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'Disappointing how slow this goes': Family of deceased St. Thomas, Ont. boy frustrated at slow-turning wheels of justice

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Every time Nicolas Lemke has a scheduled appearance in a St. Thomas courtroom, family members of Aiden Curtis are there.

The 11-year-old Curtis was killed on July 4, 2023 in alleged drunk driving crash.

“Hopefully this will end soon, real soon,” said Sarah Payne, Aiden’s mother.

Sarah’s father Larry is also feeling frustrated.

“It’s just disappointing how slow this goes,” Larry Payne told CTV News London.

While the wheels of justice move slowly, a new policy implemented by the Attorney General of Canada could potentially give them answers more quickly.

“There's a new rule now that every charge that comes to court after Nov. 1, 2023 has to be either set for trial or for resolution within a six month period,” explained London, Ont. defence lawyer Nick Cake.

It is an amendment to the Jordan Decision.

“Jordan is a case from our Supreme Court that says that cases have to get to either 18 months in the Ontario Court of Justice or 30 months in the Superior Court of Justice,” said Cake.

He added, “What this new directive is, is a policy put forth by the attorney general to address what they see as ‘Jordan’ concerns, given the backlog somewhat due in part to the to the COVID-19 pandemic and the courts being closed.”

Nick Cake, a defence lawyer in London, Ont., says new policy implemented by the Attorney General of Canada won’t help reduce a backlog in the court system. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

However Cake feels this policy is easier said than done.

“What's going to happen is you're just going to take the backlog that exists now and push it six months down the road,” said Cake. “There are no new courtrooms, there are no new judges, there are no new resources. So if everything has to find its way into a court of finality within six months, well, where are those things going to go?”

Cake anticipates as many as 17 hours’ worth of cases could be stacked on top of each other on any given day. However, realistically there is only about five hours of court time each day to accomplish them.

“This policy ultimately is a sheep in wolf's clothing,” said Cake.

He explained, “People expect it to change everything but it's really going to change nothing. It doesn't help lawyers. It doesn't help the police. It doesn't help judges. It doesn't help victims of crimes. Now, victims of crimes get the opportunity to sit in courtrooms for hours or days on end, only to hear that their matter hasn't been reached.”

The Elgin County Courthouse in St. Thomas, Ont. (Brent Lale/CTV News London)

Cake also worries that cases could get thrown out by rushing them through the system.

“The delay over that six month, eight month, or one year period, was to get the file and to get instructions from the client, and to wait for reports,” said Cake. “What the lawyers were doing was filling their toolboxes. Now we're being forced to go to trial. We are forced to go to a resolution without all the tools in the box.”

Nicolas Lemke will make his next appearance in a St. Thomas courtroom on Dec. 20, 2023. The Payne family will be there, hoping that this new policy will get the case closer to trial.

“We just want justice to be served,” said Sarah.

Cake however said this policy in most cases won’t help get answers any faster.

“These victims and families of these victims are ultimately just going to be left waiting,” he said. “It's going to be a false sense of hope.” 

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