Supreme Court dismisses appeal

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The Saskatchewan attorney general's application to have the case against Dean Edmondson reviewed by the Supreme Court of Canada has been dismissed.

Edmondson was one of three men charged in connection with the sexual assault of a 12-year-old Cree girl in 2001. The men were accused of picking the girl up one evening, providing her with alcohol and then sexually assaulting her.

Edmondson was found guilty at his trial in May 2003 and received a conditional sentence of two-years-less-a-day, to be served in the community.

Edmondson appealed his conviction and the Crown appealed his sentence. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal dismissed both appeals in April 2005. Edmondson's conviction was upheld, although the court changed the charge from being a party to a sexual assault to a charge of sexual assault. The sentence received remained unchanged, but the judgement by the Appeal Court stated that the judge in the original trial should have sentenced Edmondson to jail time.

Edmondson's two co-accused, Jeffrey Brown and Jeffery Kindrat, were tried separately in June 2003 and acquitted but had their acquittals overturned in January 2005 on the grounds that the judge in the original trial had given faulty directions to the jury. The two will face new trials in the New Year.

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Northern Saskatchewan to get supports for victims of crimes

The week of Oct. 31 to Nov. 6 marked Victims Services Week in Saskatchewan, commemorated as a way to increase understanding about the needs of victims of crime and recognize the contributions of hundreds of volunteers in victims services programs across the province. Each year, approximately 300 victims services volunteers give more than 17,000 hours of their time to help almost 15,000 victims of crime in Saskatchewan.

The province marked this year's Victims Services Week by announcing new programs and facilities to help victims of crimes in some of Saskatchewan's northern communities. According to information provided by the province's department of Justice, communities in northern Saskatchewan have some of the highest rates of violent crime in the province.

The announcements made by the department will see the establishment of a police-based victims program for the communities of Stony Rapids and Black Lake. Those programs will bring the total number of victims services programs across the province to 18.

The program offers help and support to victims of crime or traumatic event immediately after a crime and throughout the criminal justice process.

The province also announced funding for construction of a special room called a soft room in the new RCMP detachment building in Nipawin. The room will provide a location where victims of crimes and witnesses to crimes can be interviewed in a comfortable and non-threatening setting.

"This new soft room is useful in making these victims or witnesses feel safe and protected during the interview process," said Justice Minister Frank Quennell in a press release announcing funding for the room. "It is very important to help victims and witnesses of crime-especially children-feel less traumatized by the criminal justice process following a violent crime."

To date, Saskatchewan's victims services program has funded the establishment of 29 soft rooms in 25 communities across Saskatchewan.