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< < | articles and editorials from Jan 6-9 (2004) |
more | Sabo's apology | Editorials: StarPhoenix,
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> > | National Post front page story, Jan. 10 >
> > | Coverage leading up to appeal court victory and
that victory > > >
December, 2004: Government
stalls appeal: seeks to intervene on its own behalf | Dueck walks away a wealthy man:
it seems no one has the will to make him account for his malicious
and criminal actions
-
- The Klassen
story
- Breaking
through to the public
-
-
Family wins on 2 fronts
in compensation fight in foster-child sex abuse case
By TIM COOK, January 29,
2004
REGINA (CP) - A family fighting
for compensation after being wrongly accused and maliciously
prosecuted as foster child sex abusers made progress on two fronts
Thursday.
A judge ruled that any appeal
of the malicious prosecution decision by investigators must wait
until after the compensation issue is settled in court. At the
same time, Saskatchewan Justice Minister Frank Quennell announced
that officials from his department will meet with lawyers for
the family to discuss how they can be assisted by the government
while the case is still before the courts.
"I want to be open to
any suggestions or proposals these families might have as to
how they might be assisted that will not compromise the appeal,"
Quennell said shortly after the court ruling came down.
"I'm prepared to listen
to anything they might suggest."
The developments were the latest
chapter in a legal odyssey that spans more than 12 years.
Richard Klassen and 11 other
members of his extended family were charged in 1991 with abusing
the three foster children - a brother and his younger twin sisters
- in bizarre and demonic ways.
The children said they were
forced to eat eyeballs, drink blood, participate in orgies and
watch newborn babies get skinned and buried.
Saskatoon police called it
the "scandal of the century" at the time, but most
of the cases never made it to trial.
By 1993 most of the charges
were stayed to avoid further "trauma" to the children.
But, as the years passed, the
children came forward publicly and recanted their accusations.
The boy, who had abused his
sisters himself and was removed from the family's care, said
he had made up the allegations because he was frustrated and
wanted to be reunited with the girls. He said he coerced the
sisters into backing up his fantastic tales of abuse.
The case prompted the Klassens
to launch a lawsuit claiming police and prosecutors were malicious
for believing the children's fantastic tales.
In a ruling last month, Justice
George Baynton agreed, finding that three of the lead investigators
in the case were liable: Saskatoon police Supt. Brian Dueck,
who was a corporal when the case broke; therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys
and Crown Prosecutor Matthew Miazga.
The case against a second Crown
attorney, Sonja Hansen, was dismissed.
"In my view, proceeding
with charges in such an extraordinary case in the absence of
reasonable and probable cause constitutes a strong presumption
of malice," Baynton wrote in his decision.
"It is almost beyond belief
that none of those involved in the prosecution of the plaintiffs
stood back, so to speak, and asked themselves if any of this
made any sense and whether it could reasonably be true."
Baynton ruled on the facts
of the case, but left the issues of compensation to be decided
in another court hearing that is set for September.
Earlier this month, the government
lawyer representing Miazga, Hansen, and Bunko-Ruys announced
he will appeal the ruling.
Quenell has said despite what
the Klassens went through, the case raises legal issues that
must be resolved through an appeal.
The Klassens, however, have
cited a pre-trial agreement among all parties that the issue
of damages would be settled before any appeals were heard.
Dueck's lawyer has refrained
from announcing his intention to appeal, in part, because of
the pre-trial agreement.
Government told to hold
off on appeal
Canadian Press, January
29, 2004
The Saskatchewan government
has been told its appeal of a malicious prosecution lawsuit must
wait while the issue of compensation is settled.
The ruling from a judge with
the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal affects 12 members of the Klassen
family of Saskatoon who were falsely accused of child sexual
abuse.
They were successful last month
in their suit against a Crown prosecutor, a Saskatoon police
officer and a child therapist.
The decision means damages
must be settled before the province can appeal liability issues
associated with the case.
Several weeks have already
been set aside, beginning September 13, to hear compensation
arguments.
Government lawyer Don McKillop
argued Thursday that the appeal should be settled first because
the lawsuit's outcome may affect how prosecutors deal with some
cases.
© Copyright 2004 Canadian Press
Interim payments possible
in Klassen case: Quennell
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
January 22, 2004
The government of Saskatchewan
is willing to discuss the possibility of interim payments for
Richard Klassen, Diane Kvello and their family members who won
a malicious prosecution lawsuit, Justice Minister Frank Quennell
said Wednesday.
Responding to Klassen's declaration
Tuesday that he will seek interim payments on damages in the
civil suit decided in his favour in December, Quennell said,
"the government is not interested in dragging out the suffering"
of the Klassen and Kvello families.
"The government of Saskatchewan
is willing to listen to proposals or suggestions from the plaintiffs
to address fairness issues prior to the appeal being heard,"
Quennell said.
Earlier Wednesday, both sides
met in court to set a date for a trial to determine how much
money the plaintiffs should be awarded. Justice George Baynton
scheduled the six-week trial to begin Sept. 13.
However Donald McKillop, lawyer
for two of the defendants, said his appeal of the ruling should
be heard before damages are determined.
The Court of Appeal will decide
which procedure happens next, after it hears from the parties
in Regina next Wednesday.
"Appreciating that the
damages portion of the trial won't take place for a few months,
the appeal won't be heard for a few months . . . these are the
practicalities. In the interim we are certainly open to discussion,"
Quennell said.
But Quennell stopped short
of saying the government will give the plaintiffs what they are
asking for.
"I'm not suggesting that
we'd be making an interim payment. I'm saying we're open to discussions.
I don't want to say what the outcome of those discussions would
be," Quennell said.
He said the government doesn't
want to do anything that could jeopardize the appeal.
"Any concern I have about
settlement discussions and any other matter is only about compromising
the appeal.
Anything we can do that does
not compromise the appeal, I'm open to talking about and the
government of Saskatchewan is open to talking about.
"There may be things we
can do," he said.
Robert Borden, who represents
all of the plaintiffs except Richard Klassen, said Wednesday
he will immediately begin preparing "an application to the
court that an interim award be allowed at this time."
The 12 plaintiffs were charged
in the early 1990s in an infamous ritual abuse case dubbed "the
scandal of the century." A year and a half after they were
charged on bizarre allegations of sexual and ritual abuse of
foster children, charges against the 12 were stayed.
The children have since recanted,
admitting the accusations were lies.
Justice George Baynton ruled
Dec. 30 that Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga, police officer
Brian Dueck and child therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys were liable
for malicious prosecution.
Quennell, who is also the attorney
general for Saskatchewan, said he supports the appeal brought
by the lawyer for Miazga and Bunko-Ruys because the ruling changes
the test for malicious prosecution and could have a far-reaching
effect on social workers, teachers and self-governing professions.
The plaintiffs understood that
the trial to determine damages would happen before any appeals
were launched. They want interim payments to see them through
the time, probably several years, that appeals would wend through
the courts.
Dueck's lawyer, David Gerrand,
said during Wednesday's hearing he hopes the parties can reach
a settlement on the amount of damages and avoid a trial on the
matter.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Klassen asks for interim
payments
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
January 21, 2004
Richard Klassen intends to
apply for interim payments on an award for damages once the amount
is set by the courts, he said Tuesday.
He hopes that today, a Queen's
Bench judge will go ahead and set a date for a trial to determine
the award in the malicious prosecution lawsuit he and 11 others
won in December.
"We're asking for some
time shortly after March 6 that our damages trial be set,"
Klassen said.
Klassen wants the court to
determine the award before the matter goes to appeal, so plaintiffs
can apply to have some of the money paid out while the lengthy
appeal process is ongoing, he said in an interview.
The plaintiffs sought in excess
of $10 million for being prosecuted on false accusations of sexual
and ritual abuse and for having those accusations brand them
for a year and a half.
"We will apply for interim
payments once damages are (set). There is such a thing as interim
payments to be paid out. We would be applying for that . . .
so we could afford to continue to go on," Klassen said.
Klassen, Diane Kvello and 10
other members of their families, won the civil suit against Crown
prosecutor Matthew Miazga, police Supt. Brian Dueck and child
therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys on Dec. 30, when Justice George Baynton
ruled the prosecution had been "a travesty of justice."
The provincial government announced
Jan. 8 it will appeal the decision, a move that drew outrage
from Klassen, who understood that an order by Justice Mona Dovell
prohibited an appeal from beginning before damages were determined.
Donald McKillop, who represented
Miazga and Bunko-Ruys, understood the order simply removed the
usual 60-day deadline for filing appeals.
Klassen laid a complaint against
McKillop with the Law Society of Saskatchewan, which regulates
the legal profession.
Klassen alleged that McKillop
made an agreement to not file an appeal until the damages were
set and that Duvall's order was the response to a mutual request
for such an order. Klassen alleges McKillop is now reneging on
the deal.
"He's an officer of the
court who entered into a deal and is now trying to sidestep that
deal. . . . I think it's wrong and I think the Saskatchewan Court
of Appeal should deal with it, as well as the Law Society,"
Klassen said.
On Tuesday, the Law Society
of Saskatchewan informed Klassen he will get no help from them:
they agree with McKillop's interpretation.
The law society will wait until
the appeal process is complete before looking into Klassen's
complaint, its general counsel, Allan Snell, wrote in a letter
dated Jan. 16.
"It would appear to us
that the Order of Madam Justice Dovell simply provides for a
stay in the running of the time during which an appeal must be
commenced, rather than prohibiting an appeal being taken prior
to the agreement or adjudication on damages and costs.
"We may be wrong on this,"
Snell wrote.
"However, as the matter
will be heard by the Court of Appeal, who will make the determination
as to the interpretation of the order in question, it is appropriate
that the law society defer to the court," Snell wrote.
Klassen's bid to set a trial
date to determine the amount of his award will be the subject
of a hearing today at Court of Queen's Bench.
The appeal court meets to address
questions on the timing of the appeal Jan. 28 in Regina.
Klassen hopes the appeal court
will send the matter back to Dovell for clarification. He believes
that would result in the damages trial going ahead, before the
appeal.
The Crown can appeal after
the damages are set, he said.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Justice system under
fire
Betty Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix,
Thursday, January 15, 2004
The Saskatchewan justice
system must give equal time to cases of injustice and crimes
against marginalized citizens, said the sister of Neil Stonechild,
who spoke at a demonstration outside Premier Lorne Calvert's
Saskatoon constituency office Wednesday.
Later in the day, Saskatoon
police Chief Russell Sabo did just that. He apologized in person
to Richard Klassen, who, along with 11 others, last month won
a malicious prosecution lawsuit against Saskatoon police Supt.
Brian Dueck.
Erica Stonechild was among
about 20 people who participated in the two-hour demonstration.
She said it's too easy for authorities to dismiss the complaints
of some people.
"It's not fair. . . .
Undesirable people in this country are not being listened to,"
said Stonechild, whose brother Neil Stonechild died in 1990 under
mysterious circumstances. A judicial inquiry is looking into
his death and the subsequent police investigation to see if there's
evidence to support allegations the police may have been involved
in his death.
The inquiry is a "good
start" in addressing an inadequate police investigation
that was accepted by the police service for 10 years, she said.
At the demonstration, Klassen
and co-plaintiff Diane Kvello called on the government to stop
fighting them in court and pay damages for the suffering they
endured after being falsely labelled as child sex offenders.
"My call is for Calvert
to come out and talk about this like a man," said Klassen.
The demonstrators held placards
in view of traffic and milled about in the waiting area of Calvert's
22nd Street office.
Calvert wasn't there. He is
on a two-week holiday in British Columbia, a government spokesperson
said.
Justice Minister Frank Quennell
said Tuesday that he was sorry for what the Klassen family had
gone through but the government cannot apologize for the nature
of the prosecution while the appeal is before the courts.
Klassen, Kvello and members
of their families won the judgment last month against Dueck,
Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga and therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys,
who were involved in prosecuting them in the early 1990s on false
accusations of sexually abusing foster children.
The province has begun the
process to appeal the Dec. 30 verdict by Justice George Baynton,
prompting protests from the plaintiffs, who believed a previous
judge's order would forestall an appeal until after damages were
determined.
Government lawyer Donald McKillop
had a different interpretation of the agreement. The matter will
be addressed in chambers at Court of Queen's Bench in Saskatoon
on Jan. 21.
The demonstrators also included
Quentin Ermine, who suspects that his father's 1987 murder was
never solved because his father was a "street person."
Robin Ermine was found Aug.
14, 1987, in a west-side residence with three gunshot wounds
to the head.
Sgt. Phil Farion of the cold
case squad said the file has been reviewed several times in the
past 16 years.
Farion said the previous cold
case investigator, whom he replaced only recently, gathered the
evidence from the case to see whether any of it could be tested
using updated DNA techniques. Farion said he is still reviewing
the cases to see what can be done next.
Another demonstrator was Sheila
Okemaysin of Fort Qu'Appelle, whose husband, Gordon
Severight, died in June 1997.
Okemaysim is not satisfied
with the RCMP's finding of drowning as the cause of death. She
suspects the RCMP may have been involved in his death.
She took her concerns to the
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations special investigations
unit (SIU) in 2000.
RCMP spokesperson Brian Jones
said the Mounties provided information to the SIU, which was
subsequently satisfied with the RCMP findings.
"There was nothing to
indicate any police involvement," Jones said.
Okemaysim still has the option
of lodging a complaint with the RCMP public complaints commission,
Jones said.
Sabo made a public apology
last week but the two men were not able to have a face-to-face
meeting until Wednesday, Klassen said.
"I accepted his apology
and felt good about it," Klassen said later.
Klassen said he is satisfied
with Sabo's assurance that a law firm will conduct an arm's-length
investigation into the way Dueck handled the case. It will include
complaints Klassen filed against Dueck with the police in 1993
and '94.
Klassen said he believes Sabo
is working in good faith to renew the Saskatoon Police Service,
which has been criticized for its handling of several highly
publicized cases, including his own.
"I really do believe that
this is a good chief and he wants to rebuild the morale and confidence
in the (police among the) people."
A handful of "bad apples"
in the police service have given the rest of the force a bad
name, Klassen said.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Rebuilding shattered
family gov't duty, too
Leona Schell, Letter to
the editor, The StarPhoenix, January 13, 2004
As a citizen of Saskatoon and
a follower of "the scandal of the century," I have
watched with interest since CBC's Fifth Estate first aired the
story.
The Klassen family has been
devastated and all but decimated in their 13-year nightmare.
Through no fault of their own, they have endured what would have
destroyed most of us.
Still, after all this time
and suffering and after all the evidence to their innocence,
no individuals or office responsible for the process have come
forward to acknowledge the damage done to this family.
In contrast, our government
came out immediately after the devastating Moose Jaw fire and
stated that it would most likely help with the rebuilding.
A coffee shop owner in Moose
Jaw understandably felt that the destruction of her business
was the worst day of her life. The fire chief stated it was "the
worst I've ever seen, a catastrophe to the city." Another
business owner felt sick to his stomach as his historic building
went up in smoke.
But where is the outcry and
concern for the devastation and horror that the unsuspecting,
innocent Klassens endured for the past 13 hellish years? The
prosecutorial process alone must have been a nightmare for these
people. What is the value of a family in ashes in terms of rebuilding?
I was sick to my stomach when
I read the government wouldn't apologize and what that means
to compensation.
It's time for the government
to acknowledge the devastation done to the family, bring out
the heavy equipment, clean up the mess and find out what it would
take to restore what it took a lifetime to build.
It's necessary for those in
positions of power to ensure there isn't an overloaded circuit
in the justice system that can short out and burn another one
of our city's precious treasures.
Leona Schell
Saskatoon
Klassen challenges government
lawyer
Plans to lodge law society complaint
Shauna Rempel, The StarPhoenix,
January 13, 2004
While lawyers try to figure
out what happens next in a malicious prosecution lawsuit, Richard
Klassen is filing a complaint with the Law Society of Saskatchewan
against provincial government lawyer Don McKillop.
"It's a straightforward
complaint saying that I believe he was unethical and is actually
somewhat in contempt of court . . . ," said Klassen in an
interview Monday.
Last month, Justice George
Baynton ruled in favour of Klassen and 11 extended family members
who successfully sued Crown prosecutor Matt Miazga, therapist
Carol Bunko-Ruys and Saskatoon police Supt. Brian Dueck for malicious
prosecution, following false allegations of sexual abuse made
by three children.
McKillop, who represents Miazga
and Bunko-Ruys, said in a news conference last week that he would
be asking for clarification on how to proceed with an appeal.
A judge will hear that application on Jan. 28.
During a conference call on
Monday, Justice George Baynton called a meeting in open court
to decide the situation. Klassen, Borden, McKillop and Dueck's
lawyer David Gerrand are to appear in Court of Queen's Bench
on Jan. 21.
Klassen says McKillop is breaking
a promise he made last March. In an order dated March 28, 2003,
all the lawyers involved in the lawsuit agreed to split the proceedings
up, with the damages portion of the trial following the main
portion.
The order, made by Madam Justice
Mona Dovell, states that if the defendants are found liable,
the standard appeal period of 30 days will be disregarded, pending
a decision on damages and costs.
Klassen says that means the
damages have to be decided before McKillop or Gerrand can launch
an appeal. Gerrand has not indicated any plans to appeal.
"I just think it's an
unethical move for a lawyer, an officer of the court to make
a promise to a Queen's Bench judge and then go behind her back
outside of court and announce that they're not going to abide
by that order," said Klassen.
"They're going to try
to sidestep this, sidestep the order and go to a higher court.
That's not ethical," he said.
Klassen said McKillop is simply
trying to avoid further bad publicity.
"They're trying to stop
the public from hearing the damages that were done to my family,"
said Klassen.
Klassen has represented himself
over the years, despite having no legal training.
McKillop said on Thursday that
the measure was simply one of procedure.
"That decision as to which
order to take the remaining steps is a decision for the Court
of Appeal," he told reporters.
"That's a large part of
why we'll be putting that before a judge of that court on the
28th, is to get certainty on the timing of the next step."
Don Morgan, the Saskatchewan
Party's justice critic, says the Klassen family has suffered
enough, and should receive some sort of compensation from the
province without delay.
"It's just going on and
on," he said in an interview Monday.
"It just almost seems
as though they are persecuting them."
On Thursday, McKillop said
his clients were simply availing themselves of the option to
appeal.
"It's not the wish or
intention of my clients in taking the steps in bringing the appeal
to cause further grief or trauma or stress to any of the plaintiffs,"
McKillop said.
McKillop has declined further
media interviews on the Klassen case, saying he prefers not to
try the matter in the media.
Klassen plans to file the complaint
today.
© Copyright 2004 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Law Professor disagrees
with government appeal
Fri, Jan 9, 2004 CTV
A law professor at the University
of Saskatchewan says there was no legal reason stopping the provincial
government from apologizing to the wrongfully accused in the
Klassen and Kvello lawsuit. Doug Schmeiser doesn't buy the government's
argument that it's not appropriate to apologize to people who
have had their cases stayed in the courts. He says the government
should have apologized years ago, and could still apologize now
without jeapordizing its appeal.
Doug Schmeiser/College of Law
- U of S: "Instead the government now says it won't apologize
and I don't know of any reason for that. It's almost tantamount
to saying the government did nothing wrong and yet it's clear
all the suffering was caused by agencies of government, public
authority."
Jennifer Jellicoe/Reporter:
"Could the government apologize and still appeal?"
Doug Schmeiser: "Of course
it could apologize at any time. It could apologize now and still
appeal, it could announce as I think they should they will pay
compensation no matter what the effect of the appeal."
A caller to
the Gormley show said he had phoned Lorne Calvert's Saskatoon
office (651-1211) and left a message for a return call regarding
Calvert's position. He urged others to do the same. By mid afternoon,
a press conference had been called in Regina for Thursday at
2 p.m. where Justice Minister Frank Quennell is expected to address
the judgment.
John Gormley
noted the power of Talk Radio. We agree.
Jan 9. 2004:
This morning
Gormley did a "reality check" where he rapid-fired
the question at as many listeners as he could accommodate: Should the Premier
get involved in the Klassen/Kvello lawsuit settlement? 100% said YES.
CTV poll January 9: Do you
agree or disagree with the Government's decision to appeal the
judgement in the Klassen and Kvello lawsuit? Result: Disagree: 89% | Agree:
11%
Justice too long delayed
in fake abuse case
George Clark, For the London
Free Press, January 10, 2004
It's not the usual place to
find oneself struck by the idea for a column.
But I did find myself at one
point this week, horizontal on a dentist's chair, chatting while
we waited for the freezing to take effect.
My dentist remarked that there
is real danger in society when we no longer have faith in our
institutions.
We had been talking about the
Klassen case in Saskatchewan, where Richard Klassen had fought
for years to clear his name and that of his family and friends.
The nightmare for the Klassen
family and friends began in 1987, when three pre-pubescent foster
children accused them of various sexual assaults and other crimes.
The accusations began when
the three children were split up, with the boy removed from the
twin girls because he needed constant supervision to prevent
him from sexually assaulting the twins. It was then he reported
he had been sexually assaulted by his foster parents.
When a child therapist successfully
argued the three children should be re-united, the twin girls
began to agree with the boy's allegations, and even embellished
them.
Saskatoon police called it
the "scandal of the century." Sixteen people faced
nearly 200 charges.
The cases against 12 of them
were stayed in 1991. The convictions of three others was overturned
on appeal. One person made a plea-bargained guilty plea on three
charges.
But Richard Klassen and 11
others wanted an apology -- they wanted to clear their names.
But no apology was forthcoming.
They decided to sue for malicious
prosecution.
Klassen represented himself
in court without a lawyer. He didn't make it public that, during
the case, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He didn't take
any time off for treatment because his absence might endanger
his case in court.
Late last week, Justice George
Baynton brought down his decision. He said the real scandal of
the century was the "travesty of justice" carried out
against the 12.
The malicious prosecution case
showed that at no time were the children ever told to tell the
truth. Instead, they were given treats when they disclosed further
horrible stories and charges.
The three children eventually
admitted to making up the stories --tales that they were victims
of sexual assault and perversion, that they had been forced to
eat eyeballs and drink blood, that they had been forced to watch
neighbors skin and barbeque a baby.
Despite this, the Crown attorney's
office in Saskatoon didn't back down, continuing to defend itself
against the charge of malicious prosecution.
Richard Klassen still wanted
his apology. He didn't get it.
Another of those originally
accused died during the case. His wife said she promised him
on his deathbed she would clear his name.
She has.
It was the British jurist,
William Blackstone, who said "it is better that 10 guilty
persons escape than one innocent suffer."
How about a dozen innocent
people?
Justice Baynton, ruling last
week in the malicious prosecution case, couldn't understand how
the Crown had proceeded "in such an extraordinary case in
the absence of reasonable and probable cause."
He said the real travesty was
that the original prosecution branded the 12 family members and
friends as pedophiles, even though each was innocent of the horrendous
allegations brought against them.
Baynton ruled that the lead
Crown prosecutor, the police officer who led the investigation,
and a child therapist involved in the original investigation,
were all guilty of malicious prosecution.
This week, the Saskatchewan
government said it would appeal Baynton's ruling.
Following Baynton's judgment
in their favour, Richard Klassen had said he was relieved, and
had a whole new faith in Saskatchewan's criminal justice system.
You're a better man than me, Richard.
I worry when I hear of cases
such as yours, and wonder about those who weren't willing to
carry on a legal fight for years to clear their names.
And I worry about my dentist's
observation, that society is endangered when we lose faith in
our institutions.
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell