SATURDAY SPECIAL - REVOLVING DOOR

NEARLY half of Winnipeg's daily court docket includes people who are
accused of thumbing their noses at court orders, a Free Press analysis
reveals.

Numbers taken over two days this week -- 261 different people charged
with 799 total breaches -- show the kinds of challenges facing
overworked police officers who are often forced to chase their tails
by arresting -- and rearresting -- the same people on a regular basis.

They also create the impression that to many people, a court order
isn't worth the paper it's written on.

The breaches include failing to abstain from drugs and alcohol,
missing curfew, not showing up in court, violating a conditional
sentence, missing mandatory treatment and counselling, not living at a
proper address, failing to keep the peace and contacting a person
against the court's orders.

Ed Humphries, vice-president of the Winnipeg Police Association, said
this week the numbers are a serious concern to his officers.

"This is extremely frustrating. How do some of these people keep
getting out on bail?" he asked. "This is a tremendous burden for
officers and a huge price, both with time and financial, of having to
arrest and rearrest and rearrest the same people over and over again."

Most of the people facing breach charges have other substantive
criminal offences to go along with their breaches -- an indicator they
were rearrested only after drawing attention to themselves by
allegedly getting reinvolved in other criminal matters and not through
rigorous enforcement of court orders.

Winnipeg police have openly admitted they don't have the time or
resources available to go door-to-door and check for compliance of
most people on bail or probation. If they did, the numbers would
surely be even bigger.

That has been illustrated with several recent cases where victims of
crime have complained about slow police response times -- only for
police to trot out statistics that show a huge volume of
higher-priority calls that had them racing around the city.

There have also been several high-profile cases, including murders,
where suspects were found to be in violation of bail, probation,
parole or even wanted on an outstanding warrant at the time of the new
offence.

It isn't just police who are being stretched by scofflaws.

The large volume of breaches helps explain the bursting court dockets
and legal delays that often don't see cases getting set down for
hearing until years after the fact.

Victims of crime often get frustrated, criminals who are denied bail
get can restless (not to mention two-for-one credit for each day
served) and cases may grow colder and more difficult to prove as time
passes and memories fade. "Breach of court orders are a very serious
matter. They strike at the heart of our system," Manitoba chief
provincial court Judge Ray Wyant told the Free Press this week.

More accused and more charges also means more courtrooms, Crowns and
defence lawyers are needed to wade through the mess.

Last month, Winnipeg defence lawyer Martin Glazer booked a murder
trial for January 2008. He blamed a busy personal schedule for the
delay.

A recent exodus of Crown attorneys -- 14 have left in the past 18
months -- has also made life difficult for justice officials
scrambling to assign warm bodies to the cases.

Wyant has implemented a new court program aimed mainly at domestic
cases in which timelines are set for cases to move forward and
individual Crowns are assigned "ownership" of cases for continuity.

But despite its successes -- Wyant recently accepted a United Nations
Public Service Award for dramatically improving wait times -- justice
officials don't appear to have made any progress on the fact too many
people are still treating court orders as mere suggestions.

In an interview, Wyant said he's tired of hearing criminals and even
some lawyers pass off breaches as a minor offence. He admitted the
charges often get tossed aside or overlooked, especially if an accused
has other serious criminal charges.

"It never impresses me when I hear a lawyer say their client has no
substantive charges when they're faced with a bunch of breaches," said
Wyant.

There don't appear to be any easy answers. Some justice critics would
suggest judges should stop letting so many people out on bail when its
clear many are likely going to end up getting reinvolved. But where do
you put them? Jail space, like court resources, is already at a
premium in Manitoba.

The Remand Centre is overflowing to the point Headingley Correctional
Institution has now become the unofficial second holding facility in
the province instead of just a place for people to go to serve their
sentences.

Breaches order of the day

HERE'S a summary of the Free Press findings, from two random,
relatively slow, summer days in Winnipeg courts.

In July and August, courts work on a reduced schedule because of the
large number of judges and lawyers on holiday.

* A total of 526 different people had their names on the regular
provincial court docket Wednesday and Thursday. Of those, 205 face
charges that include a total of 557 breaches of various court orders.
The majority of those people were out of custody -- again -- and
simply appearing as their cases are being managed through the system.

* An additional 63 people were on the custody bail court docket
Wednesday following their recent arrests. Of those, 56 face a total of
242 breach charges. The majority of those people also appeared in
custody bail court Thursday after their cases were simply adjourned
Wednesday. As a result, Thursday's bail court numbers aren't being
factored into the two-day totals to avoid duplication. * The total --
combining Wednesday's bail court docket and two days of the regular
docket -- is 589 people appearing in court with 261 of them facing a
total of 799 breach charges. The other 328 people on the docket were
not facing any breach charges. That means 45 per cent of all people on
the court docket were facing breach allegations.

* Among the 514 adults on the court docket, 216 face charges that
include a total of 661 breaches. That represents 42 per cent of all
adult accused.

* Among 75 youth on the court docket, 45 face charges that include a
total of 138 breaches. That represents 60 per cent of all youth accused.