Paul Bernardo trial judge says province should help traumatized jurors

The judge in the Toronto trial of convicted murderer Paul Bernardo in the 1990s says it's important that that province provide jurors with access to counselling and medical assistance.

"They don't need to be murders," saysPatrickLeSage,former chief justice of the Superior Court in Ontario."There are some of the other trials that are similarly traumatizing. We ask a lot of our jurors and they provide a wonderful service to our justice system.

"In trying to show how they are totally separate from the other part of the justice system, we have probably isolated them too much and that includes offering assistance at the end of a trial,"addsLeSage, who retired from the bench 13 years ago.

• Ex-juror diagnosed with PTSD says psychiatric help should be available after trials

LeSage'scomments comeafter a former juror, MarkFarrant, told CBC News he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome following a murder trial.Farrantis campaigning to get the province to offercounsellingto jurors traumatized by what they've seen and heard during proceedings.

The province currently leaves counselling for jurors to the discretion of the presiding judges.

I had been a judge for many years by the time that trial had started but I still find it disturbing.- PatrickLeSage, Former Ontario Chief Justice, on Bernardo trial

In his29 years as a judge, LeSage says, he can only remember two occasions in which he suggested or ordered counsellingforjurors after a trial.

The Bernardo trial in 1995 was one of them.

He was convicted of the kidnapping, torture and murder of teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in St. Catharines, andsentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for 25 years.

Jurors saw and heard videos that showedBernardoabusing French and Mahaffy, whowere heardscreamingand begging for their lives in the footage.

"I had been a judge for many years by the time that trial had started, but I still find it disturbing, so I thought many others who haven't had the experience that I've had will find it disturbing. So, yes, I started thinking about it fairly early on," LeSage said.

"It's the only one where I had arranged for it to be provided, but that was somewhat of an extraordinary trial, and also I had more assistance in that case than I would have in more cases."

He says he sought counselling after that case and believes itshould be an option for jurors.

LeSagesays he now regrets not raising the issue when he was chief justice.

"I had already done the Bernardo trial at that point, so people probablythought, 'Well he should know, he should do something.' In hindsight, I think maybe I should have. In hindsight, I'm sorry I didn't."

LeSage says he hasspoken toFarrantabout his efforts to raise the issue with government officials.

1juror's story

Farrant was diagnosed with PTSD after he and 11 other jurors sat through afour-month murder trial in 2014.

He recounted to CBC Newshow he felt stunned at how abruptly the jurors' role ended after they rendered their verdict.

"Should there not be somebody here who comes in and says, 'You've all been through a lot privately to the jury. and here are the services that are now available to you. Here are the people you can call if you're feeling any of these symptoms?'"

The provincialMinistry of the Attorney Generalsays it doesn't keep statistics as to how many judges in Ontario order counselling forjurors.

Other provinces approachcounselling this way:

• Manitoba has established a system that offers jury members four hours of counselling with a social worker after a trial if a judge deems it necessary.
• In Quebec, a judge can approve the cost of five one-hour sessions with a psychologist if jurors present a prescription.

LeSage hopes province will reconsider

"At the present time, Ontario believes that ordering counselling for jurors is best left to the discretion of the trial judge since the judge can most accurately gauge the gravity of the evidence presented at trial," said Brendan Crawley, spokesman for the ministry, in a statement to CBC News.

LeSage says he hopes the province will reconsider:

"It's the juror who knows. Maybe only one of 12 will be affected, maybe two, maybe five, maybe all 12. And they wouldn't all know at that time, so I don't think just leaving it to the judges is good enough," he said.

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