Gawker Claims Video Exists of Rob Ford Smoking Crack

[MattRoxx]

True, but you could say similar things about Ford.

While he has publicly admitted to having smoked a lot of dope, it hasn't been proven that he smokes crack. And at the time when he said there was no videotape, he might have believed that was true (he may have believed the tape had been destroyed).

I do think it's a bit rich for Liberal supporters to call for Ford's head because he appears to have been lying.

That said (and before anti-Ford Nation pounces on me), I still think Ford should resign. Not so much for lying, but because the crisis around him is out of control.

Political leaders are expected to manage crises that emerge, even in situations where they are fighting with some news outlets that hate them.

Only a week or two ago Ford was calling for a city employee to be fired for putting his head down on a desk. Because that is unacceptable behaviour! That's so...cute, now.

An “out of control” Rob Ford that City Hall security described as “very intoxicated” threw a wild 2012 St. Patrick’s Day party inside the mayor’s office.

The night included Ford knocking a junior staffer off his feet, jumping on his giant Cut the Waist challenge scale, smashing his cellphone on the wall, crying, and even throwing racial slurs and his business cards at a cab driver, according to accounts from sources who were in the office that night.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...hats-next-for-the-ford-video/article15201792/

Ask the legal experts: Will the public ever see the Ford video?

Is the public guaranteed a chance to see the Rob Ford video?

No. The video may be entered as an exhibit in Alessandro Lisi’s trial on an extortion charge, and it would then be publicly accessible. But if he pleads guilty, the video would probably not be available from the courts. “I don’t think there’s any guarantee we will ever see that video through the court process,” said Peter Jacobsen, a media lawyer who represents The Globe and Mail. “If it’s not made an exhibit, I don’t believe there’s any mechanism to convert that into a public record,” said professor Alan Young, who teaches criminal law at Osgoode Hall.


What are the chances the video will one day become public?

The odds are good. “Maybe there will be a public inquiry about this,” Mr. Jacobsen suggested. “I can’t believe that a video like that, that has been so celebrated, will not see the light of day somehow.”

What if the trial goes ahead but the video is ruled inadmissible?

Even if it is ruled inadmissible, the media could report on the video and describe its contents, once the jury is sequestered.

Why don’t Toronto police release the video now?

They want to protect the right to a fair trial. While the contents of the video may not affect Mr. Lisi’s trial, they might affect a trial for other targets of the investigation who could conceivably be charged in the future – such as Mr. Ford. If the video is shown now, a defence lawyer might someday argue that an impartial jury can’t be found, Mr. Jacobsen says. “My instinct is that the police would like to get this out but they want to be very careful; they don’t want to give Lisi and Ford a get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Could Mr. Ford apply successfully to a court to block the release of the video?

No. While people can seek injunctions to block the spread of defamatory material, Prof. Young said, “that’s a real stretch, because it’s his own actions that have been captured.”

What can the media do to try to have the video released before the trial?

Nothing, unless it’s in a court document. There is no legal process that enables the media to apply to see evidence before a trial begins, unless that evidence has been used to get a search warrant. Reporters might see the video at a preliminary hearing, but evidence at such hearings is covered by a publication ban.

What is the public interest in seeing this video?

“We have a mayor who appears to be associating with persons involved in criminal activity,” Mr. Jacobsen says. “We have a mayor who has been associating with people who have criminal records.”

What happens next?

Mr. Lisi will likely apply for bail. It is hard to predict how many months, or years, before a trial will begin. “Cannot say – could be six months or a couple of years depending on whether a preliminary hearing is conducted,” Prof. Young said.

Why didn’t the police arrest Rob Ford when surveillance officers saw Mr. Lisi put a manila envelope in the passenger side of Mr. Ford’s Cadillac while the mayor was inside a gas station?

Normally the police would swoop in and make arrests in those circumstances. “But what happens if all that’s in there is an unopened bottle of vodka and some Gatorade?” Mr. Jacobsen said. The police didn’t want to be subject to a harassment charge, or unable to prove it was drugs. “I think there’s a great deal of caution being shown with the goal of making sure the investigation is as successful as possible.”

Should Toronto police have brought in an outside police force to investigate Mr. Ford, or work in partnership with the Toronto force?

The optics of maintaining objectivity suggest they should have. “If they were directly targeting the mayor, then perhaps they should have considered having another force investigate it,” Prof. Young said. “You always want investigations to be conducted at arm’s length. The mayor’s office has a lot of influence on policing, including considerations of budget.”

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

@ Fred Zed (or moderators).

The bold option doesnt work when I try to bold text in a post.

Just letting you guys know

 

[userz]

Rob Ford could be charged with first degree murder and some people will still be supporting him. It's amazing the lengths some people will go to do defend a drug using alcoholic politician with violent tendencies who consorts with criminals because he's one of their own.

 

[Anbarandy]

What are you attempting to 'bold'?

The public has the right to know.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

What are you attempting to 'bold'?

The public has the right to know

I'm trying to boldly go where no bold has gone before

 

[blackrock13]

What are you attempting to 'bold'?

The public has the right to know.

Wait for the court case and learn with the rest of the class. Nothing like giving in to some in the public and possibly jeopardize the case.

From where did they get this right?

 

[MattRoxx]

@680News: Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly called into @680News & says Ford will make an announcement on his future as Mayor on his weekly radio show tomorrow

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

@680News: Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly called into @680News & says Ford will make an announcement on his future as Mayor on his weekly radio show tomorrow

My guess is he'll take a month off and go to rehab

 

[fuji]

I really love this part. It is what I (and others) have told you from the beginning, but somehow you figure we are the ones who are partisan.

Yes, because you quacks were arguing that you refused to believe the news, which was a ludicrous argument designed to avoid admitting your favorite guy was badly tarnished. When the Star published damaging information about liberals or new democrats you have always taken it at face value. But when they publish about politicians you support suddenly they are liars?

That was always partisan rubbish

 

[Ref]

My guess is he'll take a month off and go to rehab

He'll take the remainder of the year off in rehab/family time and then come back full of vigor in 2014. The new Ford will be fit, fun and funny. He will divorce his wife and marry Jennifer.

 

[slowandeasy]

He'll take the remainder of the year off in rehab/family time and then come back full of vigor in 2014. The new Ford will be fit, fun and funny. He will divorce his wife and marry Jennifer.

I believe that the 2nd video is of Ford and Jennifer.

 

[slowandeasy]

Yes, because you quacks were arguing that you refused to believe the news, which was a ludicrous argument designed to avoid admitting your favorite guy was badly tarnished. When the Star published damaging information about liberals or new democrats you have always taken it at face value. But when they publish about politicians you support suddenly they are liars?

That was always partisan rubbish

OK fuji, I know your OCD requires that you get the last word in, and since I have control over my OCD, I will let you win, but only if you can provide a good point.

The above point is too easily ridiculed. Most of us were not refusing to believe "the news", we were refusing to believe you. Or rather we were refusing to accept your
interpretation of the "news". As for when the star published damaging info about others, it was weighed in the same manner as the others and it was based on
the merit of the story.

So again, make even a half decent point, and I will concede.

 

[groggy]

Most of us were not refusing to believe "the news", we were refusing to believe you. Or rather we were refusing to accept your
interpretation of the "news". As for when the star published damaging info about others, it was weighed in the same manner as the others and it was based on
the merit of the story.

So again, make even a half decent point, and I will concede.

I'll make a point.
The photo that I linked to repeatedly is now part of police evidence, including remarks that one of the police sources was 'amused' that Ford let it get taken.
But you, Phil, Shack a couple of others refused to acknowledge that the photo did show Ford at his buddies crackhouse posing with crackhead/gang members.

 

[RemyMartin]

He'll take the remainder of the year off in rehab/family time and then come back full of vigor in 2014. The new Ford will be fit, fun and funny. He will divorce his wife and marry Jennifer.

Happy ending for sure.

 

[fuji]

OK fuji, I know your OCD requires that you get the last word in, and since I have control over my OCD, I will let you win, but only if you can provide a good point.

The above point is too easily ridiculed. Most of us were not refusing to believe "the news", we were refusing to believe you. Or rather we were refusing to accept your
interpretation of the "news". As for when the star published damaging info about others, it was weighed in the same manner as the others and it was based on
the merit of the story.

So again, make even a half decent point, and I will concede.

You made all sorts of ridiculous assertions that the Star simply had an agenda, and could not be believed. Would you like some choice quotes from your posting history?

I never heard any complaints that the Star had an agenda when they broke the eHealth, gas plant, school board spending, or ORNGE stories, nor any doubt cast on their motives for reporting that Chow and Layton lived in subsidized housing back in the day. Not a peep about bias when they ended Giambrone's mayoral campaign by outing sordid details from his personal life.

The fact is that all these stories come from the Star for a good reason, they have the largest investigative team in the business. They get the scoops and they publish what they find.

The Star was the only paper checking out Ford's claims about his backyard park land purchase because they are the only ones with the investigative staff to routinely do that sort of fact checking.

Ford hates the Star for one reason: they don't just lap up what he says in press releases. They check. They go down to Florida and get his arrest report. They interview the people he screams at in public. They send investigators to find out if he was intoxicated on the job. In short, Ford prefers media outlets like the Sun that never investigate anything, that just print things released in statements to the press, alongside opinion pieces.

 

[PornAddict]

You made all sorts of ridiculous assertions that the Star simply had an agenda, and could not be believed. Would you like some choice quotes from your posting history?

I never heard any complaints that the Star had an agenda when they broke the eHealth, gas plant, school board spending, or ORNGE stories, nor any doubt cast on their motives for reporting that Chow and Layton lived in subsidized housing back in the day. Not a peep about bias when they ended Giambrone's mayoral campaign by outing sordid details from his personal life.

The fact is that all these stories come from the Star for a good reason, they have the largest investigative team in the business. They get the scoops and they publish what they find.

The Star was the only paper checking out Ford's claims about his backyard park land purchase because they are the only ones with the investigative staff to routinely do that sort of fact checking.

Ford hates the Star for one reason: they don't just lap up what he says in press releases. They check. They go down to Florida and get his arrest report. They interview the people he screams at in public. They send investigators to find out if he was intoxicated on the job. In short, Ford prefers media outlets like the Sun that never investigate anything, that just print things released in statements to the press, alongside opinion pieces.

Red star(Toronto Star) is nothing but a trashy tabolid newspaper..who has a hidden agenda which is to support the left wing agenda! The toronto star never check their fact when it come to rob ford, ! I remember they published on the the front page saying Rob Ford assualt his football player right in a middle of mayoral election so they could sabotage his chance of winning the mayoral election.The Red star/ Toronto Star never even interviewed the football player that they claimed he got assualt by Rob Ford! This proofed beyond reasonable doubted they wanted rob ford to lose and they wanted their canadiate to win George Smitherman. Fuji you so full of it I remember you posted that Rob Ford will not win the Mayor election. When it come to left wing politics in your eyes they can never do any wrong just like Toronto Star, Ps i feeling you work for Toronto Star! PS. they lost all crediblity with me with their constant attack on rob and they constant support for the left wing politics which in their eyes they can do no wrong! That is why i stop buying the Toronto Star 3 year ago. I hope the toronto star go under/ go bankrupt!

 

[blackrock13]

Red star(Toronto Star) is nothing but a trashy tabolid newspaper..who has a hidden agenda which is to support the left wing agenda! The toronto star never check their fact when it come to rob ford, ! I remember they published on the the front page saying Rob Ford assualt his football player right in a middle of mayoral election so they could sabotage his chance of winning the mayoral election.The Red star/ Toronto Star never even interviewed the football player that they claimed he got assualt by Rob Ford! This proofed beyond reasonable doubted they wanted rob ford to lose and they wanted their canadiate to win George Smitherman. Fuji you so full of it I remember you posted that Rob Ford will not win the Mayor election.

Right, and for that reason they have become the largest newspaper in the country, with nearly 1/2 million readers and have been so for years, over a 100 years. There may be some on the staffs with that in mind, but not the whole paper. Suck back and reload sunshine.

 

[groggy]

Red star(Toronto Star) is nothing but a trashy tabolid newspaper..who has a hidden agenda which is to support the left wing agenda! The toronto star never check their fact when it come to rob ford, ! I remember they published on the the front page saying Rob Ford assualt his football player right in a middle of mayoral election so they could sabotage his chance of winning the mayoral election.The Red star/ Toronto Star never even interviewed the football player that they claimed he got assualt by Rob Ford! This proofed beyond reasonable doubted they wanted rob ford to lose and they wanted their canadiate to win George Smitherman. Fuji you so full of it I remember you posted that Rob Ford will not win the Mayor election. When it come to left wing politics in your eyes they can never do any wrong just like Toronto Star, Ps i feeling you work for Toronto Star! PS. they lost all crediblity with me with their constant attack on rob and they constant support for the left wing politics which in their eyes they can do no wrong! That is why i stop buying the Toronto Star 3 year ago. I hope the toronto star go under/ go bankrupt!

The Star just showed how important a paper with investigative techniques is to us.
We need a paper to tell us if our mayor is on crack or if the government spent too much on cancelling gas plants.
And everything they've printed on Ford is looking pretty dead on, its you who has no idea what's going on.

 

[PornAddict]

Red star(Toronto Star) is nothing but a trashy tabolid newspaper..who has a hidden agenda which is to support the left wing agenda! The toronto star never check their fact when it come to rob ford, ! I remember they published on the the front page saying Rob Ford assualt his football player right in a middle of mayoral election so they could sabotage his chance of winning the mayoral election.The Red star/ Toronto Star never even interviewed the football player that they claimed he got assualt by Rob Ford! This proofed beyond reasonable doubted they wanted rob ford to lose and they wanted their canadiate to win George Smitherman. Fuji you so full of it I remember you posted that Rob Ford will not win the Mayor election. When it come to left wing politics in your eyes they can never do any wrong just like Toronto Star, Ps i feeling you work for Toronto Star! PS. they lost all crediblity with me with their constant attack on rob and they constant support for the left wing politics which in their eyes they can do no wrong! That is why i stop buying the Toronto Star 3 year ago. I hope the toronto star go under/ go bankrupt!