Taking Some Responsibility

As a reporter, you try to keep yourself as unbiased as possible.  You're supposed to think of everyone as innocent until proven guilty.  You're supposed to give everyone the benefit of the doubt but at the same time you can't be afraid to ask the tough questions.  Yet the one question that continually rises in my head is: when will some people simply take responsibility for their actions?

The one area where this aggravates me more than usual is through our criminal justice system.  You can't blame the police as they do all they can (in most cases) to gather enough evidence and bring it to the Crown, who will put its best case together in hopes of laying appropriate charges which will result in the highest likelihood of conviction.  The judges are also bound by the Criminal Code of Canada and, once convicted, sentences are likely going to fall in a range set out through previous cases.  I get it.

What bugs me more than anything is watching the sense of entitlement some criminals have in using the system to their benefit.  I've covered my fair share of trials in my short career but it never ceases to amaze me at how often those found guilty will appeal.  They either don't like the charge they were found guilty of or they don't like the sentence.  So they bog down the justice system even more by putting the case through the ringer again.  And it's usually based on some wording the judge used or some sort of "out there" hypothesis which the defense believes wasn't taken into consideration.  Even though the evidence clearly shows the person convicted was responsible.  But they've sunk a ton of money into lawyers, so what's another few years of dragging the case through the system one more time?  Let's subject the families, friends and witnesses through the pains and struggles one more time, just to see if you can get a six-year sentence instead of a seven-year sentence.

One case that has always bugged me is Daniel Tschetter.  Here's an interested piece I found:

http://www.cochraneeagle.com/2009/03/tschetter-laments-media-coverage-of-lethal-crash-trial/

He was behind the wheel of a cement truck which slammed into the back of a car on Macleod Trail in Calgary's south end in 2007, killing five people inside.  Witnesses say they saw Tschetter get out of his cab, hop onto the back and throw something into the mixer.  They say it was a vodka bottle.  He was eventually convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to about six years in prison.  You read that right: six years.  For killing five people.  And yet, if you read the article I've posted above, it's the "media's fault" for him being portrayed poorly.  Right.

Here's a recent story which has my blood boiling:

http://www.calgarysun.com/2012/05/05/10-year-olds-death-crushes-community

What boggles my mind about this one is that people know who did this.  There was supposedly more than one person in the offending vehicle.  Instead of manning up and taking responsibility (or at least coming forward with their story), people are staying silent.  A 10-year-old girl is dead and people are trying to protect the person who is responsible.  Disgusting.

I get it.  Not everyone has a great moral compass.  Some people have reputations and egos on the line.  But let me ask: when will we start taking responsibility for our actions?