In this Interview, Trevor speaks with Andrew Pilla and Levi Vandersteen about the right to be tried within a reasonable time and the Charter remedy available for when this right is violated. The discussion focuses on the landmark decision of R. v. Jordan and Andrew and Levi’s 2019 article titled “Re-Charting the Remedial Course for Section 11(b) Violations Post-Jordan.” Topics discussed include the Jordan framework generally, how an automatic stay came to be viewed as the only appropriate remedy in an 11(b) violation, why a delay may not always immediately prejudice or harm the accused, and their proposed remedial framework which balances the rights of the accused with the societal interest of proceeding with a trial on its merits.

Andrew and Levi are both crown attorneys in Ontario. Their views and opinions do not represent the views held by the Ministry of Attorney General for Ontario.

In this interview Trevor speaks with Director of the UBC Innocence Project, Tamara Levy Q.C. This interview will also serve as a preview of the topics we will be reviewing in our first season, as Trevor and Tamara discuss many of said topics including: wrongful convictions, Tamara’s interest in studying and preventing wrongful convictions, the creation of the UBC Innocence Project, their recent success in exonerating Tomas Yebes, the hallmarks of wrongful convictions, the use of science in righting miscarriages of justice, the need to revisit historic cases and convictions, jail house informants, juries, and demeanour evidence.

In this interview, Trevor continues to discuss the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Jordan with Dr. Christopher Sherrin, Associate Dean at Western University Faculty of Law. Trevor and Chris discuss the importance of a reliable justice system, the impact of Jordan, the ongoing issue of delay, whether the Jordan Framework has really changed the manner in which courts assess unreasonable delay applications, Jordan framework and arithmetic, why it may be time to re-consider the automatic stay remedy for unreasonable delay, the importance of judicial flexibility, and the importance of regular reflection on what we want our criminal justice system to achieve.

In this interview Trevor speaks with lawyer, and counsel in the landmark decision R. v. Jordan, Eric Gottardi, Q.C., about unreasonable delay and section 11(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Topics discussed include: the historical significance of being tried within a reasonable period of time, how delay can impair trial fairness, why the right to trial in a reasonable time was enshrined in s.11(b) of the Charter, why the right is key in a society that values the rule of law, the court’s approach to unreasonable delay applications prior to Jordan, complacency and delay prior to Jordan, The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R. v. Jordan, the significance of this decision, and how this seminal decision has impacted Canada’s Justice System.

In this interview Trevor speaks with renowned lawyer John Kingman Phillips about full and complete disclosure and the right to know the case against you. Topics discussed include: the challenges and unfairness of trial by surprise, the historical roots of disclosure, the importance of disclosure for trial fairness, his role as co-counsel in the landmark disclosure decision of R. v. Stinchcombe, the state of disclosure today, continuous obligation to disclose, the responsibilities of police, crown, and defence counsel, and the manner in which disclosure can be achieved.

In this interview, Trevor speaks with Mark Farrant, Founder and CEO of the Canadian Juries Commission, a national not-for-profit that supports Canadians who have served on juries. Topics discussed include, Mark's experience as a juror and how it changed his life, his journey with PTSD, the importance of the jury as an institution, juror demographics, the jury and civic duty, the need to better invest in the jury as an institution, the inadequate amount of jury pay, jury secrecy laws, juror support and education, juror security concerns, and his efforts to bring about jury reform in Canada.

In this episode, Trevor speaks with Dr. Sharon Leal of the renowned International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology at Portsmouth University. Trevor and Sharon discuss topics related to deception detection, including: the use of non-verbal cues, the spotlight effect, the illusion of transparency, cognitive load, the ability of liars to suppress deceptive behaviour, the Reid technique of interrogation, active interviewing vs passive interviewing, cognitive credibility assessment, the verbal strategies used by liars and truth tellers, and the use of demeanour in court rooms.

In this interview, Trevor is joined by law professor and lawyer, Craig E. Jones, Q.C. They discuss topics related to legal persuasion, bias and heuristics, the influence of the subconscious in legal decision making, the ethics around using persuasive techniques in a legal setting, and how courts can safeguard against improper use of psychological manipulation.

In this episode Trevor speaks with award winning psychologist, Professor Will Huggon about numerous topics related to forensic psychology and the law, including: psychology as a science, the importance of collaboration between researchers and practitioners, the reluctance of courts to admit expert evidence from psychologists, the myth of “common sense” as it relates psychology, deception detection, police interviewing, false confessions, juries, bias and decision making, and more.

In this interview Trevor speaks with psychologist Dr. Ian Fraser about memory fallibility and whether the shortcomings of human memory is common knowledge in the justice system. Our discussion touches on why Ian started writing about memory for lawyers, memory as a fluid process, memory suggestibility, factors that influence memory, estimator and system variables, wrongful convictions and the link to eyewitness testimony, police lineups, and his research on the whether the players of the justice system truly grasp memory and its associated pitfalls and complexities.