Comments from a trial observer, upon being told that Mr. Burdi was
claiming that the jury found him guilty of inciting others to
violence:
“George Burdi was found guilty of Assault Causing Bodily Harm. While he was
indeed charged with the assault on Alicia, in order to obtain a guilty
verdict all the Crown had to prove was that he EITHER committed the act
himself, or aided and encouraged someone else to commit the crime. The Jury
did not (and by law does not have to) report which of the 2 it found in
regards to the charge.
Nonetheless, in sentencing Burdi to a year in jail (a much greater sentence
than even the Crown asked for), the Judge remarked thaqt it was his personal
belief that Burdi actually committed the assault. The bottom-line is that the
jury never commented one way or the other on whether or not Burdi actually
commited the assault. Thus, Burdi’s protestations that the jury did not find
that he committed the assault is in one word bs.”
[July 5, 1995]
