For the first time, a judge in Alberta has ruled defendants can be ordered to remove their face masks in court, even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic..Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Douglas Mah said he had concerns some alleged crooks could use the masks as a way to disguise themselves..“Under normal circumstances his face would be completely visible,” wrote Mah, of Edmonton..Mah said allowing masked defendants inside a courtroom would “lead to a situation where an accused can mask himself during the trial to avoid identification in issues where identification is the only issue, whether there is a pandemic or not.”.Arnold Stephens, 41, of Edmonton, is on trial for second-degree murder in the 2017 stabbing death of a teenage boy outside a local apartment building..The Defence has argued Stephens should be allowed to wear a pandemic mask at his trial..“Mask wearing is necessitated by the protocol related to the COVID pandemic and its purpose is to secure the health and safety of those participating in the trial,” wrote Mah..He noted the judge, lawyers and witnesses have gone maskless from time to time “to be heard better in the large courtroom.”.“While a person is unmasked, the necessary health and safety precautions were observed through physical barriers and physical distancing,” wrote Mah..“I am advised the courts are split on the particular issue of whether removal of a mask results in self-incrimination.”.“I am not compelling him to participate in his own prosecution because, under normal circumstances, his face would be completely visible.”.Courts in British Columbia and Ontario have allowed participants to appear at trials wearing masks. An Ontario provincial court judge in a February 2 ruling called it mandatory even if witnesses’ identification was in question..“A trial with witnesses having their nose and mouth covered can hardly be viewed as unfair in the midst of a public health pandemic,” wrote Justice Julie Bourgeois of Ottawa, who said she felt the responsibility “of keeping the people in our courtrooms safe.”.“No one expects a judge to order a proceeding in the face of imminent danger to a justice participant.”.“In the face of the current and continuing evolving situation, it is difficult to conceive why witnesses and everyone else in the courtroom would in fact not be ordered to keep their mask on at all times, especially when speaking or testifying.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
For the first time, a judge in Alberta has ruled defendants can be ordered to remove their face masks in court, even at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic..Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Douglas Mah said he had concerns some alleged crooks could use the masks as a way to disguise themselves..“Under normal circumstances his face would be completely visible,” wrote Mah, of Edmonton..Mah said allowing masked defendants inside a courtroom would “lead to a situation where an accused can mask himself during the trial to avoid identification in issues where identification is the only issue, whether there is a pandemic or not.”.Arnold Stephens, 41, of Edmonton, is on trial for second-degree murder in the 2017 stabbing death of a teenage boy outside a local apartment building..The Defence has argued Stephens should be allowed to wear a pandemic mask at his trial..“Mask wearing is necessitated by the protocol related to the COVID pandemic and its purpose is to secure the health and safety of those participating in the trial,” wrote Mah..He noted the judge, lawyers and witnesses have gone maskless from time to time “to be heard better in the large courtroom.”.“While a person is unmasked, the necessary health and safety precautions were observed through physical barriers and physical distancing,” wrote Mah..“I am advised the courts are split on the particular issue of whether removal of a mask results in self-incrimination.”.“I am not compelling him to participate in his own prosecution because, under normal circumstances, his face would be completely visible.”.Courts in British Columbia and Ontario have allowed participants to appear at trials wearing masks. An Ontario provincial court judge in a February 2 ruling called it mandatory even if witnesses’ identification was in question..“A trial with witnesses having their nose and mouth covered can hardly be viewed as unfair in the midst of a public health pandemic,” wrote Justice Julie Bourgeois of Ottawa, who said she felt the responsibility “of keeping the people in our courtrooms safe.”.“No one expects a judge to order a proceeding in the face of imminent danger to a justice participant.”.“In the face of the current and continuing evolving situation, it is difficult to conceive why witnesses and everyone else in the courtroom would in fact not be ordered to keep their mask on at all times, especially when speaking or testifying.”.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
