Kelly Ford wrote:
> >Euthanasia debate returns to Canada with court case
> >
> >
> >By Randall Palmer
> >
> >OTTAWA (Reuters) - The issue of euthanasia returns to the fore this week
> >when the Supreme Court of Canada decides whether to hear an appeal from a
> >Western Canadian farmer convicted of murdering his disabled daughter.
> >
> >Robert Latimer has been in and out of the courts, including the Supreme
> >Court, five times since he piped carbon monoxide into the cab of his pickup
> >truck in 1993 to kill his 12-year-old daughter Tracy, who suffered from
> >cerebral palsy.
> >
> >And each time the case comes up, the same wrenching questions are asked:
> >Should a parent be allowed to kill a child who is suffering? Does a
> >person's disabilities make it more permissible to end his life?
> >
> >"We're concerned that justice and equality of the law be accorded Tracy,"
> >said Mel Graham, a visually impaired spokesman for the Council of Canadians
> >with Disabilities.
> >
> >"In other words, that people with disabilities who are murder victims have
> >the same right for protection that all other people do, that there is not a
> >distinction or blurring of a distinction."
> >
> >But euthanasia advocates contend this was mercy-killing, and that Tracy's
> >leg was soon to have been amputated -- she would have been "mutilated," as
> >her mother described it.
> >
> >The latest stage in the court drama has left Latimer sentenced to life in
> >prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years. Latimer, who said he
> >at first had considered shooting his daughter in the head, is free on bail
> >at home pending his application to appeal to the Supreme Court.
> >
> >The high court will decide on that application Thursday, without giving its
> >reasons. If it says no, then the conviction stands and Latimer will go to
> >jail.
> >
> >If it says yes, it will only mean that it thinks the issues involved are
> >worth hearing but not necessarily that it will overturn his conviction or
> >lessen his sentence.
> >
> >The first round of trials was thrown out because police had asked jurors
> >about their attitude towards euthanasia.
> >
> >He was convicted in a re-trial in 1997 but the judge held that it would be
> >"cruel and unusual punishment" to lock him up for 10 years without parole
> >-- that he was exempted by the constitution -- and the judge reduced that
> >to one year.
> >
> >An appeals court, noting Latimer could have placed her in a group home,
> >unanimously reversed that decision in November 1998 and imposed a life
> >sentence.
> >
> >Latimer has engaged one of Canada's top criminal lawyers, Toronto-based
> >Edward Greenspan, to join his local counsel Mark Brayford, and one of the
> >issues they are pressing for is that a constitutional exemption be allowed.
> >
> >And they have revisited the question of whether Latimer felt he must kill
> >Tracy. They argued in a written belief that he "believed that there were no
> >options available to deal with Tracy's unbearable pain other than death."
> >
> >REUTERS
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