A rchive Date
[ 13-06-2000 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[Ken Murray: Also a victim
By STEVE SIMMONS
Toronto Sun
June 13, 2000
There is no reason to send Ken Murray to prison. Nothing would be accomplished by that. He has already served inexorable time in a life sentence that continues with each passing day.
He has to live with himself and his choices and that may be more difficult than anything the Ontario Superior Court can or will impose upon him today.
That he hasn't been imprisoned behind bars is simply a matter of interpretation. That he hasn't been penalized for his part in the infectious mess that has been the Paul Bernardo case is untrue - no one has walked away from this unscathed.
Ken Murray, the vilified lawyer who found and kept secret for almost 17 months the infamous Bernardo videotapes, may well be found guilty of attempting to obstruct justice in a St. Catharines courtroom today, but no court can undo to him what's already been done. Courts are incapable of magic.
No court can make the past seven years disappear.
There is nothing wrong with finding him guilty today: There is something wrong, though, with having him do jail time. That would serve no one. That would not be humane.
There is, in this case, the inherent dilemma between written laws and real life. Laws are finite. Life is not so easily defined. Laws are written by lawyers for lawyers and over time they are torn apart and interpreted by other lawyers. It is the very nature of the job of defence lawyers to examine the law, poke holes in it, twist, prod, and occasionally act immorally to find a way to defend a client. That vigilance is simply part of the job description.
That's what Ken Murray thought he was doing as Bernardo's defence lawyer, working on his client's behalf. He was going to use the videotapes to expose Karla Homolka for what she was. That was the plan.
But at issue in the seven-week trial was his fierce grasp of solicitor-client privilege, and how far those rights extend and whether he, as solicitor, had an obligation to turn in the videotapes or keep them as defence evidence.
Ask 10 lawyers their opinion of Murray's treatment of his time with Bernardo and you will be granted 10 divergent opinions. This is often the problem with law and punishment and a case that can be eloquently argued both ways.
But, in the court of public opinion, there is mostly consensus. Murray was found guilty long before he was ever charged with any crime. To this very day, most people attribute the light and offensive plea bargain agreement that killer Karla Homolka signed in exchange for her testimony to the fact Murray held onto the videotapes he recovered from inside the potlights at what was then Bernardo's St. Catharines home. Throughout the case against Bernardo, lead prosecutor, Ray Houlahan, remained steadfast in his belief that had Murray handed over the tapes in a timely fashion, the deal that saw Homolka receive a 12-year term for two counts of manslaughter would never have happened.
In many people's minds, Murray may not be guilty of breaking any law but he was certainly guilty of questionable judgment. In Murray's defence, he maintains the plea bargain negotiation began several months earlier, and he didn't even view the videos until after the deal was done.
At issue, also, is the depth to which solicitor-client privilege extends. And what happens when a lawyer proceeds to a crime scene, on instructions from a client, removes evidence that was not found by police search and alters a case accordingly.
This is what a court will determine today.
The judge will, on one hand, rule on the law and the merits of the trial, and plot a course for what is allowed in search and seizure, and on the other hand determine, at least part of, Murray's immediate future.
He may be found guilty - he may be found not guilty. The arguments can be made in either direction.
But, as he walks into the courtroom today, this much is certain: No matter what is decided, this will not be the end. This cannot be the end.
There is still a matter with the Law Society of Upper Canada to be determined and while that, too, will somehow conclude, you have to wonder what it has been like to be Ken Murray, if it will ever be over?
How he thought he was doing his job. How he thought he was doing the right thing. How the walls closed in on him, with or without prison, because of one case, one case he didn't even get to try.
Steve Simmons can be reached by e-mail at ssimmons@sunpub.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]]
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