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Manitoba court system opens the door to TV cameras, but just a crack

Manitoba court system opens the door to TV cameras, but just a crack

Television cameras are inching their way into Canada's courtrooms, ever so slowly.

A Manitoba judge's verdict in a murder case was streamed live Wednesday afternoon, the first time ever the province's court system has allowed such a crucial element of a criminal case to be televised, CBC News reported.

It's part of a pilot program to test the viability of cameras at all levels of the province's court system.

Associate Chief Justice Shane Perlmutter found Cassandra Knott not guilty of second-degree murder in the 2011 death of her husband, CBC News said.

The camera focused only on the judge, who heard the case without a jury, as he delivered his ruling. Media outlets, including the Winnipeg Free Press, relayed the live stream.

The experiment has the backing of the chief judges of all three levels of Manitoba's court system, the Free Press said.

"Courts must be open to the public," Court of Appeal Chief Justice Richard Chartier said Tuesday. "Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done."

[ Related: Luka Magnotta’s murder trial won’t be televised, Quebec judge rules ]

Winnipeg defence lawyer Jay Prober told CBC News providing such coverage will help the public better understand what goes on inside a courtroom.

But not everyone is on board. Kate Kehler of the John Howard Society's Manitoba branch said adding cameras creates an unreal atmosphere in a courtroom that could negatively influence a trial.

"Here I am right now, talking to you, trying not to pay attention to the camera. It puts a level of artificiality on it,” Kehler, acting executive director of the offender-advocate group, told CBC News. "The whole idea is to be getting to the truth of the matter."

Canadian courts have been reluctant to permit the level of TV coverage inside courtrooms that is common in the United States, worried lawyers will start playing to the camera and that witnesses will be intimidated.

Prober conceded some accused criminals might not like the added attention and publicity TV coverage might bring, but others will soon disregard the electronic eye monitoring proceedings.

"Just as you would be if you're a hockey player on the ice, you're focusing on the game — not the people who are watching the game," he told CBC News.

Other Canadian courts have allowed cameras on a limited basis and only to focus on lawyers and judges, such as at the Supreme Court of Canada. Applications by media organizations to televise high-profile trials such as the Colin Thatcher or Luka Magnotta murder cases have been rebuffed.

The Manitoba Court of Appeal is also part of the project, with a murder appeal set to be shown April 30, the Free Press said. A provincial court case will also be televised at some point.

"If the process is properly handled, I think it will show that in the warm light of day that the court . . . works in a way that's consistent with access to justice," Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said, according to the Free Press.

[ Related: B.C. drops plan to televise Vancouver riot trials ]

The results of the project will be evaluated in the coming months and Joyal said it's possible in the future that one courtroom at each level will become "presumptive" venues where cases heard there would be captured on camera. The broadcasts, however, would not include witness testimony and be limited to lawyers presenting arguments and judges delivering rulings, the Free Press said.

Participants could still object, Joyal said, but the underlying principle would be that cameras are present.

"I think you may get less opposition than you would expect if this operation proceeds with the type of civility and organization and type of purpose that we want," Joyal said.