Case Brief R. v. Williams [1998] 1 S.C.R1. 1128 Law Essay

Case Brief         (Title [your choice])             Your Name Student Number               Name of Class Course Code (Term) Carleton University             Professor: Sebastien Malette Teaching Assistant: Date:     Case name and citation R. v. Williams [1998] 1 S.C.R1. 1128 Type and Level of Case; Judgment Delivered by The Supreme Court of Canada on an appeal from a judgment, of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Delivered by McLachlin J. Facts Victor Daniel Williams – aboriginal was accused of robbing Victoria pizza parlour on October 1993, but he claimed another person committed the robbery, and argued he did not expect the jury to be impartial. The issue considered iwhether Williams had the right to challenge potential jurors for cause to establish if they were prejudiced against Aboriginals, and whether this may impair their impartiality. Under Section 638 of the Criminal Code, the trial judges permit challenges to juror selection if there is likelihood of juror bias. To Williams the British Colombia judges were biased against Aboriginals and this would likely influence how they reviewed evidence against the accused suspect where the complainant is White In the first trial the judge allowed questions to the potential jurors, but the Crown highlighted there was a mistrial on the basis of procedural error.  In the second trial the judge allowed the accused to challenge the jurors, but the judge missed a renewed application. Subsequently, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal, but the lower courts agreed there was widespread discrimination against Aborigines (Lexum.com). If racial prejudice and stereotyping affected the jurors’ decisions, this may have resulted in discrimination. The judge pointed out “widespread racial prejudice, as a characteristic of the community, may therefore sometimes be the subject of judicial notice” (Lexum). Issue(s) The first issue “whether the evidence of widespread bias against aboriginal people in the community raises ...