July 26: Presentation from Brent Bentham

On Tuesday, July 26, 2016 Assistant Crown Attorney, Brent Bentham joined us as guest speaker. Brent prosecutes all manner of offenses, not just drug related ones. Most of his work is done outside of the courtroom. Later this morning he was off to Bail Court where the cases come fast and furious.

Brent spoke at length about the “plea bargaining” process. (In a plea bargain, the defendant pleads guilty hoping to achieve a reduced sentence). He works with defence counsel and witnesses to attempt to work out a resolution to a case to save court time and money. He noted that there are many fewer jury trials these days. He also spoke very highly of the Victim Assistance Program with is a fairly new but very valuable service.

Rotarian Phil Wood worked closely with Brent and his office after a deliberately set fire at McMaster's Brandon Hall Residence in October 2008.