Trying to change Alberta’s court system

Times Reporter 

 

Dani Polsom recently made headlines Alberta when she had the publication ban on her name lifted so that she could speak about her own sexual abuse case. 

Polsom’s case was thrown out and the accuser cleared of all charges after dragging out the case in the court systems, leaving Polsom and her family angry and ready for a change in the legal system. 

Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson joined Polsom in the fight for changes in the legal system, and eventually Alberta Justice conducted an internal review. 

Anderson presented a petition to the Legislative Assembly this past April to expedite all cases of crimes against children. The petition also included a recommendation to automatically trigger an outside investigation, independent of Alberta Justice, when cases are stayed due to institutional or crown delays. 

The petition asked that: victims over the age of 18 be granted the right to waive publication bans on their names if they choose to speak publically; publish the number of crown stay of proceedings and withdrawals annually with an updated action plan from Alberta’s Attorney General detailing how the problems are being addressed; and ensure that resources are being allocated so that the crown prosecutor’s office is able to effectively manage all prosecutions against violent offenders, especially those charged with sexual and other violent crimes against children. 

“I mostly did it just because I didn’t want it to happen to anybody else,” said Polsom. “I knew if somebody didn’t question the situation, it was just going to keep happening.

“I couldn’t imagine if the same thing were to happen to somebody in my family or to somebody that I love; having to watch them go through that, knowing that maybe if I would have stood up or said something, that things could have been different.”

Sexual offense cases can still technically be delayed, but things are supposed to start being pushed through the system faster now, said Polsom.

With her case, the accused kept pushing the dates back. There were delays in the process because there was no court time, a prosecutor wasn’t assigned fast enough and a number of other things went wrong with her case until it was eventually dropped. 

“When they dropped it I had originally said ‘what would happen if I stood up and told everybody what he did and say my name’ because there was a publication ban. They said ‘well, we’ll put you in jail’,” said Polsom. 

She couldn’t keep silent any longer. 

“I believe that if you want to stand up and say ‘this happened to me’, you should be allowed to, especially if you’re over the age of 18,” said Polsom.

Polsom was abused from the age of nine to 17. She only found the courage to speak up in 2009 at the age of 24. 

“It’s hard because you definitely need proper help, and there are all these different counsellors that you could go to who are free. But I don’t always find for all of the cases that it’s the right treatment, said Polsom. “It’s really expensive to go to an actual psychiatrist who knows exactly what you’re going through and how to deal with it in a more clinical way.”

She said she has been to multiple counselors, but has only lasted a couple of months with each before realizing it isn’t quite what she needs. 

“It’s different every day for sure. Sometimes it’s like you just push it out of there, and then some days it’s all really hard. Other times you’ll notice that you treat people differently just because of stuff that you’ve been through. You have severe anxiety disorders and stuff like that,” said Polsom.

“A lot of people need to do what’s right for them. They do need to stand up if they haven’t ever told anybody and do what’s right for them and go through the right processes. Some people don’t find that pressing charges is what’s right for them, but even finding somebody to talk to and healing in their own way is really important. The more you put it down and try and not think about it, the worse it’s going to get.”

Polsom said her family has been supportive, standing by her side through everything. The accused’s family still argues that he couldn’t have done anything wrong.  

“In this kind of situation, it’s ‘he said, she said’, so you are going to have the people who don’t believe you,” said Polsom. “I think people automatically assume that nobody is going to believe you – but somebody will. You just have to find the right person to trust and just ignore the ones that don’t (believe you),” said Polsom.

She said she would still go through the court process again, even if she had the same end result. 

The process taught her a lot about herself. She said taking part in the pre-trial in which she had to outline details about what had happened to her is something she feels made her a stronger person.