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sermonette: we were wrong to predict the death of Quennell's
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of the government to intervene for itself
We applaud
the steps towards getting secret deals into the open. Oh, oh.
I clapped too soon.
Gov't seeks intervenor
status in appeal of malicious prosecution ruling
James Wood, The StarPhoenix,
December 15, 2004
REGINA -- The government has
good reason to get further involved in the appeal of a landmark
malicious prosecution case relating to false allegations of child
sexual abuse, Justice Minister and Attorney General Frank Quennell
said Tuesday.
The province has applied to
the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal for intervenor status in an
appeal launched by Crown prosecutor Matthew Miazga and therapist
Carol Bunko-Ruys. They are appealing a Court of Queen's Bench
decision that found they and Saskatoon police officer Brian Dueck
had maliciously prosecuted Richard Klassen and 11 other defendants.
Quennell said the government
needs to make sure certain points of law are addressed.
"I believe that the original
judgment effectively changed the law on what is malicious prosecution
that would adversely affect the investigation and prosecution
of cases in the future," said Quennell outside of a meeting
of the provincial cabinet Tuesday.
"I'm concerned that teachers,
nurses, people in the position of Carol Bunko-Ruys, will be less
willing to report sexual abuse of children, that police officers
and prosecutors would be unfortunately perhaps, maybe inappropriately
perhaps, less willing to do their jobs to the full extent that
is appropriate."
The province agreed to pay
$1.5 million to the 12 plaintiffs as a settlement in June.
Robert Borden, the lawyer who
represented most of the plaintiffs who were charged in 1991 with
multiple counts of child abuse, said that in numerous meetings
with the government, no one ever indicated that it planned to
seek intervenor status in the case.
"How does this impact
our clients? Our clients will have to address now issues that
are raised by the government, issues that might not be related
to those raised by Miazga and Bunko-Ruys. This will be more costly
and we will have to of course prepare other briefs of law to
address the government issues," he said from Saskatoon.
Borden said he would have to
consult with all of his clients before he can say whether he
will fight the government's application for status. The appeal
is expected to be heard in April.
The government is already paying
the legal fees for Miazga and Bunko-Ruys to pursue the appeal.
Saskatchewan Party Justice
critic Don Morgan said it's not unreasonable for the government
to get involved to try and clarify important issues around the
role of police and prosecutors.
But the government needs to
make sure its actions don't adversely affect the 12 plaintiffs.
In 1991, the plaintiffs were
accused of abusing three foster children with bizarre allegations
that included detailed accounts of satanic ritual abuse.
The children later recanted
their stories, and one of the children was found to be abusing
the other two.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Quennell releases Klassen
settlement details
The StarPhoenix, November 18, 2004
Saskatchewan's justice minister
has released details of a settlement paid to two of the 12 people
maliciously prosecuted on false child abuse allegations in the
early 1990s.
Richard and Kari Klassen received
a share of the $1.5 million total payment made from the provincial
government to the 12 falsely accused members of the Klassen and
Kvello families. Richard and Kari Klassen received a further
$100,000 each, and will get another $50,000 each if the government's
appeal of the malicious prosecution finding is rejected, Justice
Minister Frank Quennell said.
"I'm happy it's been released,"
Richard Klassen said.
"People will see we didn't
get rich. I was never in it for the money -- we just wanted to
clear our names."
Quennell can't discuss the
final amounts paid to the other 10 plaintiffs because of a confidentiality
agreement, he said. There is no such limit on the government
in the agreement signed with Kari and Richard Klassen, according
to the Justice Department.
Twelve members of the Klassen
and Kvello families were charged with abusing several foster
children in the early 1990s. Charges were stayed on the eve of
the trial, and soon after the group sued various justice officials
for their roles in the case.
The three children at the centre
of the allegations recanted publicly and again during the trial.
In a ruling late last year, Justice George Baynton found Saskatoon
police officer Brian Dueck, therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys and Crown
prosecutor Matthew Miazga acted with malice in their prosecution
of the case.
Settlement talks led to various
agreements and averted a damages trial this fall.
Lawyer Robert Borden, who represented
the other 10 plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said he's received a
letter from Quennell asking to have the settlement figures for
his 10 clients made public.
Borden said he hasn't had a
chance to speak to his clients, but expects a range of opinions.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
Quennell's crew guilty
of running up costs
Les MacPherson, The StarPhoenix,
Saturday, November 20, 2004
It's a bit much to see Justice
Minister Frank Quennell lamenting the legal fees paid by people
his department screwed over.
Had Saskatchewan Justice not
wrongfully prosecuted Ron and Linda Sterling, among others, in
the first place, not a cent would have been paid in legal fees,
in out-of-court settlements or anything else. Responsibility
for running up these costs rests entirely with Saskatchewan Justice.
And the costs have been horrendous.
Settlements of malicious prosecution suits have cost Saskatchewan
taxpayers more than $4 million so far. I say "so far"
because several other related suits remain unresolved. Others
were settled for undisclosed amounts. When all the bills are
in, the total will likely approach or even exceed $5 million.
This staggering amount is a
measure of the damage inflicted by Saskatchewan Justice on these
innocent individuals. But the minister responsible, instead of
looking to his own dysfunctional department, takes a cheap shot
at the plaintiff's lawyers. He should be minister of self-righteousness
instead of justice. Of course, Quennell didn't mention how much
his department has spent defending the indefensible. With so
many wrongful prosecution suits dragging on for so long, it would
not be a small amount. Meanwhile, government lawyers who should
have been prosecuting bad guys were instead tied up for years
fighting loser lawsuits.
The Sterlings, for example,
filed their malicious prosecution suit more than 10 years ago.
For the province to have settled back then would have cost taxpayers
a lot less. It also would have been the right thing to do. The
Sterlings, among others, had their lives ruined by Saskatchewan
Justice. They were prosecuted for the most heinous of crimes
in spite of there being no credible evidence against them. That's
pretty much a textbook definition of malicious prosecution.
Instead of admitting a grievous
mistake and settling with the Sterlings way back then, the province
tried to grind them down. This is the strategy of a bully, not
a Justice Department.
Meanwhile, the legal fees that
Quennell now purports to condemn, piled up. For more than 10
years the lawyers' meters were kept running, thanks entirely
to the government's pig-headedness. It was only on the courthouse
steps that a settlement was finally reached, and only then because
a trial would have shined a spotlight into the dark, dirty corners
of Saskatchewan Justice. Quennell still refuses to admit any
government liability in the Sterling case. His position is that
no one in the Justice Department did anything wrong. But if that
were true, why are we paying the Sterlings $925,000? That seems
a tad high for having done nothing wrong. We can only wonder
how much it would have cost us had the Justice Department actually
messed up.
As it is, Quennell's excuses
do not stand up even to superficial scrutiny. The case was complicated,
he said. We know more now about how to interview child witnesses,
he explained.
Nonsense. Evidence presented
during the Sterlings' criminal trial back in 1992 established
that, even by the standards of the day, the interviews with child
witnesses were totally botched. It's on the record. It's been
on the record for 12 years. For Quennell to now suggest otherwise
does not reflect well on his credibility.
As for the case being complicated,
it may have been in some respects. But that's beside the point.
What isn't the least bit complicated is the requirement for actual
evidence. Of that, there was none. The case against the Sterlings,
and too many others like them, consisted entirely of unbelievable
allegations extracted by incompetent investigators from impressionable
young witnesses. The Justice Department is where it should have
stopped.
What's alarming is that our
justice minister doesn't seem to get it. That's why he makes
an issue of the Sterlings' legal fees. It's a convenient distraction
from a Justice Department that fights for injustice to the bitter
end.
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2004
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
