Welcome to the TTP community

Be apart of something great, join today!

Jake Virtanen Verdict: Not Guilty

Regs

Staff member
Total Bastard
Jun 28, 2001
32,114
18,837
Tokens
16,187
Dirty Money
55,668
Well this is quite the development. How is twatter gonna react?

Where does Virtanen go from here? Career basically ruined over this, yes?
 

mtkb

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2011
1,867
1,250
Tokens
2,635
Dirty Money
100
I think his career was ruined by his shite attitude and play, but this won't have helped.

That's a very short time for a jury to be out... tells me they weren't remotely buying what the complainant was selling...

I know the lawyers involved and all three are good quality counsel; it's never easy for the Crown when a complainant sues before going to the police. In this case, when faced with that fact, the complainant still tried to convince the jury that her coming forward had nothing to do with money... right.
 

johnnybluenose

Well-Known Member
Oct 15, 2004
8,280
588
Tokens
270
Dirty Money
100
As a girl dad - no means no. There's my caveat.

However I wonder if Jake will take a page out of Captain Sparrow's playbook for telling unsubstantiated tales that costs someone their career and many millions of dollars.
 

mtkb

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2011
1,867
1,250
Tokens
2,635
Dirty Money
100
As a girl dad - no means no. There's my caveat.

However I wonder if Jake will take a page out of Captain Sparrow's playbook for telling unsubstantiated tales that costs someone their career and many millions of dollars.
The fact that he's an arrogant sack of... and his play fell off a cliff may be a bit of a problem for him in that regard.
And yes. No means no. Period. The question remains. Was it a no... or was it a yes...
 

Canucks4Ever

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2011
1,921
2,170
Tokens
3,831
Dirty Money
120
Presumably part of him taking the stand himself was with a view to rehabilitating his career. Versus the standard sex assault defense playbook of leave the accused out of the witness box and put only the complainant's credibility in question.

On has to think this was with an eye on going to NHL teams to say he was on the record denying this took place and the jury believed him over her in exonerating him. As opposed to merely "she could not prove it" (all the while accepting that they may well have believe her over him but just not to the "beyond a reasonable doubt standard"...)

That said, I will defer to resident defense counsel @mtkb for his analysis of the defense strategy.
 

mtkb

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2011
1,867
1,250
Tokens
2,635
Dirty Money
100
you take a jury on this type of thing because you're gambling that at least one or two of them won't be buying what the complainant is selling... as for the accused testifying, the general rule is that juries want to hear from the accused... the judge instructs them that he doenst have to testify and he has the right to remain silent and blah blah blah... but I can tell you that us defense lawyers have little faith in the jury heeding that if the accused doesnt testify. Unless the complainant really bloodies herself up in front of the jury, the accused is taking that stand.

The jury acquitting doesnt mean they believed him. They dont give reasons. It just means that they were not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty - full stop. They didn't exonerate him. He can wave that flag if he wants, but the only thing the verdict proves is that the jury did not accpet that the crown proved their case to the criminal standard...
 

johnnybluenose

Well-Known Member
Oct 15, 2004
8,280
588
Tokens
270
Dirty Money
100
I've seen a few snips and articles here and there... I was specifically blown away by this comment from local-celeb lawyer Kyla Lee:

“One of the things that we’ve seen through this trial is the very high degree of bravery that you have to have if you are a victim of a crime, to come forward, to testify and to give your version of events about everything that happened to you, because of the difficult cross-examination you’re going to face,” she said.

It’s unfortunate that our legal system puts victims through this process.


So it's essentially unfortunate that a "victim" needs to be cross examined by the accused's council???
Dodgy AF. She's a lawyer??? Hopefully this is just misplaced feminist advocacy.

I don't care if Virtanen is arrogant, or a slacker, or wasted his supreme talents and gifts, if someone is charging someone with raping them and the consequences are years in prison, the accused had better damn well expect to be put through the ringer to insure whatever the accusation is, can be driven to ground.
 

mtkb

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2011
1,867
1,250
Tokens
2,635
Dirty Money
100
Kyla Lee runs a practice largely focused on fighting immediate roadside prohibitions. Any criminal or trial work she does is, I believe, a small fraction of that practice.

The younger generation of lawyer - no doubt partially thanks to coming through law schools that have been taken over by radical leftists - have a worryingly low attachment to the fundamental principles that make up a legal system in a liberal democracy. That's obviously a gross simplification - many young lawyers do get it - but when comments disparaging free speech as a "dog whistle" are embraced by the Canadian Bar Association, well, Houston we have a problem.

Ms. Lee actively solicits speaking opportunities in the local media. The criminal lawyers associations have communicated on multiple occasions with those outlets, offering far more experienced criminal counsel (some of whom who have since become provincial court judges) who would comment for free. Crickets.

I don't know if her comments on this particular issue are performative or genuine, but based on my overall assessment of her judgement, they don't surprise me in the least.
 

mtkb

Well-Known Member
Feb 1, 2011
1,867
1,250
Tokens
2,635
Dirty Money
100
LOL... didn't realize she changed her story about consenting to kissing between direct and cross... it's absolutely true that no complainant should be expected to remember every detail, but something wavering on something like that is a big problem...
 

Members online

Your TTP Wallet

Tokens
0
Dirty Money
0
TTP Dollars
$0

Latest posts

Top