The Case Of The United States V. Burns

What is the line between right and wrong, and when has it been crossed? This is a debate as old as time, as it varies highly from place to place and person to person. The debate of the delicate balance between the individual rights of people versus the collective good of society is evident in the criminal case of the United States v. Burns. The case involved two Canadian citizens, Glen Sebastian Burns and Atif Rafay, who were accused of murdering the family of Rafay in Bellevue, WA, USA. The two supposedly committed the murders the collect a sizable insurance claim. Upon returning to Canada the two confessed to their crimes to undercover RCMP officers, and plans were made to extradite them to the United States. Was this a violation of their

Although the murder was committed in the United States, the perpetrators were Canadian, further complicating the case. The question to extradite or to not extradite facing the American death penalty was an important issue faced. The case has also challenged many sections of the charter, like the right to enter and leave Canada, the right to life, liberty, security of person, and the presumption of innocence. Perhaps the most controversial issue was the use of the Canadian Mr. Big technique, an “elaborate ploy devised by the RCMP more than a decade ago to trick suspects into confessing” (Vancouver Sun). While the details of the technique vary from case to case, the Mr. Big cases usually share a common design. Police officers create a fictitious criminal organization and then seduce the suspect into joining it. They build a “relationship” with the suspect, gain his confidence, and then enlist his help in a succession of criminal acts (e.g., credit card scams, selling guns). Once the suspect has become immersed within the criminal gang he is persuaded to divulge information about the specific crime under investigation. The controversial Canadian police tactic, which can involve simulated violence, phony crimes and overt threats, entails an expensive and elaborate scheme to recruit the suspect to join a fake criminal organization and confess their crime to the fictitious crime boss, “Mr. Big” (Vancouver Sun). It also snares the innocent and can leave judges and juries so confused the guilty go free. “The Mr. Big technique comes at a price,” wrote Supreme Court Justice Michael Moldaver, “The operations can be abusive and produce unreliable confessions” (Hasham). Tiffany Burns, sister of the accused Sebastian Burns who was charged based on evidence gathered in such a way, thinks “Canadians have been kept in the dark about this police tactic and would be outraged if they understood