April 17 2011
Hon. Mr. Christopher Bentley - Attorney General
Mr. Ken Lockhart - Assistant Crown Attorney
Thank you, and I have reviewed the document, “Charge Screening” from The Crown Policy Manual, that you forwarded to me.
With respect to your noted reasons for discontinuing prosecution, it appears the factors in favour of continued prosecution may have outweighed the need to cease prosecution-- given the public interest, and as you noted, given the threshold for reasonable prospect of conviction was met in light of the strong evidence.
Regarding public interest; the charge, under 342.1(1)(c), while not a typical grave offence, is a criminal offence nonetheless--one that, in a society ripe with computer crimes, needs special attention to ensure, at the least, a strong deterrent is set.
Further, and as you are aware, twenty years ago, Toronto Police and OCCPS recommended criminal charges when there is evidence an officer used police computers for non-police business-- what Detective Wayne Lakey was accused of doing.
The Attorney General and your office had a prime and unique opportunity to send a strong message to those within the public and private sectors that computer crimes will not be tolerated. Yet the message that was sent may have reinforced the notion that computer crimes may not be considered serious and may not be prosecuted.
Additionally, the crown policy states:
"Before withdrawing a charge for public interest reasons, Crown counsel should be mindful of the needs as well as the role of the victim. Crown counsel should consider the victim’s position as one of the significant factors in arriving at a just position"
In conclusion, and from my position as the victim, it appeared as though my needs may have simply been an obstacle in what became an adversarial, and possibly political, situation.
While I respect your position, I cannot pretend to agree that the right message was sent to the police and /or the public.
Yours truly
Jeff Green
