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ONTARIO. PROVINCIAL COURT JUDGES
The Honourable Mr. Leonard Montgomery
LEONARD MONTGOMERY
Orillia provincial courtJudge Leonard Montgomery has been inflicting his notions of justice on defendants and lawyers courtrooms for decades now, establishing a reputation that's earned him the nickname "Long Time Lenny." In another dubious honour, a section of the Barrie jail has been dubbed "the Montgomery wing."
While most judges are reluctant when it comes to revealing their personal thoughts and beliefs, Montgomery has often drawn attention to himself and to his singularly harsh attitudes toward punishment, which he articulated during a 1984 trial.
"For a first-time offence involving violence, sexual assault or armed robbery, they're going to go to jail with me. If that's harsh, I make no apology,"
Trouble is, his comments referred to a trial involving a pregnant 22-year-old woman whom he sentenced to three months in jail for refusing to testify against her common-law husband in an assault case.
The prison term was imposed despite the fact that the woman told Montgomery she had never intended to have charges brought against the man and was only seeking an order to keep the peace.
But a far more notorious Montgomery decision was handed down in the case of Warren Kinsella (now serving a life term for the fatal shooting of a Barrie hotel clerk --a possible case of wrongful conviction) following a highly controversial police investigation and trial.
Prior to the murder case, Kinsella appeared before Montgomery charged with robbing a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, and also with escaping from the Barrie jail. Kinsella pleaded guilty, with the expectation -- both on his part and on the part of his lawyer -- of receiving a five-year jail sentence.
Instead, Montgomery gave him life in prison, with no chance of parole for at least seven years.
Toronto lawyers say that there's one good thing to be said about Montgomery: because he sits in Orillia, few have to face him.
Says one local lawyer, "If you're accused in Orillia, you're fucked."