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The Murder Trial: Justice vs. The Law

See Also: Another Day of Disappointment June 18th, 2009 A Call For Courage July 28th, 2008 Please, Staff Sergeant Gross, Let Us Have Our Dispatch Back?! April 30th, 2008 "Scanning" For 9-1-1 Problems April 30th, 2008 'Busy' 911 Meant Woman Couldn't Report Murder January 11th, 2008

The following article is an attempt to reconstruct the events of the trial, based on my experience, the comments and feelings of others in attendence, news broadcasts and articles obtained during and following the trial. As with any published material which is intended to be sensational in nature, speculation, bias and opinions are inherently a large part of the viewpoint and need to be considered as such. Although I've tried to be as accurate as possible, there will inevitably be errors and incorrect information being presented as fact. If you find error with anything written here, please email me directly at gordrock@gmail.com and I will make corrections where warranted. Please include your accurate contact information with your email if you don't want to be ignored.

Monday, September 28th, was the first day of an anticipated 3 weeks worth expected to be the most dreaded in the lives of Don and Betty Michalsky. The murder trial they'd been losing sleep over for months, postponed since June 16th, was set to begin for the second and hopefully final time.

Since the murder of their daughter, Tammy, in December, 2007, they've awaited the day when her killer would have his day in court and be held accountable for his crime. In as much as the family was willing to accept nothing less than a 1st degree murder conviction, the reality of waiting to see which verdict the jury would return at the end of the trial was tearing them up inside. What if the jury chose 2nd degree or even worse, manslaughter? In order to get a grasp on the possibile verdicts, we'll first need to understand how the circumstances leading to someone's death at the hands of another are defined by the law.

In Canada, murder is classified as either first or second degree.

1. First degree murder is a murder which is (1) planned and deliberate, (2) contracted, (3) committed against an identified peace officer, (4) while committing or attempting to commit one of the following offences (hijacking an aircraft, sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping and forcible confinement or hostage taking), (5) while committing criminal harassment, (6) committed during terrorist activity, (7) while using explosives in association with a criminal organization, or (8) while committing intimidation. Standard conviction is life (which means "life") without chance of parole.
2. Second degree murder is all murder which is not first degree murder. It could be "spur of the moment". Standard conviction is life with no eligibility of parole for 10 years.
   

If somebody is committing an illegal act and causes the death of an individual then they are found guilty of manslaughter. Though the person died, there was no intention to cause death. Perhaps, there was only an intention to hurt someone but if a person dies because of that criminal act, the charge is manslaughter. The sentencing options for manslaughter are very complicated because there is no minimum. You can get anything from probation (which is unlikely) to life in jail. Often individuals found guilty of manslaughter will serve medium range penitentiary terms, in the neighbourhood of 7 to 15 years. To read in greater detail the distinctions and sentencing for each, our article can be found here.

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