Jaffer pleads guilty to careless driving

[Swede]

Now this is the tough on crime the conservatives must be pushing for.



Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer pleaded guilty Tuesday in an Ontario courtroom to careless driving and must pay a $500 fine.

Jaffer had been charged with impaired driving and possession of cocaine but those charges were dropped. Jaffer will also donate $500 to charity.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2010/03/09/jaffer-case.html

[shockedcanadian]

1. I wonder what Socrates would think...

[daleo]

2. It looks like "it's ok if you are a Conservative"

I expected as nuch, but it still surprises one.

[daleo]

3. Regarding Jaffer's judge

According to David Akin:

Rahim Jaffer Judge Doug Maund was once Chief of Staff to former Tory minister Perrin Beatty.

http://twitter.com/davidakin/status/10238005161

Rahim Jaffer Judge Doug Maund, a federal Tory, was appointed in 2000 by Jim Flaherty, then Ontario's attorney general.

http://twitter.com/davidakin/status/10238685630

[HeresyLives]

4. Cons are big on law & order until it comes to Cons

http://davidakin.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2010/3/9/4476113.html

[ClusterFreak]

5. One thing I really don't get...

Is hearing the Crown prosecutor say that they dropped the drunk driving and cocaine possession charges because they didn't think they had a reasonable chance of getting a conviction.

Did the cops not use a breathalyzer?

Did they not find coke in his possession? In his car?

I mean...either they did or they didn't. Seems completely open and shut to me.

But what do I know. I guess you had to be there.

:eyes:

[HeresyLives]

6. Well the cocaine and breathalyzer results

seem to have vanished into thin air.

[daleo]

7. There may have been questions about probable cause

Regarding the drug search and/or breathalyser.

Who knows what went on behind the scenes, though. I suspect the crown was more than willing to want this to go away. The judge used to work for a Mulroney cabinet minister. The crown prosecutor may have had similar sympathies, or may have preferred to not risk her professional future over Jaffer.

I don't imagine she wanted to make an enemy of a political party that could thwart her career in future years.