An immigrant to Canada who was arrested last August and charged with aggravated assault got a sympathetic hearing from an Ontario Court judge recently who found the man had never been given a bail hearing.
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Ke D. Huynh, 68, was charged last year after police said a man “appeared to have been stabbed in the face.”
Huynh and another man had been arguing in the downtown area on Market Street over beer money that was owed to Huynh.
“He was struggling at the time,” said defense lawyer David Langer, “but the injuries to the complainant were not what was thought at first and there have been no lasting effects.”
It turned out the victim had not been stabbed at all. He had a preexisting glaucoma condition that caused some initial confusion.
Once that was established, Huynh pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of assault causing bodily harm.
Langer told Justice Gethin Edward that Huynh spent 216 days in jail, normally enhanced to almost 11 months, with 70 lock-downs, including 46 full lock-downs, and was triple bunked for 13 days.
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“That was truly difficult for him as he has respiratory issues, is 68 years old and was the person designated to sleep on the floor, on the concrete,” said the lawyer.
Langer asked that the judge give Huynh a time-served sentence, which would be counted at almost a year in custody.
Instead, Edward demanded to know why Huynh hadn’t been released on bail to await trial.
“I’m probably one of those individuals who thinks the ‘catch and release’ policy on bail leaves a lot to be desired, yet I’m trying to think how this individual spent seven months in custody by way of pretrial detention. How did lease get denied?”
Looking through the record of court appearances, the court clerk told the judge there didn’t appear to have been any bail hearing.
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“Can someone explain how this individual at 68 is detained in custody but I have all kinds of young individuals who appear before me after having been released five and six times on far more serious offenses with far less realistic bail plans?” asked Edward.
The judge said Huynh was welcomed to Canada when he was fleeing from his home in Vietnam but may not have been adequately served with help improving his English, which may have impeded his journey in the criminal justice system.
“When my clerk tells me there was no bail hearing conducted, that’s a pretty chilling consequence and I worry that, in this jurisdiction, the court’s obsession to get as much stuff pushed through bail court and trial court has seen casualties such as Mr. Huynh not afforded the time and care to ensure his rights are adequately protected.”
Edward said the assault clearly looked more serious than it was initially thought and he ignored the request for a year of time served in favor of just four months of time served, enhanced to a sentence of six months, and declined to place Huynh on a probation order.
@EXPSGamble
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