charged with common assault on Nov. 6 after an altercation weeks earlier outside a city food bank, but Perkins thought so little of the incident that he couldn't even recall the exact date of the September dustup.
On Nov. 14, he was told by police that those charges had been dropped.
"I'm not throwing a bloody axe," said Perkins. "I want the truth. I want to know what happened. I want to know who did it."
Perkins has asked for a copy of the internal investigation that was filed by the Saint John police with the New Brunswick Police Commission, but his request was refused by the local force. City police have declined any comment, saying the incident is under investigation by the commission.
The commission could not be reached Thursday, although a receptionist said it was unlikely the members would comment on an ongoing investigation.
"It's gone beyond reason," Perkins said. "It's gone beyond common sense."
Perkins wore a blue toque and sweats. He apologized for any odours because he had been out for his morning walk and didn't get a chance to shower and change. His glasses sat uncomfortably on his weathered face until he took them off.
When Perkins did appear in court after his arrest Nov. 27, he was only brought in front of a judge to sign a peace bond - no charges of assault or failing to appear.
"If they had a concern over that peace bond, I'd have signed it and walked out," Perkins said.
Not even the legal aid lawyer has escaped Perkins' displeasure. He has also filed a complaint with the Law Society of New Brunswick. He maintains the court-appointed lawyer barely gave him the time of day, let alone listen to the legal quagmire the 50-year-old found himself in.
"I only have a Grade 8 education and I drove a truck for 31 years and I'm trying to figure out what the law is all about," Perkins said, never raising his voice, but constantly pointing at the papers he had strewn all over the table and often throwing his arms open to further exaggerate his frustration.
"I'm not being unfair. I'm not smashing out windows and hooting and hollering."
Knowing how the system failed him is critical to Perkins.
"I want to know if they're being sincere to me. How many times can you take the kick in the face? "
Like all people who feel they have been wrongly caught up in the cogs of the justice system, Perkins believes someone made a mistake and now it is being covered up to avoid embarrassment.
"There is something in here that's hidden," he said pointing his leathery mitt at the letter from the police chief.
