Judge Ellen Gordon has amassed quite a menu of horrible rulings in her short time as a provincial court judge in British Columbia. She was appointed in 2005. Since then she:
- Acquitted an impaired driver who was stopped by BSO's at Boundary Bay and had his vehicle searched. She ruled the search was illegal because it was simply a pretext to detain the man for impaired.
- Delayed the sentence of another impaired driver ... who killed someone ... so that the accused could spend Christmas with her family (too bad the deceased victim couldn't do the same). Her sentence was only 2 years anyway, and it was overturned on appeal.
- Tossed out a search warrant which resulted in a seizure of 600+ marihuana plants in a B.C. grow up, mainly because the police officers chose to telephone their warrant application, instead of go to the court house across the street.
- Gave out an absolute discharge (essentially the same as an acquittal, but with a finding of guilt) to a woman who poisoned a stand of trees, just so she could get a better view of Stanley Park from her $1-million condo
Court throws out acquittal of suspected drunk driver
New trial ordered because of 'bias' by judge who set accused free
Jack Keating, The Province
SURREY - A new trial has been ordered for a suspected drunk driver who was acquitted when a Surrey Provincial Court judge ruled his rights were violated by a Canadian border guard.
The Crown appealed the acquittal in B.C. Supreme Court on the grounds that Judge Ellen Gordon's "aggressive cross- examination" of the border guard showed "bias" in the case.
"I find the trial judge was quite unfair," said Madame
Justice Catherine Bruce in her three-page written judgment ordering a new trial.
"The trial judge, in my view, created a reasonable apprehension of bias in the manner in which she cross-examined the witness in this inappropriate way."
John Peter Gorman was asked to step out of his car and open his trunk when at the Point Roberts border crossing on Nov. 20, 2004.
"[The border guard] believed that Mr. Gorman had been drinking," Gordon stated in her acquittal ruling in July 2006.
Gordon accused the guard of ordering Gorman out of the car to open his trunk not to inspect the contents, but to see if he was drunk.
Justice Bruce said Gordon "put unfair questions" to the border guard. Bruce said the "premature statement by the judge that she did not believe the evidence of the Customs Inspector," before submissions were made, showed bias on her part.
Bruce noted that Gorman did not have a lawyer representing him in court, which forced Judge Gordon to intervene on behalf of the accused.
"Where a person is unrepresented there is clearly a duty placed upon the trial judge to do all that is necessary to ensure the accused receives a fair trial . . . to ensure as part of that process that all viable defences are raised," said Bruce.
But Bruce found that the manner in which trial judge cross-examined the guard "supports a conclusion of a reasonable apprehension of bias."
Gorman's counsel argued that Gordon's questions were appropriate.
The Canada Border Service Agency is appealing another of Gordon's decisions.
Ajitpal Singh Sekhon was acquitted last July on charges of importing 50 kilograms of cocaine into Canada at the Aldergrove border.
His acquittal was on the grounds that the guards violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by dismantling his trunk without first obtaining a search warrant.
