For the second time this month an expected plea in the Matt Bell sexual assault case was postponed on May 30th, with the case being adjourned for another three weeks, per durhamregion.com.
Bell was originally scheduled to enter a plea on May 9th, but an adjournment was granted and it was rescheduled for May 30th. However, on Monday, the matter was delayed because Bell’s lawyer, Bernie O’Brien, was out of the jurisdiction.
“I’m quite surprised,” prosecutor Taran Boodoosingh told Ontario Court Justice John Adamson. “The matter was marked for a plea.”
Lawyer Justin Guile, who appeared on behalf of Mr. O’Brien, said the lawyer and his client have a “few more things” to consider before a plea.
“I do believe a plea will be entered,” Mr. Guile said.
Bell was arrested in November of 2015 after an investigation by Durham police into allegations he had sexually assaulted a teenaged girl. Bell was hit with charges including sexual assault, sexual interference, and computer contact with a person under 18 for a criminal purpose.
Bell, 35, was the head coach and CEO of the very successful Ajax Swimming program in Ontario at the time of his arrest. The program has since shut down with Ajax’s swimming dispersing to different teams close by in order to keep up their training.
Bell was a member of the coaching staff for Swimming Canada at the FINA World Junior Championships in 2015. Swimming Canada cut ties with him soon after his arrest.
The case will return to court on June 20th.
does anyone know if he entered a plea this morning?
No. Next court session July 25. Publication ban
Oh my… Does that means that we won’t be able to know more about this case? Is it getting closer to the end?
Oh my… Does that means we won’t be able to know more about this case? Is this getting to closer to an end?
This case from the start has been under a Publication Ban. Because of the nature of the charge. I have been to all the sessions, and you can’t repeat what happened in the court, other then what is made public by a publication/newspaper.
It is getting closer to the end .July 25 may be an agreed upon solution and sentencing or sentencing maybe 30 days
after the July 25 date. Note that there are Mandatory Minimum Federal Guidelines on sentencing on these type of charges.
As another posted has stated he can’t go to trial with the evidence they have. While another poster has stated “if they have electronic messages that support the main charges then he… Read more »
I would imagine that attendance at such matters would be somewhat limited to immediate family members only, with very few interested parties such as yourself.
so far No Family, me and two court reporters. Other cases around the time of the Bell sessions do have some Family. I have seen Bell outside the court house. When this case is over I will never go back to any court, I am just interested in the process and Thankfully I don’t need a Lawyer!
Cases like Bell’s most times first meet behind closed doors, Crown, Defense, Judge and any other interested parties such as the police. They do this because of the Nature of the Charge. Then they come out into open court and discuss some issues of the case that cannot be repeated on any public Forum.
I assume that the details of the plea deal get cut behind closed doors allowing the accused to know exactly what the punishment will be once the plea is entered in court. Even with mandatory minimums as you have pointed out in other posts it is hard to determine what the length of the sentence might be. Could be as low as 90 days from what I have been able to find online. Seems odd that the accuser is absent for all of this. I guess they are only involved if it were to go to trial. From what I have seen in this particular case it certainly confirms for me that our court system is somewhat broken. Although the… Read more »
I totally agree with you in regards to your comment about the court system being broken. I know through personal experience the Government and the Legal system has failed us.
You are right about how they work on the plea deal. About the length of sentence I know of a current example of an individual who never even met with an individual/child, was charged with an internet luring charge and got the Federal Mandatory minimum of 1 year in custody. The other cases you mention of 90 days I am not sure when they occurred. But as we know the Legal system is inconsistent.
It is important to note that when a Victims case is taken over by a… Read more »
My reference to 90 days did not come from case law, but rather what I read what might be considered the mandatory minimums for such charges as published on some government website. I don’t understand the strategy behind delaying the plea, unless there is some fundamental disagreement between Bell and his council on how to proceed. At the end of the day the process is painfully slow and you are left to wonder if justice is truly served.
Learning lots by reading your comments. I am saddened by reading that he is alone. I know him not for a long time but he was very good to me, so I can only express positive things and wish things resolve quickly. If he is guilty then so be it and he needs to do what justice dictates, however, I wonder if is possible to send a letter on his behalf? Is it something random people do (like me?) Is it valid? Or is it something Matt and his lawyer ask to specific people?
I do not know the process for providing letters of reference. Maybe you could simply email your comments directly to his lawyer. His name was identified in one of these various posts. It would then be left to them to decide whether or not to use it.
I too was saddened to read that he has been attending alone, but then again we don’t know the full story, maybe that is a choice that he has made himself.
Contact information for his Lawyer; [email protected] . His Lawyers Bernard F. O’Brien and
Sandip, Sandy S. Khehra currently on the case.
I actually thought your previous comment about support letters was sarcasm. Am I the only one who finds it a little disturbing that someone who identifies as “another swim coach” wants to send a letter on his behalf? If the reports are accurate, and he is going to plead guilty, you realize that his victim was one of his swimmers right? I mean I’ve known Matt for a number of years as well, and on a personal level I have nothing against him. But I would hope that those within the coaching community would want to condemn that kind of behaviour, and distance themselves from it, not send support letters.
You are right and it sounds disturbing, am not denying that. However, am a human being and am not perfect, and as far as I know, nobody is. I have little information, only what’s being said here. There is no plea yet so I don’t know. Reports indicate that he will plead guilty, but We are still waiting for that to happen. Of course this type of things are horrible, not just for the victim but also for matts family and friends. And I am sure he is in pain too. Perhaps what I am aiming to do is more writing a reflexion about this, precisely because I work on the same field. I witnessed for quite few years his… Read more »
Clarification: Regarding the “Sarcastic” comment I made. After remembering what the intent of the comment was it was partially meant to be sarcastic but after thinking about what has gone on in court and the comments made by his supporters in the past it was meant as a direct comment that if they think Bell is such a great guy then where are they Now and maybe they were just Fair weather friends? And some of what “another Swim Coach” has stated is valid and worth considering.
In any event the intent of my posts was to give current information without stating anything that is not allowed to be stated outside the court room.
I would share some of your views . I provided the contact information as you suggested “simply email your comments”. If you were referring to my support letters comment on another post being “sarcasm”you would be correct. I would my self not be sending any support letter for Matt Bell, but I am not going to judge anyone else who decides to do so. As you have stated “on a personal level I have nothing against him”. Since I have received at least 4 negatives about that sarcasm comments obviously there are others
that have nothing against him. I am also not sure how one can on a personal level have nothing against him but within the coaching community… Read more »
I didn’t suggest anything about emailing comments, you have me confused with someone else. If someone works in the same field, as a coach, then they above anyone else should understand the dynamic between a coach and an athlete, and the impact breaching that trust would have on the victim. That position of trust is something that should never be broken in this way. So yes – there is an impact on many people – including those many swimmers who also placed their trust in him and have had their own image of their coach and mentor shattered by this. I understand that people make mistakes, even huge life damaging mistakes, and that doesn’t mean we have to abandon all… Read more »
Part of my comment was for Ajax11 regarding the emailing so I stand corrected. I don’t disagree with anything else you have stated in your last post.
But I would think most would find it confusing your previous comment:
“I mean I’ve know Matt for a number of years as well and on a personal level I HAVE NOTHING AGAINIST HIM” “But within the coaching community I would want to Condemn that kind of Behavior”.
So personally according to you , you have nothing against him but you condemn his behavior as a coach.
And that comment that you made goes against the bulk of your own comments in your own post.
That view may be based… Read more »
I have nothing against him with regard to my personal interactions with him. My assessment of his character aside – I have no axe to grind. But yes – of course I would condemn this behaviour in a coach and was surprised that someone who identifies as “another swim coach” would seek out avenues to support him. I think we are on the same page here.
I understand your points and I do agree. I don’t support his actions (in this case), and I have no intentions to iterfiere with the justice system. He is going to get what he is going to get if found guilty. It just happens that I am a person who believes in humanity. I have faith that he will come around. Despite believing that Canadian justice system is broken, trust me, is nowhere near other countries, where issues like this or even more serious happen on a regular basis and no one is guilty. Sometimes we take things for granted and we don’t look at the whole picture. Perhaps is not the justice system what is broken, but society is… Read more »
How many more people are going to ruin their lives before everyone knows that doing this is WRONG.
With this case in mind, does anyone know why Brock Turner is not on the USAS Banned List. He’s still listed as a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying yet he was convicted of a sex crime in March in violation of the Code of Conduct. Seems odd.
He was not a member of USA Swimming at the time of his arrest. You must be a member at the time of the violation to fall under USA Swimming rules.
Not true. Mitch Ivey, John Trites, many others were not members of USAS when placed on the banned list.
Not when they were placed on the banned list – but they were members when they committed the acts that put them on the banned list. Brock Turner was not a member of USA Swimming on the night he committed the crime and was arrested, therefore he is/was not under the jurisdiction of USA Swimming. He would obviously not be eligible for membership because he won’t be able to pass a background check to return, but he can’t be held to rules of an organization of which he was not a member.
Your facts and your understanding of the Code of Conduct appear incorrect..
Turner was a USAS member in 2015. If you look on the Swims database, he has a January 8, 2015 swim listed. He would not have a swim listed unless he was a USAS member.
Second, swimmers don’t need background checks to become USAS members. They register and become members.
Third, the Code of Conduct explicitly states that a former member is subject to the jurisdiction of the Board of Review and can be banned–I know because I helped draft that legislation in 2013. The 2014 Code states the following:
304.2
Any member, former member, or prospective member of USA Swimming is subject to the… Read more »
The 1/8/15 swim lists a club/LSC of US-UN which indicates an unregistered member. It is from an NCAA meet and was not a USA Swimming meet, nor was he a USA Swimming member at the time. His membership expired on 12/31/14.