Presumed guilty

Reading Kristian Gravenor's cover story ["Getting away with murder, June 3], I came across this: "Eventually, the MUC homicide squad caught the serial killer... No trial, no arrest. Today the murderer works with the public in a job which takes him all over the city."

Rather disturbing stuff from someone writing crime journalism. First, I would hope that a journalist would not simply take the word of the MUC police on any matter. (But of course, the police wouldn't lie to us, would they?) Second, in advance of an arrest and a trial, the person in question is the alleged murderer. That's the point of criminal trials. While they are by no means a perfect check on the police (as the Donald Marshall, David Milgaard and Guy Paul Morin cases all too tragically attest), they are vastly better than a blind acceptance of the opinion of some unnamed MUC murder investigator.

As I read on, things became even worse. Barely two columns away, I found this, about Dino Bravo: "All of the press picked up on the rumour and the wrestling hero suddenly became, in death, a lowly cigarette smuggler, in spite of the absence of a trial, conviction or witnesses."

Yes, it is wrong that a murder victim was convicted in a trial by tabloid, but how the same journalist could write both pieces of text and not be suffering from an advanced case of cognitive dissonance is beyond me. That the Mirror story does not mention a name in the first case and thus does not accuse any particular individual does not make this acceptable. The principles of natural justice and sound journalism are being violated just the same.

--Brian van den Broek

Wrestling with the issues

In a recent Mirror, I stumbled upon a column written by a 16-year-old high school student ["Remembering Owen Hart," June 3]. A wonderful idea, but to take someone from Westmount High School? Come on, are you trying to tell the rest of the youth in the Montreal area, like myself, that you have to have rich parents to ever get anywhere in life?

Wrestling fans who take wrestling as seriously as this kid shouldn't be allowed to voice their opinion to the thousands of readers. Sure, it's a tragedy that a great wrestling heel and fellow Canadian like Owen Hart was killed the way he was. But come on, the kid talks about violence going up in the WWF. Professional wrestling has never been violent--"Simulated violence is going up" is what he meant to say!

I also think it's about time you put Johnson Cummins out to pasture anyway, no one who even admits to liking "blues" music should be allowed to even listen to punk rock in the first place, let alone write about it. Old dudes who listen to blues, reviewing things pertaining to punk rock--isn't punk rock supposed to be about youth? Besides, the Doughboys sucked and I doubt Bionic is any better.

--S. Anderson

Hilton, angry anglo hero

The fight. Hilton vs Ouellet. Twenty thousand in attendance. A gate of over one and a half million. Largest in Canadian boxing history. English vs French. Each side wanting their fighter to knock the living shit out of the other. Like the German soldier in the the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. Suggesting wars should be fought this way. And in miniature this was what this fight was all about.

I would have liked to have been there, but could not as I was a delegate for William Johnson at the Alliance Quebec Convention. At a workshop meeting the following day, I made the statement to those present that this fight expressed how both the French and English feel towards each other. Told by Johnson at this time that this was not so. Was it?

As the Mirror of June 3 said in Angels and Insects, "Thanks Davey, for that dose of anglo retribution." As for the other comments, I can only say that one is presumed innocent until proven guilty. And ofttimes not even then. Davey Hilton may not be a choirboy but he is "one of ours" and I am proud that he is.

--John C. Underwood

Correction

A review of the book Hard Right Turn ["Preston Manning sucker-punched!" May 27] incorrectly reported that author Brooke Jeffrey was the spouse of federal intergovernmental affairs minister Stéphane Dion. The Mirror apologizes to both the Jeffrey and Dion families for any misunderstanding this may have caused.