5/15/2012--Sentencing

[nettie_82]

Why Tori will always matter

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/05/15/19762406.html

Here is an INCREDIBLE article written by Randy Richmond of the London Free Press. Very well written and captures what many Canadians feel for Tori!!!!!!!!!! Well done Randy.

 

[Hello_Kitty]

I thought 1st. degree was automatic 25 years to life. I guess that's the max our Canadian Justice System allows? Why can't he serve 25 +10 +10 and be eligible for parole in 45 years?

He would if he was in the US. Canada doesn't have consecutive sentencing. Too bad.


I also think that 10 years for sexual assault causing bodily harm is absolutely bs, given that it was a child of 8 years old. He should have gotten at least an additional 20 years for that served consecutively of coursse.

 

[snoofer]

He would if he was in the US. Canada doesn't have consecutive sentencing. Too bad.


I also think that 10 years for sexual assault causing bodily harm is absolutely bs, given that it was a child of 8 years old. He should have gotten at least an additional 20 years for that served consecutively of coursse.

I truly do not understand why Canadian courts cannot or do not use consecutive sentencing. Makes no sense to me. :maddening:

 

[swedie]

It wasn't ignored. The person in charge said the laptop was covered by the search warrant for the car. The ruling the judge used to say that a laptop was a place not a thing and therefore needed a separate search warrant wasn't even handed down by the court until weeks AFTER the laptop was searched.

LE did nothing wrong, and if you listen to the judge and his character/being a pervert doesn't mean you are a murderer rap if he hadn't thrown it out under the very questionable search warrant excuse (the rules at the time of the event are suppose to the guideline, changes down the road are not retroactive)... if they had magically seen into the future and got a search warrant for the laptop he would have excluded the child *advertiser censored* as prejudicial.

Being a pervert doesn't mean you are murderer. He wasn't going to allow it anyway. LE did their job and did it well.

I see it also as to when Judge Heeney instructed the jurors about MR being a philandering cadstatement. He was instructing them they could not use MR's character to inflate or use his character to decide whether MR was guilty of sexual assault, abduction and/or murder. It's hard to read between the lines, but I believe the judge did this and it was not meant in anyway of protecting MR it was to protect the system of a mistrial which would have been brought on by the defense. There are very strict rules that lawyers and judges have to uphold and crossing any line for a mistrial is a fine line. IMHO Judge Heeney made the right decisions by withholding/not allowing the laptop and character assassination into this trial. I am sure he felt there was overwhelming evidence to see justice would be served and he was right. Now I'm going to hide lol. MOO

:couch:

 

[snoofer]

IMHO it would be very hard to resist but I feel he will continue to maintain his innocence even though the evidence proves his part in all three charges. MR's mission will be to blame it all on TLM still. He will go with the defense's theory he fed them about the drug debt BS. The typical trait of a psychopath; blame everyone else for his evilness and horrid lifestyle. He refuses to take the blame for his demented actions that brought us where we are today. What could he tell that would help now? Tell TM how much Tori cried for her mommy?! He's a pathetic IMHO.

Maybe TM should put it off for today and give it time. Maybe she could write a letter with questions to Mr. Monster and have someone read his BS answers before she sets herself up for more heartbreak. MOO

agrees. He has been playing games for 3 years and will continue to play them. Tara doesn't need that, it can only cause her pain. That is what he does. Enough, don't give him another chance to cause her pain.:moo: He will never tell the entire truth as he wants a chance to get out one day and believes lies might do that for him. It also gives him power he believes IMO.

 

[swedie]

I truly do not understand why Canadian courts cannot or do not use consecutive sentencing. Makes no sense to me. :maddening:

Yes Snoof it is maddening, but hopefully all this will make sense in 2034 when MR tries to apply for parole and is denied. MOO

:denied:

 

[nettie_82]

Blatchford: From Tori Stafford's brother, words of aching humanity; from her killer Michael Rafferty, crocodile tears

http://www.canada.com/news/Blatchfo...Michael+Rafferty+crocodile/6626732/story.html

 

[Kittymama]

You know, I've been thinking about his statement and, er, "offer" to Tara.

I've mentioned before that I was involved with someone who I am now positive was a psychopath. The resemblances to MTR are truly terrifying. As such, I think I can say with some confidence what he would do, were Tara to take him up on his offer:

He might mention the drug debt theory. I'm not sure. I believe that it's more likely he would give her cryptic "answers," that were really non-answers, designed to keep stringing her along. If pressed, he would likely forever allude to "more to the story," which he would claim he couldn't explain for some other, also cryptic, reason. Of course, the reason for this is that he would find it a way to maintain control of the situation, as has been mentioned. I don't believe he'd really tell her anything new, unless it was entirely made up. I do think there would be a double reason for him to do this, though--he is trying to create doubt over his involvement, even still. He's gotten away with stuff in the past, so he probably figures there's always some sucker willing to believe his lies. He's probably right about that, unfortunately.

As for why just Tara, a few reasons. One, because she's female (he hates females, remember?). Two, the more people that know what he said, the more people there are to poke holes in his idiotic tales. Three, control. He will only tell this "information" if everyone plays by his rules. I guarantee you that if she brought anyone with her, he would refuse to tell her anything.

Why now? Because it's his last chance to maintain control. I'm so happy Tara sees right through him. She shouldn't even wonder--I'm the absolutely most curious person I know, and even I realize he's got nothing.

Remember during his interrogation, where Detective Smyth (Smythe?) told him that all he had left at that point was his credibility? To that, I would like to say this:

Well, Mikey, you don't even have your credibility left now. It's too late. You had three years--THREE YEARS!!!--to speak up and tell your side of the story. Nobody cares now. You have no control, and you never will again. You lost. You're nobody.

 

[Hello_Kitty]

I truly do not understand why Canadian courts cannot or do not use consecutive sentencing. Makes no sense to me. :maddening:

I don't know either, but...

A life sentence is a life sentence in Canada. You may be eligible for parole after 25 years, however, it doesn't mean you will get it. If you do get it, it doesn't you are free. You are still serving your life sentence, so if a prisoner gets into trouble they are automatically returned to jail.

Also, you have to ask to leave the province or even the area where you live. I can't remember but I think, there is a 50 kilometre restriction of how far you can go. Example, my family member lives in british columbia, I live in ontario, he needs to have permission from the parole board to visit me, and he needs to have permission to visit my father who only lives an hour from here and another permission to visit my mother who only lives 45 mins away from here. When he comes to visit, I (and my other members of my immediate family) get a call from the parole board of canada, we are interviewed, asked all kinds of questions. The worst one is 'if ***** did something wrong, what would you do, would you call the police or call his parole officer?" Not gonna go into what my answers are because those interviews are very hard on me.

Anyhow, this is just to say that, even if parolled, lifers are never truly free when they get out on parole. One little thing can land you in jail pretty fast to serve the remaining part of the sentence.

 

[snoofer]

As much as I want to know the whys as well, I know MR is probably just saying it. But what if they send someone else in do you think he would tell that person. Use some sort of bait.

IMO the why's are obvious. A 28 year old man takes an 8 year old girl for deviant sexual purposes. They are killed to hide the crime. They are killed visciously because the predator enjoys inflicting pain on innocents. The only thing TM could find out from MTR is gruesome details which I am sure MTR would love to give and get a reaction from TM. MTR intruded into their lives and caused destruction. No more of this families life should be given to MTR, not one more second. MTR is a sick man; he has no answers for himself let alone for TM, just his sickness to share and talk for him.

Truly, TM should not retraumatize herself with this, there is nothing of value to learn from MTR and she should set that standard for DS for all of their sakes IMO. I think you will see them all move on for DS sake as they would know he needs role models to show him how to do that. :moo: RS is on the right track from what we can see and hopefully TM is as well. They are all lucky to have such loving people and support in their lives.

 

[snoofer]

I don't know either, but...

A life sentence is a life sentence in Canada. You may be eligible for parole after 25 years, however, it doesn't mean you will get it. If you do get it, it doesn't you are free. You are still serving your life sentence, so if a prisoner gets into trouble they are automatically returned to jail. :therethere:

Also, you have to ask to leave the province or even the area where you live. I can't remember but I think, there is a 50 kilometre restriction of how far you can go. Example, my family member lives in british columbia, I live in ontario, he needs to have permission from the parole board to visit me, and he needs to have permission to visit my father who only lives an hour from here and another permission to visit my mother who only lives 45 mins away from here. When he comes to visit, I (and my other members of my immediate family) get a call from the parole board of canada, we are interviewed, asked all kinds of questions. The worst one is 'if ***** did something wrong, what would you do, would you call the police or call his parole officer?" Not gonna go into what my answers are because those interviews are very hard on me.

Anyhow, this is just to say that, even if parolled, lifers are never truly free when they get out on parole. One little thing can land you in jail pretty fast to serve the remaining part of the sentence.

:therethere: you have a good heart HK and a logical brain. Very sorry to hear you have to deal with such huge issues; it must be difficult. I have so appreciated the stories you have shared with posters here; they have really made me pause to think. :moo:

 

[ynotdivein]

What Rafferty said in court

I wanted to come to this courtroom defending myself. And after hearing the victim impact statements, I think there is something more important to say. To Tara McDonald, for the past three years I've had so much to say on my behalf. Nobody has all the pieces of the puzzle and I'm willing to give you those pieces if you'd like that.

I know this has been a long ordeal for everybody and I'm glad that it's come to an end. Hopefully everybody will find some closure of some sort to me being sentenced to life.

I am truly sorry to the entire family, not that that has much bearing to any of you coming from my mouth. But it's still true. I stayed quiet this entire trial thinking it was for my defence, thinking it was for the better. But I do have something to say and that is for Tara McDonald alone, without the media, without spectators. So at least you know it will be true, or as true as you are willing to believe it, without other people listening in, without it being to my benefit.

I still disagree with the conviction of these three charges. I am guilty of many crimes and there are a lot of things I am very very ashamed of. But these three counts I still stand firmly being not guilty.

As I said I would fill in the blanks for you if you wish. However that can be seen through the courts or the institution where I'll be staying.

To your son, I believe that impact statement hit me the hardest. I can only imagine if something like that came from the mouth of my own son. I have a lost a child before but I have no idea what you have gone through. I cannot imagine what you've gone through. For that I'm very sorry. As I said, I am standing behind not guilty of these convictions. Notwithstanding though, I do believe that I am a very definite part of why Victoria is not here today. Once again, I'm very sorry... not that  half of you or any of you will believe me. But as I said, I have stayed quiet, thinking that that was to my defense, not thinking of how it may impact the family of Victoria Stafford. That's all I have to say.

Michael Rafferty

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/raffertytrial/2012/05/15/19761156.html

I, I, I, my, my, my, me, me, me. :banghead:

396 words.

I: 26 times (often to begin a sentence or phrase).
my: 4 times.
me: 2 times.
myself: 1 time.

 

[swedie]

I don't know if this has already been posted, if so, oops, if not good article.

As Michael Rafferty was led away to begin an automatic life sentence for the murder of Tori Stafford, his empty, utterly unremarkable life offered no answers to the prevailing question: How could a grown man do that to an eight-year-old girl?

Murderers come in all shapes and sizes, and in 30 years of covering crime in Canada and conflict abroad I’ve encountered most: clumsy gangsters, skilled hit men, jealous husbands, suicide bombers, pedophiles.

Nearly 20 years ago in a St. Catharines courtroom, I locked eyes with Karla Homolka. They were flat, dead. It was like staring at the ocean floor. The Russell Williams story in 2010 dispatched shock waves, not just because of what he did but because of who he was. More recent was the unspeakably sad tale of the Canadian-Afghan Shafia family in which four women were drowned to salvage the arrogant patriarch's “honour.”

But Michael Rafferty was something else.

Before his arrest, Mr. Rafferty described himself on Facebook as “a hopeless romantic … complex, with many layers.” He wrote that friends were the most important thing in his life, that he loved “culture,” learning about God, and was proud of his “many accomplishments.”

In reality, Mr. Rafferty was the consummate loser who craved attention. And now, in the widely watched criminal trial, he was apparently relishing the notoriety.

So what could have turned this man into such a merciless monster? The only two clear facts are that he was a drug addict and was possessed of an unquenchable sex drive. A psychopath? It seems likely. But if he had no empathy for anyone but himself, he readily grasped that others did.

Good article by Tim Appleby
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ertys-evil-defies-explanation/article2430646/

 

[Hello_Kitty]

:therethere: you have a good heart HK and a logical brain. Very sorry to hear you have to deal with such huge issues; it must be difficult. I have so appreciated the stories you have shared with posters here; they have really made me pause to think. :moo:

Thanks Snoofer

I had a response to this post, but I think the void ate it cuz it didn't post then I couldn't get back here, the site wasn't working.

Just want to thank you for your kind words. Posters have always been gracious when I've posted details of my brother's case.

Just to answer your question, I have after 30 years come to terms with what my brother did and so has he. Altho he is out on parole since 1992, he still serves a life sentence.

I completely understand Tara that she wants to know the full truth. Altho she may not get it ever. It took 30 years for me to get the full truth of what my brother had done

I hope Tara gets some good help, she will need it so much

-----
Here is where MR is going to go spend time for a bit until he is assessed?

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millhaven_Institution"]Millhaven Institution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

Not a nice place, my own brother was there 3 years... it was quite awful when my mother and I went to visit him

 

[crazyladi]

I am wondering if someone could inbox me the cemetery that tori is in. I would like to leave some flowers before the vigil

 

[Salem]

I have to say this. I know I need to know the why's. I am that stupid that I would want to hear what he has to say. I would want answers. He has the answers why not just say it??? I know I would be curious eventhough it would only be him trying to make it look like she was involved or to torment her mind.

How could he torment her like that? I couldnt have handled that and its too bad Heany didnt tell his to STFU.

Man with all that she has been through to open his paedophilia mouth and utter that trash makes me utterly sick to my stomach. I hope he hangs himself in jail.

crazyladi - that's not stupid. It's natural. It would be wonderful to have all the answers, but in my opinion - MR would not provide answers. He would manipulate, try to extort money, maybe visits from Tara. It would have nothing, absolutely NOTHING to do with telling her the truth. I hope that she never, ever caves in to the desire to speak to him. I hope her family holds her strong and helps her to understand that he is just trying to play mind games with her.

He should have been smacked upside his head and carted off the minute he even tried to utter Tara or Tori's name. There is NO remorse in this 'thing' whatever he is and he certainly has no inclination to tell the truth. He will only spew more lies in the hopes that it might get him something.

He is the weakest, cowardlyest creature I have ever had the displeasure of seeing on video.

I am way digressing here - he makes my skin crawl.

I think every mother would want all the answers she could get. I don't think it is stupid at all to want those answers.

Salem

 

[Tahorn]

VS is Canada's little girl, no one else could have captured our nations heart as she did.

For three years I have followed this case, for from the moment I saw her face I saw my sister, my daughter, my niece ... I could not help but fall in love with her.

I never never believed TM was involved, but understood why others did ... It was easier then facing the alternative ... Let's face it no one wanted what happen to her. As hard as it was for TM, DS, RS and family, I have to believe that everyone just wanted VS to come home safe and sound. I do hope they can find it their hearts to forgive all of those who doubted them. May god grant them serenity ...

As far as MR and TLM ... Well I am sure there is more to this story, but in order to hear the truth what would the cost be. VS family already paid enough. I do hope that one day both MR and TLM will tell VS story in a honest and truthful matter ... Only so we can learn how to protect our child, not only from VS fate but also MR and TLM. Let's face it ... Monsters like TLM and MR just didn't happen, their kind of evil was developed.

Just another coincidence ... May 15 was the first day the LE talked to MR ...

 

[Salem]

I, I, I, my, my, my, me, me, me. :banghead:

396 words.

I: 26 times (often to begin a sentence or phrase).
my: 4 times.
me: 2 times.
myself: 1 time.

What a piece of garbage :banghead::furious::furious::furious::furious::furious::furious::furious::furious::sick::sick::sick::furious::furious::furious::furious:

He should have gotten another 10 years for that!

 

[otto]

I truly do not understand why Canadian courts cannot or do not use consecutive sentencing. Makes no sense to me. :maddening:

"Many offenders are serving sentences for more than one offence. It is the combination of multiple terms where sentence calculation is most complex. Offenders convicted of multiple offences are subject to consecutive sentences, concurrent sentences, or a combination of both. "

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cor/rep/2005-sntnce-how-eng.aspx

I think it's more along the lines that Rafferty is sentenced for life with 25 years being the earliest that he can apply for parole. The difference between Canadian sentences and, say, a US sentence, is that someone in the US can actually be sentenced for 300 years ... even though they'll obviously be dead long before that. A Canadian is sentenced for life ... which may be 30 years or 300 years ... but essentially it's the same without suggesting that someone would actually be around in 300 years.

 

[Tahorn]

crazyladi - that's not stupid. It's natural. It would be wonderful to have all the answers, but in my opinion - MR would not provide answers. He would manipulate, try to extort money, maybe visits from Tara. It would have nothing, absolutely NOTHING to do with telling her the truth. I hope that she never, ever caves in to the desire to speak to him. I hope her family holds her strong and helps her to understand that he is just trying to play mind games with her.

He should have been smacked upside his head and carted off the minute he even tried to utter Tara or Tori's name. There is NO remorse in this 'thing' whatever he is and he certainly has no inclination to tell the truth. He will only spew more lies in the hopes that it might get him something.

He is the weakest, cowardlyest creature I have ever had the displeasure of seeing on video.

I am way digressing here - he makes my skin crawl.

I think every mother would want all the answers she could get. I don't think it is stupid at all to want those answers.

Salem

What ever TM is comfortable with is up to her. As for myself, well I was lucky enough to face my rapist ... And the why was important. I knew going in I would hear the sob story of how horrible his life was but I still wanted to hear it. Some of it I filed under "bulls41t", but some of it gave me solace, peace and freedom to move on with my live. Gave me the power ... I know it is hard to believe but forgiveness set me free, forgive but never forget ... As hard as it is to fathom right now, forgiveness is for VS family to heal not to ease MR ot TLM guilt.

If TM chooses to face MR then let her know that she is strong, and we all are standing behind her in heart and spirit.