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David
Milgaard Inquiry: January 17, 2005
David Milgaard
Joyce Milgaard denies
compensation report
WebPosted Fri May 7 11:52:41
1999 cbc
news
TORONTO - Joyce Milgaard is
denying a report that says her son David will receive the largest
criminal compensation award in Canadian history.
The Globe and Mail says
the Saskatchewan government has agreed to pay David Milgaard
$10 million. It says he will get $2 million cash up front and
$20,000 a month tax-free for life, in what would be the largest
criminal compensation package in Canadian history, by far.
But Joyce Milgaard says negotiations
are continuing and that she is upset the report, which she calls
untrue, has been published. The Globe said Ottawa would pay part
of the compensation.
Details of the agreement are
expected to be announced next week. Included in the settlement
is a sizeable payment for legal fees. Milgaard's lawyers have
worked for little or nothing on the case for more than a decade.
The deal does not include compensation
for pain, suffering and lost opportunities for Milgaard's immediate
family, The Globe said. Two years ago, Milgaard, 46, emerged
from a 28-year nightmare as DNA evidence conclusively proved
what he had said all along: that he did not commit the 1969 sex-slaying
of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller.
Milgaard compensation deal may be near
by MARTIN O'HANLON, May
4, 1999 toronto
star
REGINA (CP) - David Milgaard
may finally be about to receive full financial compensation for
the 22 years he spent in prison wrongly convicted of murder.
After nearly two years of negotiations, a deal appeared to be
close at hand.
Joyce Milgaard, who fought
tenaciously to clear her son's name, said negotiators broke a
logjam over the weekend.
"They met, they're talking
numbers," she said Monday from her home in Winnipeg.
"Now its a matter of talking
these numbers over with David."
The apparent breakthrough came
in a meeting between Milgaard lawyer Hersh Wolch and Alan Gold,
a retired Quebec judge who is negotiating for Saskatchewan's
NDP government.
It also came amid mounting
political pressure by Joyce Milgaard who had threatened to set
up a tent in front of the Saskatchewan legislature to protest
the slow pace of talks.
That protest and a planned
meeting with Saskatchewan Justice Minister John Nilson are now
on hold.
Wolch said his meeting with
Gold went well but he wouldn't discuss any details.
"It was very positive,"
he said. "We appreciate the way things are going and there's
a lot of work to be done."
Wolch wouldn't speculate how
long it might be before a deal is announced.
Gold has been negotiating with
Milgaard's lawyers since August 1997.
Milgaard, 45, has already received
three interim payments totalling $500,000.
Milgaard was temporarily committed
to a psychiatric institution in B.C. last week by a doctor who
was concerned about his emotional state.
Joyce Milgaard described her
son's condition as "fragile" and blamed the incident
on the stress from the compensation delay.
"I'm praying that everybody
will do the right thing," she said. "I would just so
like to have it over. Would it ever be nice to be a normal family."
Milgaard was sentenced to life
in 1969 for the sex slaying of nursing aide Gail Miller in Saskatoon.
He was released from prison
in 1992, but only after years of efforts by his mother led to
a Supreme Court of Canada review.
The high court threw out Milgaard's
conviction and he was finally exonerated in July 1997 after DNA
tests proved that semen found at the crime scene didn't match
his.
Larry Fisher has since been
charged with the murder. His trial begins October 12 in Yorkton,
Sask.
Milgaard's lawyers have raised
many concerns about the way the legal system handled the case.
They contend Saskatoon police
and Saskatchewan justice officials covered up or ignored evidence
pointing to another suspect, even going so far as to destroy
relevant files.
Milgaard, who lives with his
wife in Vancouver, launched two lawsuits against officials. One
accuses five former prosecutors and Saskatoon police officers
of wrongful conviction and conspiracy.
The other accuses former justice
minister Bob Mitchell of libel for comments he made about Milgaard.
The Saskatchewan Justice Department
apologized to Milgaard after he was exonerated and promised compensation
and a public inquiry. But it could be years before the inquiry
is called because that must wait until Fisher's trial is over.
Milgaard is the latest in a
string of similar high-profile cases.
Gold previously negotiated
a $1.2-million compensation package on behalf of the Ontario
government for Guy Paul Morin, who was wrongly convicted of murdering
a nine-year-old girl.
Donald Marshall, a Nova Scotia
Micmac who spent 11 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit,
won compensation of $270,000 plus a monthly annuity.
In 1997, a Quebec court awarded
former journalist Benoit Proulx $1.6 million for his wrongful
conviction in the 1982 slaying of his ex-girlfriend. Proulx spent
two months in prison.
© The Canadian Press,
1999
Milgaard's mom 'flipping
mad' over payment: The $150,000 goes
straight to lawyers, not David, she says
By Bonny Braden, LeaderStar
News, April 27, 1999
REGINA - The Saskatchewan government
sent another $150,000 interim payment to David Milgaard Monday,
but his mother Joyce is "flipping mad" about the delay
of a final payment so she's setting up camp on the lawn of the
Saskatchewan legislature next week.
"Now, I'm enraged. I'm
going to pitch a tent and anyone that wants to can come join
me. Maybe they'll arrest me, but I'm going to be there. I'm going
to stay there until they finish up what they should have years
ago."
It's been two years since the
Saskatchewan government agreed to compensate Milgaard for the
23 years he spent behind bars after being wrongfully convicted
of the 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller.
After making the apology in
1997, the government appointed Justice Alan Gold to negotiate
a final settlement. To date, Gold has been paid $50,000 his services.
Milgaard has received a total
of $500,000 in compensation since then, including a $150,000-payment
made Monday.
"Not one penny of that
money is going to the family and yet they've released it to make
it sound like it is and I think that's diabolical," Joyce
Milgaard said in a telephone interview from Ottawa Monday.
The payment will reimburse
Milgaard's lawyers for the research they did for Gold so he could
assess the family's
"We've been told by an
insider that the Saskatchewan government is concerned about paying
the Milgaards when the farmers are hurting, the nurses want more
money and when there's an election coming up. So they're stalling
until after the election. Well, that doesn't cut it," Joyce
Milgaard said.
Nilson wouldn't promise Monday
he'll speak to Joyce Milgaard if she sets up her tent on the
legislature lawn next Tuesday.
"We have been working
with our lawyers and we continue to work with the Milgaard lawyers,
and it's not our plan to negotiate through the press."
Nilson denied he received Gold's
recommendation in January on a final settlement. He said the
government is aware David Milgaard wants the cash so he can get
on with his life.economic status.
"We know that this is
a tragedy that needs to be redressed. We've already given him
a half a million dollars and we're continuing work with our legal
team and the Milgaards' legal team to see if it can be resolved."
The negotiations are complex
and take time, he added.
Joyce Milgaard says David is
in fragile condition now because it's been stressful waiting
for the negotiations to end and because of the intimate details
he's learned about his family's plight in the book she recently
launched - A Mother's Story, The Fight to Free My Son David.
"I wrote the book because
I thought it was important that people knew just what the family
had put out. Everybody used to see me standing out there, they
never really saw what the family did," she said.
David's father, Lorne Milgaard,
had heart surgery planned but decided against it because he must
take time off work following the surgery. "He's afraid to
lose his job because nothing is settled. It's just wrong what
they're doing. They made a mistake they should fix it."
Milgaard locked up: committed
to psychiatric unit in B.C.
By BONNY BRADEN, Leader-Star
News, April 30, 1999
David Milgaard has again been
locked up against his will, but this time he was committed for
psychiatric care by a doctor who was concerned about his fragile
emotional state, Joyce Milgaard said Wednesday.
"I can only imagine what
it must be doing to him to be suddenly locked up again. Even
if it's not a jail, to him it will be. He must be re-living so
many things. It can't help but be sheer torture for him to be
back in a place where he has no power to leave," she said
in a soft, shaky voice during a telephone interview from Winnipeg.
Her book about David's struggle
was launched last month and it revealed he was subjected to gang
rape while in jail for the 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing aide
Gail Miller. He spent almost 23 years in jail before being released
in 1992 after a Supreme Court review. He was finally exonerated
in 1997 after DNA tests proved semen found at the crime scene
didn't match his.
Joyce Milgaard blames the Saskatchewan
government for the torture David is enduring now. "It could
have been avoided if the Saskatchewan government had acted responsibly.
I hold this over their head as just another thing they've done
-- they're hurting him again, again and again."
David Milgaard has suffered
two years in limbo waiting for the Saskatchewan government to
negotiate a final compensation settlement. In 1997, the Saskatchewan
government appointed former Quebec Superior Court Justice Alan
Gold to negotiate the package.
And after reading his mother's
book, David Milgaard has experienced a renewed sense of guilt
about how his arrest changed the lives of his three siblings
and parents.
Joyce Milgaard said she was
shocked to find out her son was committed Monday by a doctor
who didn't know him when David went in to get a prescription
filled in a small town in British Columbia.
David disappeared after he
went out for a walk alone. He ended up in a town that his mother
wouldn't identify, committed against his will for psychiatric
treatment.
"The doctor examining
him didn't realize all he's been through and just locked him
up," Joyce Milgaard said.
She and David's wife are trying
to free him from confinement. "We're trying to work something
out about getting him out and into a friendlier environment."
Joyce Milgaard may fly out
to see David depending on his state, but she's determined to
be in Regina by Tuesday to pitch her pup tent on the lawn at
the Legislative Building.
She wants to pressure Premier
Roy Romanow into agreeing to a settlement soon.
Romanow told reporters Wednesday
he hasn't ruled out meeting with Joyce Milgaard when she comes
to Regina. This was a change of heart from what he said Tuesday
about staying out of the negotiations. The discussion should
remain between the government's lawyers and the Milgaard family's
lawyers, he said then.
"I'm not ruling out a
meeting," he said Wednesday.
"I think the most important
thing is to try to do what's right for the Milgaard family and
to do it as quickly as possible in a very complex file,"
he said on the way into his office. Romanow said he was about
to take a phone call from Prime Minister Jean Chretien to discuss
the Milgaard case.
Joyce Milgaard won her bid
Tuesday for a meeting with Chretien while she was in Ottawa to
discuss other wrongful conviction cases. She was invited to his
home at 24 Sussex Dr., where she asked him to use his friendship
with Romanow to push for a final settlement.
To date, the family has received
$500,000 in interim payments, but most of that money has been
used for legal bills and other bills racked up as the family
fought to free David over the past 30 years.
The federal government will
likely pay for some of the Milgaard compensation package because
David spent nearly 23 years in a federal penitentiary, his lawyer
Greg Rodin said in a telephone interview from Calgary.
"It would be fair to say
that they're responsible for the conditions in there. The conditions,
for a variety of reasons, were abhorrent. They also run the parole
system. A guilty person would have been paroled a hell of a lot
earlier. The system basically abused him, so we think that there
is some responsibility on behalf of the federal government for
what went on in there."
Nilson ready to talk
: Milgaards pressing for compensation
By BONNY BRADEN, Leader-Star
News, May 1, 1999
Justice Minister John Nilson
agreed to talk money with Joyce Milgaard Tuesday, but she's preparing
to pitch her tent just in case.
She's been threatening for
weeks to set up her pup tent on the lawn of the Legislative Building
to pressure the government into finalizing a compensation package
for her son David who was wrongfully convicted of the 1969 murder
of nursing aide Gail Miller.
"It's wonderful that he's
willing to talk to me ... but I'm bringing my pup tent along
just in case," she said in a telephone interview Thursday
from Winnipeg.
Milgaard refused to talk with
Nilson unless he comes to the table with a proposal for compensation
because "I'm not there to just have a photo opportunity
with him." The family's lawyers will also join the meeting,
she said.
Earlier in the day, Nilson
told reporters it's possible "there could be some meeting
of the minds next week."
Joyce Milgaard has had a busy
week gathering support for her face-off with the Saskatchewan
government. On Tuesday, she landed a meeting with Prime Minister
Jean Chretien at his home where she asked him to help lean on
the Saskatchewan government. On Wednesday, Chretien talked with
Premier Roy Romanow by phone and the government's reluctance
to meet with Milgaard softened immediately.
Now Joyce Milgaard is determined
to nail Nilson down on a final compensation package for her son
David and for others who are wrongfully convicted after him.
Negotiations on the compensation
package have been edging along for two years and David is faltering
under the burden of endless haggling about money, his mother
said.
A total of $500,000 in interim
payments have been paid out by the government but it's been sucked
up in legal costs incurred over 30 years of fighting for justice.
The most recent legal bills were racked up as the family compiled
information requested by the Saskatchewan government. So David
still doesn't have much money to live on, his mother said.
``They met, they're talking
numbers,'' she said yesterday from her home in Winnipeg. ``Now
it's a matter of talking these numbers over with David.'' The
apparent breakthrough came in a meeting between Milgaard lawyer
Hersh Wolch and Alan Gold, a retired Quebec judge who is negotiating
for Saskatchewan's NDP government. It also came amid mounting
political pressure by Joyce Milgaard who had threatened to set
up a tent in front of the Saskatchewan legislature to protest
the slow pace of talks.
That protest and a planned
meeting with Saskatchewan Justice Minister John Nilson are now
on hold. Wolch said his meeting with Gold went well but he wouldn't
discuss any details or speculate how long it might be before
a deal is announced. Gold has been negotiating with Milgaard's
lawyers since August, 1997. Milgaard, 45, has already received
three interim payments totalling $500,000. Milgaard was temporarily
committed to a psychiatric institution in B.C. last week by a
doctor who was concerned about his emotional state. Joyce Milgaard
described her son's condition as ``fragile'' and blamed the incident
on the stress from the compensation delay.
``I'm praying that everybody
will do the right thing,'' she said. ``I would just so like to
have it over.'' Milgaard was sentenced to life in 1969 for the
sex slaying of nursing aide Gail Miller in Saskatoon. He was
released from prison in 1992, but only after years of efforts
by his mother led to a Supreme Court of Canada review. The high
court threw out Milgaard's conviction and he was finally exonerated
in July, 1997 after DNA tests proved that semen found at the
crime scene didn't match his.
Yet Nilson acknowledged David
deserves compensation for the wrongs he endured during 23 years
in prison for a crime he didn't commit.
Joyce Milgaard hardened her
resolve this week after learning David was committed to a psychiatric
ward in a small town in the Okanagan Valley on Monday. A doctor
who didn't know him was concerned about his agitated state when
he went in to renew his prescription for drugs to treat his depression.
"What David really needs
is closure, this finality. So that's what I'm heading for,"
said Joyce Milgaard.
Nilson defended the length
of time it is taking to negotiate a final package, saying it's
a complex file that affects not only David but his three siblings
and parents.
"It's not very simple
to see how all of these things fit together," said Nilson.
"What's complex about
it? They've damaged David," Joyce Milgaard said. "They
have the economic survey and everything there to tell them what
the cost of that damage was. Why can't they come forward and
say 'we're prepared to do something about it'?"
Nilson said Saskatchewan government
lawyers only got their hands on the complete 2,000-page Milgaard
claim in February.
But Joyce Milgaard disputed
that, saying the largest piece of the claim was given to Saskatchewan
lawyers in September and only 30 pages were turned over to them
in the new year.
Nilson said despite the complexity
of the file, there's no plan to "put off or in any way diminish"
the family's claim.
The federal government will
also be contributing money to the compensation package, he added.
In the wrongful conviction
cases of Donald Marshall and Guy Paul Morin, the federal government
put in half of the money.
This
story can now be found hereCounselling
may add to grief, expert says. Medical officer defends Taber therapy
process
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Judge calls for damages for wrongly accused: 'Horrendous impact'
Cristin Schmitz, Southam
News, Monday, May 03, 1999
OTTAWA - An appeal court judge
who is considered to be a contender for the Supreme Court of
Canada has made an impassioned plea for governments to compensate
people who are "wrongfully accused" of crimes.
Citing the financial and emotional
toll on innocent persons dragged through the criminal process,
Mr. Justice Michael Moldaver, who sits on the Ontario Court of
Appeal, said society should consider compensating not just those
who are wrongfully convicted, but those who are wrongfully accused.
"While I suspect that
at one time or another most people have contemplated the prospect
of being a victim of crime, few have perceived that the victimization
might take the form of a false accusation, and even fewer have
taken the time to consider the horrendous impact that the laying
of a criminal charge can have on a person's life," Judge
Moldaver told a weekend criminal law conference in Ottawa.
The criminal law expert is
often cited as a potential successor to Supreme Court Justice
Peter Cory, who is retiring on June 1.
"The time has come to
bring home to the public, in no uncertain terms, just how destructive
the criminal process can be, and why it is that those who have
been wrongfully accused of a criminal offence may be deserving
of some measure of compensation even though they have been acquitted
after trial, or even though the charges may have been withdrawn
somewhere throughout the process."
The judge lauded recent measures
to recognize the anguish suffered by victims of crime and their
families.
"Surely within the context
of these progressive and enlightened measures it is time to recognize
that sometimes the person most victimized by the criminal process
is the accused."
A leading Toronto criminal
defence counsel before his 1990 appointment to the bench, Juge
Moldaver said false criminal charges can result in "overwhelming"
psychological torment. "These include fear of losing one's
spouse and family, fear of seeing the hurt in a child's eyes
when they are cruelly tormented in the school yard and told that
their father or mother is a criminal."
A wrongful prosecution can
also lead to job loss and "economic ruination," the
judge said. Fees for lawyers and other experts can run from several
hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending
on the complexity and seriousness of the charges.
People often mortgage their
homes or borrow money from family and friends. Some lose their
entire life savings.
"In the midst of this
emotional upheaval the individual must somehow continue to function,"
Judge Moldaver said. "Life must go on. Daily living expenses
continue. The children must not be deprived of food. The mortgage
payments must be maintained. The finance company will tolerate
no delay in monthly payments."
The judge said "hardworking,
middle-class Canadians" are particularly hard hit since
they are not eligible for legal aid. "How can these people
hope to generate the funds necessary to defend against a criminal
prosecution, the cost of which may be staggering? How can these
people hope to stand up to the state with its unlimited resources,
and if they are successful, what chance do they have of being
paid back?"
In the absence of police malice
or gross negligence in the prosecution, innocent people who are
acquitted aren't even awarded their legal expenses, he said.
Even apologies are rare, he
added. "Perhaps even worse, human nature being what it is,
the individual will often continue to bear the stigma of guilt,
despite the not guilty verdict of the judge or jury."
Judge Moldaver did not advocate
compensation for everyone who is found not guilty, acknowledging
that not all people who are acquitted are necessarily innocent.
But in clear-cut cases of innocence
-- for example, when a person is prosecuted based on the faulty
evidence of eyewitnesses -- some compensation is merited, even
if only to pay for the legal expenses, he argued.
"Legislation would be
needed to define which individuals might be deserving of compensation,
and under what circumstances . . . But the difficulties I believe
are not insurmountable, and to shirk the responsibility, or to
procrastinate any longer, will only serve to compound our complicity
in the furtherance of an injustice which in my view has existed
far too long."
In an interview, Judge Moldaver
said the problem was brought home to him 20 years ago when he
successfully defended a murder charge against a 48-year-old woman
whose husband was stabbed through the heart as she defended herself
against his attack.
"She essentially lost
everything, in terms of her entire life savings. She lost her
home . . . and she was ultimately acquitted with not even an
apology," he said.
Judge Moldaver's speech to
the Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa-Carleton garnered a
standing ovation. But few lawyers were optimistic that the judge's
suggestion would be implemented, given the current "law
and order" political climate.
William Carroll, senior defence
counsel, said in an interview, "The problem is that the
public is firmly of the belief that everyone charged with an
offence must be guilty of something.
"There is a blind faith,
which is totally unjustified, that if anyone is acquitted, it
must be on the basis of a technicality or one of those 'damned
Charter arguments.' "
Mr. Carroll estimates that
the majority of cases that go to trial end in acquittals.
"Our provincial governments
are highly unlikely to implement a system to assist somebody
who has been accused of wrongdoing," he predicted. "They
took away the ability to defend these people by cutting legal
aid. Do you think that they are going to seriously think about
compensating them for being wrongly charged?"
Falsely accused get cash
By MIKE O'BRIEN of The Leader-Post
Six years after they were falsely
accused of second-degree murder and thrown in jail, four Regina
men have won their lawsuit against the police who investigated
them.
In a decision awarding more
than $166,000 to the four men, Court of Queen's Bench Justice
John Klebuc called the officers' investigation reckless and malicious.
A relieved David Klein, who
was awarded $50,000 in damages, said Monday he is not bitter.
"The police are human
too. They're going to make mistakes. This is a bad one."
He hopes the decision will
prove the four men's innocence to all those people who still
suspect them of the 1991 murder of Garland Vester.
"Just because a person
is arrested, you can't assume someone is guilty."
Ever since her husband was
arrested at home on Feb. 18, 1993, their children have been teased
by schoolmates, said Deanna Klein.
"I told my daughter today
at noon to go to school and tell the kids to watch the news tonight
and they'll see what kind of a murderer your father is."
Klebuc also awarded $25,000
to Dwayne Martin Ransom, $35,000 to Vincent Stanley Kozar and
$30,000 to Shawn William Moore, plus another $26,000 in compensatory
damages for lost wages and other expenses incurred by the men.
Garland Vester's car and body
were found in Wascana Lake in May, 1991. Investigators initially
concluded he died of an accidental drowning.
Police re-opened the investigation
in late 1992 after a Regina woman with a history of emotional
problems told her social worker that she and another man were
involved in the death. When questioned, the other man named the
four men, all of whom he knew.
The men were charged with second-degree
murder and held in jail for up to two weeks each. By June, 1993,
the Crown prosecutor stayed all charges against them. Their suit
for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment was heard in
late 1997.
Klebuc concluded officers Sgt.
Ron Seiferling and Sgt. Andre Turcotte did not meet the legal
tests for arresting a person on reasonable and probable grounds.
He suggested their conduct was impaired by the desire to solve
a high-profile case.
The judge referred to conflicting
evidence that should have made the officers reconsider their
investigation, most notably that the initial witness later said
she had helped rob and drown Vester.
"(Their investigation)
constitutes more than mere negligence or poor judgment,"
Klebuc wrote.
"It was so reckless and
devoid of reason and respect for the rights and security of the
plaintiffs and the administration of justice that it... was malicious."
Ransom said Monday that people
haven't forgotten the charges against him, as illustrated by
a conversation he had at work last week after a Regina man was
found floating in Wascana Creek.
"A couple guys came up
to me and said 'What were you doing the other day?"' Ransom
said.
"That's always going to
be there."
Turcotte has retired but Seiferling
is still a sergeant with the police service. Neither officer
was ever disciplined in relation to the case, Deputy Chief Clive
Weighill said.
Weighill said police officers
are indemnified against lawsuits for on-the-job actions, meaning
the police service will pay the awarded damages.
Klebuc dismissed the men's
suit against the Attorney-General's office. He pointed out the
Crown Prosecutor in the case had not been presented with all
the relevant information by the two officers.
The four men also sued the
two police witnesses, but the first witness committed suicide
in 1996.
Klebuc dismissed the charge
against the second one, a mentally impaired man who apparently
fabricated his evidence to avoid being charged.
Klein hopes the case will lead
to better police training and practices. "They should take
a little more time."
He said the police department
has never apologized to the men. See Darrel
Keith Kaye
Falsely accused men get
apology
By MIKE O'BRIEN of The Leader-Post
May 12
Regina's police chief has apologized
to four men falsely accused of murder six years ago.
One day after a judge ordered
the police to pay the four men more than $166,000 in damages,
Chief Cal Johnston announced he will also send a written apology
to David Klein, Dwayne Ransom, Vincent Kozar and Shawn Moore.
"We believe the officers
in this case acted in good faith, however, it is clear a better
review of the available evidence should have been undertaken
and charges were laid too hastily," Johnston told the media
Tuesday. "An internal review of our procedures will be conducted
to ensure checks and balances are in place to avoid this happening
in the future."
The four men were arrested
and jailed in 1993 for the murder of Garland Vester.
Police initially ascribed Vester's
death to accidental drowning after his car and body were found
in Wascana Lake in May, 1991. They reopened the investigation
in late 1992 after a Regina woman said she and another man were
involved in the death. When questioned, the other man named the
four men, whom he knew.
The men were charged with second-degree
murder and held in jail for two weeks. By June, 1993, the Crown
prosecutor stayed all charges against them.
The men sued the police for
malicious prosecution and false imprisonment. The trial was heard
in late 1997 and on Monday the parties learned of Court of Queen's
Bench Justice John Klebuc's decision.
Each man's award ranges from
$25,000 to $50,000, and all four will share another $26,000 in
compensatory damages for lost wages and other expenses.
The men welcome Johnston's
promise of an apology and an internal review.
"We're very excited about
it," David Klein said. "It's about time they admitted
somebody did something wrong. It's about time they looked into
it to find out what went wrong."
Klebuc called the officers'
investigation reckless and malicious. He concluded the two investigating
officers did not meet the legal tests for arresting a person
on reasonable and probable grounds.
The officers knew that one
witness had a history of emotional problems and subsequently
changed her testimony, while the other witness was mentally impaired.
Klein hopes the police will
examine their training with regards to investigations and be
more discerning regarding the character of their witnesses. "Get
an in-depth look at who it's coming from."
The two officers, one of whom
has since retired, have not been subject to any internal discipline
over the matter. The police service will pay the damages to the
four men because police officers are indemnified against lawsuits
for on-the-job actions.
Hustler apologizes to Sheila Copps
May 17, 1999
HAMILTON - American porn magazine
Hustler has apologized to Heritage Minister Sheila Copps for
featuring her in a pornographic contest in the Canadian edition
of the magazine's February issue.
Copps had said she would seek
damages. She had planned to sue the president and publisher of
Quebec-based BZR Publications, which publishes Hustler's Canadian
edition.
Although the magazine denied
it, the feature was thought to be a protest to Copps' plan to
protect Canadian magazines from their larger, American competitors
-- Bill C-55. That bill would place advertising restrictions
on split-runs, U.S. magazines published in Canada that have little
Canadian editorial content.
A lawyer for Copps says the
"the matter is settled" and both parties have agreed
there will be no further discussion of the issue.
The apology was carried in
Saturday's edition of the Hamilton Spectator. Copps is the member
for Hamilton East.
What
would be a fair settlement
in cases now coming before the Courts?
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd.