Assignment 4.1

This assignment has two parts: application, then reflection. Please read the instructions carefully.

Part 2 - Reflection

After you have completed Part 1, provide detailed opinion expressing your views as to why this client has a winning case.

Make sure you back-up your opinion by referencing events in the client's narrative. You should also cite relevant parts of the IRPA, IRPR, as well as any research information which supports your conclusion.

Client's narrative:

Client 2 - Marisa Hinds

My name is Marisa Hinds and I am from Guyana. I am 33 years old. Due to a worsening law and order situation in Guyana, my family went to New York City, US, hoping that the situation in Guyana would improve. We reluctantly left for the US, as our business kept us very busy and we led a very comfortable life, economically speaking. We returned to Guyana a few months later to continue our business running a local bar, which is located below our home. This was a very prosperous business. My husband, Paul Hinds, and I also wanted our children to return to school in Guyana.

My husband would escort our children back and forth to school each day, for fear of a kidnapping. Children of business people were being kidnapped for the purpose of extortion - a very common practice in Guyana at the time. Ashley, our eldest child, had special lessons and was escorted by my husband to each lesson. We have three young daughters, aged 11, 8, and 7.

One evening, at around 8:15pm, Ashley entered our bar to read something to her father. He felt that the environment in the bar was not safe and warned her about entering, as he feared a kidnapping. Consequently, he told her to return upstairs to our domicile, but before she could leave, several armed men entered the bar bearing large guns. My husband immediately grabbed our daughter and myself, shoving us underneath the counter. The intruders began shooting, spraying bullets for approximately twenty minutes all over the house and bar. They tried to lure us out from under the bar. Some of the customers tried to escape and were shot in the foot or otherwise injured. Our other three children appeared from upstairs. My husband promptly pushed them underneath the counter as well. The men shot open the grill door that protected the bar and the smallest gunman was able to grab our third daughter. He put a gun to her head and threatened to shoot. My husband pleaded for him not to shoot as he was going to open the door to admit all of them into the bar. As soon as my husband opened the door, two men grabbed me and began to pull me by the hair. They grabbed the cash and the men started running out, still pulling me along by the hair.

I did not know what happened to my husband and children after that because they dragged me upstairs to our living quarters by my hair. They pushed the doors open and kept yelling at me demanding to know who else lived here. I explained that it was only my husband, my children and me, but they kept yelling "where are the boys?". By this I presumed they

meant my two brothers who ran a business next door as a wholesale liquor and beverage store. My husband was soon dragged upstairs, and was in visible pain. He had been clubbed in the back several times. Once both of us were upstairs in our bedroom, the assailants pushed us to life face-down on the floor.

My husband and I were captives of these men. I feared for the safety of my children as they were downstairs while my husband and I were upstairs. At least four men were holding the children in the bar area downstairs. I would estimate that there were about seven or eight men in the house at the time and many more were outside. The assailants in our bedroom shot open a jewelry box and stole all of our jewelry. They demanded to know where all our money was hidden, and I was forced to escort them around the house showing them where we kept our money. After showing them where the money was located, I was again pushed back on the bedroom floor next to my husband. The men had taken all they needed and decided to leave.

As the men were running out of the house, one came back into the room and fired a shot at my husband. I forced my head down in fear. I knew my husband had been shot but I did not realize how serious his injuries were at the time. I thought the man would shoot me next, but he fled the scene. I immediately forced myself up and saw my husband lying motionless in a pool of blood. I was absolutely terrified. I grabbed my husband's body and saw his eyes rolling back in his head. I realized that he was likely going to die. My attention immediately shifted to the children. The area was now quiet so I began to creep out of the room silently. I found the children still huddled under the counter, with Ashley lying on the outer side forming a protective shield around the younger children. I cautiously crept over to the children and told them that their father had been shot. The children went upstairs and began hollering for help out the window. I too began calling for help from the neighbours, but I soon realized that the bandits were still in close proximity. The bandits were still in the neighbourhood and they began shooting again. A stray bullet nearly hit Ashley through the upstairs window.

After things settled down, my brother and I took my husband to the hospital, as there were no local ambulances in our town at the time. My mother and my other brother took the children to the hospital, although they were not physically hurt. Our entire family was paralyzed with fear. When we returned home, the police were in the house and they took our statements. The police informed us that they would return the next day for fingerprints. A post mortem determined the cause of death of my husband, but no further action was taken. Six days after the shooting, I came to Canada with my three daughters.