page_title: Kidnapping of Sidney Jaffe
section_title: Trial of bounty hunters
hierarchical_section_title: Kidnapping of Sidney Jaffe / Aftermath / Trial of bounty hunters
caption_attribution_description: Osgoode Hall Toronto, Canada
context_page_description: Sidney L. Jaffe is a U.S.-born Canadian businessman who was kidnapped from outside his Toronto home in 1981 by American bounty hunters Timm Johnsen and Daniel Kear and transported to Florida after failing to appear for a trial there on charges of land sales fraud. His conviction on the fraud charges was overturned on appeal; his conviction on an additional charge of failure to appear for trial was upheld, but he was paroled after two years and returned to Canada. At the request of the Canadian government, Jaffe declined to appear at a new Florida trial on further land fraud charges in 1985. Johnsen and Kear were extradited to Canada and convicted of kidnapping in 1986, but were set free pending appeal, and their sentences were reduced to time served in 1989, after which they returned to the United States. The Jaffe incident caused significant tensions in Canada–United States relations, and resulted in a 1988 exchange of letters between the two countries on cross-border kidnappings.
context_section_description: The trial of bounty hunters Johnsen and Kear did not begin until May 1986. It was believed to be the first case in Canada where a private individual working under a foreign bail code was tried for kidnapping. At the end of that month, an Ontario jury found them guilty after nine hours of deliberations. Johnsen and Kear could have been sentenced to life imprisonment; they requested to be held in protective custody because they feared their prior involvement with law enforcement might lead to danger from fellow prisoners. In the end, the court sentenced them to 21 months' imprisonment, but they were released on bail pending appeal just a few weeks later. In 1989, the Court of Appeal for Ontario reduced their sentences to time served and released them. However, the court upheld their convictions, stating "the very conviction of those men of one of the most serious offenses known to Canadian law would go a long way towards the vindication of Canada's sovereignty and towards repudiation of their affront to it".
caption: The Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld Johnsen and Kear's convictions, but reduced their sentences to time served.
exif: {"Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image ImageDescription": "OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA", "Image Make": "OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP.", "Image Model": "E-M5", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "100", "Image YResolution": "100", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Aperture 3.2.3", "Image DateTime": "2012:05:12 12:43:06", "Image ExifOffset": "272", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:05:12 12:43:06", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:05:12 12:43:06", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "7/10", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "925/256", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "12", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4177", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3133", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}