The courtroom antics of Crown prosecutor Paul Alexander seem like a perfect case for the Law Society of Upper Canada’s new civility regime.
Over the last couple of years, the LSUC has put a big emphasis on civility, particularly in light of comments in the report on major criminal cases by former Superior Court chief justice Patrick LeSage and current Justice Michael Code about problems in that area being a major impediment to the efficient administration of justice.
In Alexander’s case, the implications of his actions in court were very grave. As a result of his gestures and faces towards Erika Mendieta, the accused in the murder of her young daughter, Superior Court Justice Nola Garton ruled she had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
Even the jury found Alexander’s behaviour unsettling. “We find him very distracting and he is making strange faces all the time,” the jury said in a note. “We feel very uncomfortable with him.”
Alexander, of course, had been the prosecutor during earlier proceedings against Mendieta, which also resulted in a mistrial.
So while he had an obvious investment in the latest proceedings, it was clearly inappropriate for him to come back to court where he sat rolling his eyes and making gestures the accused interpreted as trying to convey the message that she was lying.
The case has prompted vigorous debate over whether Garton should have declared the mistrial rather than simply remove Alexander from the courtroom and canvass the jury on whether it could then still render a fair decision.
It’s a reasonable question to ask, but given that continuing on that basis would likely have resulted in an appeal later on, Garton made the right move.
As for Alexander, his actions are an egregious example of the types of conduct the LSUC is attempting to address with its measures on civility. But given that a key focus is on providing mentorship to errant lawyers, going that route is clearly not enough.
By provoking a mistrial, Alexander has done a disservice to the profession, potentially wasted even more public funds on the second proceeding, and put the search for justice in the girl’s murder at risk. He should have known better.
As a result, the LSUC should go beyond mentoring to formally discipline him, as should the Ministry of the Attorney General.
- Glenn Kauth
