“i hope that, in discharging my new duties, i can continue to contribute to this community and others in ontario. i know that it will be a privilege to try.”
sometimes taking hours to cover in meticulous detail her instructions to trial juries or to explain her decisions, pomerance’s rulings from the local bench would rarely be appealed.
“her stuff was bullet-proof, absolutely,” said topp. “the way her mind works, she’s on another level.”
as recently as april, pomerance, whose expertise extends to judicial education, spoke at the essex law association’s annual dinner on the importance and the need for civility in the courtroom.
“she understood the human factor … and we treated her with respect and deference,” said topp.
approximately 30 judges sit on the
court of appeal
, which hears appeals from superior court and the ontario court of justice. for most litigants in ontario, it’s the last avenue of appeal — fewer than two per cent of its decisions are heard by the supreme court of canada.
daniel topp, president of the windsor-essex criminal lawyers’ association, is shown outside the superior court building in downtown windsor on dec. 4, 2020.
nick brancaccio
/
windsor star
one of topp’s cases he expects to be heard soon in the court of appeal — and then possibly the supreme court — was a recent pomerance decision designating windsor serial arsonist frank warren a dangerous offender, but also ordering him into a provincial psychiatric hospital rather than a federal prison.