| Sheffer discharged with probation |
| By Sheila Rowland |
| Enterprise-Bulletin Special (Fri, January 12, 2000) |
| BARRIE - Joseph Sheffer will be on probation for one year
without a conviction being registered, after pleading guilty Jan 9 to a
breach of bail. |
| The court heard the 58 year old Sheffer and the complainant
had lived together for many years prior to their domestic dispute on or
about Feb 26 of last year. Although the altercation resulted in
Sheffer's arrest on a charge of assault, there were no injuries reported
by the complainant. Afterwards the defendant was released on an
undertaking with conditions of non-association with the complainant. |
| On Apr 2 the complainant received a call from Sheffer, who
later "showed her a letter drafted in her name, (indicating) he
wanted the charge withdrawn." Sheffer then asked her to copy it
in her own handwriting and address it to a local (Collingwood) lawyer.
Much of what the letter contained was accurate, court heard, and it stated
the complainant was "no longer sure how she'd fallen to the
floor." |
| Acting on her own initiative, the complainant then
attempted to consult the Crown in charge of the case - who at the time was
Gisele Miller. The complainant went to court, but Miller either
could not or would not speak to her, as the investigating officer was not
present. The charge was therefore not withdrawn, and Sheffer was
arrested a second time on a number of offences including attempting to
obstruct Justice and counseling to commit an indictable offence. The
ex-police officer (Metro Toronto) and former director of economic
development for the Town of Collingwood was held in custody in the Barrie
Jail for three days before being released on strict conditions. Among
these, Sheffer was prohibited from using a cell phone and ordered to obey
a curfew, until it was lifted in June through the efforts of Toronto defense
lawyer Mary Hall. |
| On Tuesday, Crown prosecutor Lorne McConnery told the court
"the assault could be difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt
(owing to) elements of self-defense." McConnery went on to say
he was prepared to proceed on that charge by way of a peace bond. |
| Hall concurred, adding the defense was admitting Sheffer
"did contact the complainant in contravention of the order," and
"did not dispute that a letter was prepared in the hope of having the
charge withdrawn." |
| Mr. Justice G.W. Beaty ruled the defendant would enter into
a peace bond for one year with $1,000 default and no deposit
required. The only terms were that Sheffer keep the peace and be of
good behaviour. No surety was named in the disposition. |
| On the charge of breaching bail, McConnery stressed the
case was far from clear-cut. |
| "Sometimes when things are resolved you want to fight
the urge to turn it into a dog-fight. I'm going to fight that,"
he said. "The hope here today is that people get on with their
life. It's not one-sided. |
| "(There's) an elemental stigma that it's going to be
very difficult to over-come," McConnery said. "The victim
ended up suffering, and suffering terribly as a result of the
charge. She really did want this resolved." |
| Beatty began his judgment by thanking Hall for her
submissions. The judge then turned to the defendant. |
| "The public has concerns about moving (your marriage)
into the criminal realm and invading your privacy, particularly at a
trial. The Crown has been very careful to protect the rights of the
victim as they exist in law. It's seldom black and white between
parties. |
| "The community takes spousal violence very
seriously. You have shown your value to the community over the
year. It will take a great deal of time to regain that
respect." |
| Sheffer received a conditional discharge with probation for
one year. The defendant was ordered to report as required, be of
good behaviour, and continue to seek and maintain employment. He
cannot associate with his estranged wife except through a third party who
has revocable permission from the complainant. A term of counseling
for both Sheffer and the complainant will be in place for the period of
probation. |
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