Surprise, surprise
Once you’ve been on the planet for some time, it’s easy to say “nothing surprises me anymore” but things still do surprise us. What happened yesterday is a classic example of an unpredictable news day.
First, we in the breaking news game got an alert that the crown in Robert Baltovich’s second, second-degree murder trial for the death of his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Bain, would not be presenting any evidence or calling any witnesses. The next alert came quickly: saying the jury was allowed to deliberate only a “not guilty” verdict, as directed by the judge. Shortly afterward we learned that Robert Baltovich was, indeed, found “not guilty” and could walk out a free man.
Then after more than two years of waiting in a Mexican jail without a trial, Brenda Martin of Trenton finally got her verdict in a fraud case: Guilty. Her sentence: five years in jail. Now she works along with Canadian officials for a transfer back home to serve her sentence and, likely, go free, when time served comes into account.
Many people thought Baltovich was guilty. Many people thought Martin was innocent. The courts have decided otherwise. And so it goes. As we say, the news is always changing!