|
Dec. 2004: Quennell
| Sabo | McKillop
| Government appeal | Dueck walks |
Sermonette:
January, 2005
Telling the truth about
the undefamable: restoring reputations to the defamed
As co-founder with Richard
Klassen of this website, which succeeded in getting to the light
of day this case which was wrapped in so many layers of court
seals and publication bans guarded by cops with the power to
arrest and hold us (which they freely used) and a Justice Department
aggressively discrediting us to anyone who which would listen,
I greeted with particular joy the part of Judge Baynton's decision
where he dismisses the counterclaim of defamation by Miazga and
Hansen against Richard Klassen.
As the Saskatchewan government
has responded to the judge's findings by taking it to the Court
of Appeal (it will be heard in chambers by Mr. Justice Calvin
Tallis on Thursday) I have viewed this move as groundless and
heartless.
Yes, anybody has a right to
appeal to a higher court. Ya, Ya. And I have the right to maintain
the earth is flat. If I exercised that right, I would subject
myself to ridicule. And that is what the Saskatchewan government
has done.
They had the right to do it
and they have done it and it is ridiculous. Today, Saskatchewan
Justice critic Don Morgan held a press conference to announce
he had assured Richard Klassen he will keep up the pressure to
push the government to settle. He is a justice critic and a lawyer
so it is not surprising that he said with a straight face that
the government had the right to appeal and even that perhaps
the law needed clarification.
Clarification? How clear does
it have to get? Judge Baynton's decision is clear, lucid, and
appeal-proof. It relies on current authorities which have been
decided by the Supreme Court. This clarity was hailed across
the country in editorial comment, on talk shows and by AIDWYC
lawyer, James Lockyer who has waded through a lot of muddy water
to clear an impressive list of wrongfully convicted persons.
Richard Klassen presented the
court with evidence he could work with. Judge Baynton went ahead
and worked with it. I began to read it and couldn't put it down;
it was like a new Fay Weldon novel. John Gormley read it. Many
people read it and immediately sent e-mails singing its praises.
 It took 15 days for the government to respond.
Their response, from the lawyer and then the minister, was pretty
much gobbledy-gook. Suddenly the discussion took on a severe
case of McKillopitis. Obfuscation. Shucks, maybe the emperor
is wearing clothes after all.
Not a chance. They wear nothing
but the sheer fabric of malice.
I rest my case for this assertion
on the fact they are still pursuing their defamation counter-claim.
I guess the poor dears don't want to called crooked. Hurts their
feelings. Well, my pretties, if you bend the law, you get called
crooked. And you all live together in your little crooked house.
Re: A judicial
inquiry into the foster parent trials
I, Sheila
Steele, demand that a full inquiry be held at once into the malicious
prosecution of the above matter.
I, Sheila
Steele demand that Crown Prosecutor Matt Miazga be arrested for
covering up the rape and sodomy of an eight year old girl, in
order to keep his manufactured case together.
I have here
substituted my own name for Richard Allen Klassen, who posted
the poster shown below, which was carefully removed from a post
by the sherriff and dusted for prints in September 1993.
And, I will
add to that call for a public inquiry (which I was also pasting
up posters "calling for," not "demanding,"
a call for a full investigation into the office of the Minister
of Justice to determine how it is possible that so many ministers
could have gone so terribly wrong.
 And I invite them to charge me with
defamation. It is much too cold to be posting handbills on lamp
posts. Statements posted on the internet are subject to the same
legal sanctions, if they are shown to be unfair comment, or defamatory
in any way. Charge me and the dozens and hundreds who come after
me. And you will have a revolution on your hands.
I guess it
bites their bums that an ordinary person, previously unschooled
in the law, was able to articulate what others had been afraid
to say. And he got the message to a judge who crafted it into
a judgment.
I reprint the
part of the judgment dismissing the defamation counter-claim:
. . .Matthew
Miazga and Sonja Hansen, two of the defendants in the main action,
are the plaintiffs in the counterclaim against Richard Klassen.
Richard Klassen is one of the plaintiffs in the main action and
the sole defendant in the counterclaim. . . . The evidence in
the main action, by the agreement of the parties, was applied
to the counterclaim. Portions of the examination for discovery
of Richard Klassen were read in as evidence. No oral testimony
was adduced by any of the parties because the whole of the evidence
adduced in the main action applies to the counterclaim.
Counsel for
Miazga and Hansen suggested at trial that the outcome of the
counterclaim would likely be governed by the outcome of the main
action. If the plaintiffs were successful in the main action,
the counterclaim should be dismissed and vice versa. But as there
has been mixed success in the main action, I must consider the
counterclaim on its merits.
Miazga and
Hansen, the two prosecutors, claim that Richard Klassen published
and distributed two posters and a letter that contained statements
of fact that defamed them. Richard Klassen resists the claim
on the basis that any statements contained in the posters and
the letter were true as established by the evidence in this trial and any expressions of opinion constitute fair
comment as defined by the law. He also contends that the first
poster was not authored or published by him but he admits that
one or two copies may have been inadvertently distributed by
him in conjunction with the distribution of other papers. The
words in the posters and letters relied upon by Miazga and Hansen
as defamatory are as follows:
(a) in a document
distributed widely including the postering in public places in
Saskatoon at various times since February 10, 1993:
"crooked
prosecutors Sonia Hanson (sic), a crooked prosecutor, used the
above manufactured evidence to advance her career.
Matt Miazga,
a crooked prosecutor, used the above manufactured evidence to
advance his career."
(b) in a document
over the signature "Richard Allen Klassen" distributed
widely including by postering in public places in Saskatoon at
various times since February 10, 1993 included the following
entry:
"I, Richard
Allen Klassen, demand that Crown Prosecutor Matt Miazga be arrested
for covering up the rape and sodomy of an eight year old girl,
in order to keep his manufactured case together. I, Richard Allen
Klassen, demand that Crown Prosecutor Sonia Hanson (sic), be
arrested for covering up the rape and sodomy of an eight year
old girl, in order to keep her manufactured case together.
(c) in a letter
dated November 11, 1993 and distributed widely including by postering
in public places in Saskatoon at various times since February
10, 1993 included the entry: "Crown Prosecutor Matt Miazga
should be held criminally responsible for aiding and abetting
the criminal actions of the aforementioned people."
Some of the
terms used, and the context in which they are used, are capable
of different interpretations. Given a contextual yet literal
interpretation, the statements of fact are not actionable because
they have been proven to be true. In the circumstances of this
case, the remaining terms are not actionable because they are
expressions of opinion or desire and constitute fair comment.
The publication
and distribution by Richard Klassen of these kinds of materials
was foolish. In most circumstances they would be defamatory.
He unnecessarily risked incurring liability to the prosecutors
for damages. But in view of what he suffered at the hands of
the prosecutors and others involved in the criminal proceedings
wrongfully brought against him, his frustration is understandable.
Fortunately, he redirected it into the considerable effort he
has been required to expend in the preparation and presentation
of his civil case. It has provided him with a much more effective
and beneficial remedy than he could have ever achieved through
his posters or letters.
The counterclaim
of Matthew Miazga and Sonja Hansen is dismissed against Richard
Klassen. I direct that the default costs provisions in The Queen's
Bench Rules shall not apply to the dismissal of the counterclaim
against Richard Klassen. The issue of costs shall be deferred
until the issue of the quantum of damages is determined in the
main action (last
paragraphs of the decision)
Judge Baynton spoke of the
risks Richard Klassen took to get his case off the ground, suggesting
they were perhaps foolish. We hope we do not have to put ourselves
at risk once again, in the course of securing the judgment.
Judge Baynton also praised
Richard Klassen's actions in taking a higher road than postering
and instead expending his energy on preparing his case for the
civil trial.
The remedy which Judge Baynton
speaks of continues to elude us. After thirteen years, waiting
until September, the date which has been now been set to hear
the damages portion of the trial is tortuous.
We will do what is necessary
to end the torture and we know we will not be doing it alone--Sheila
Steele, January 27, 2004
|
 Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd.
William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
Truth suppress'd, whether
by courts or crooks, will find an avenue to be told. Sheila Steele, injusticebusters.com
If you hold the mouth
of Truth, It will burst out its rib-cage. Somali proverb
Truth crushed to earth
will rise again. --William Cullen Bryant
- Who we
are:
Publisher Sheila
Steele
- Co-founder: Richard Klassen
New:
injusticebustersblog. Participate!
Our activism
contributed greatly to the good vibes which happened around the
civil trial.
Index
to the stories on this website
This is not
regularly updated so if you are looking for a particular story
and you have a name or keyword, please use the site search engine(at
the bottom of the page) which IS regularly updated
Index to Saskatoon Police stories
This is a pretty good scrapbook
for the 1998-2002 period.
- More Sermonettes
2001
January: Legal Treachery to keep Dueck's lies safe
2002
March, 2002 -- Gay Bashing still a legal sport in Saskatoon
-- Even when it turns to murder
-
- 2003
-
- Feb. 1:
Where we stand
- Feb. 15, 2003:
Has Saskatchewan learned anything?
- March 1:
Connecting the dots
- March 23, 2003:
From Micro to Macro
- March 25, 2003:
About libel
and malice
- March 27: Gangs
of Saskatoon: the police and prison guards
- April 28, 2003: The
Naked Truth
- May 5: How
low will they go?
- May 15, 2003: Come
clean Calvert, Cline!
- May 30:
Still smearing Milgaard - defamation is alive and well on the
lawn of the Regina legislature and Precendent has been set as
we reclaim our institutions
- June 11, 2003:
--Eric Cline carries on a corrupt tradition
- Nov 7:
Courage -- the only reward is justice
- November 20: Just following orders
- November 24:
Mayor Atchison, community policing and graffiti
- November 25:
Michael Jackson
- November 30: Corrupt officials must be severely punished:
otherwise they just keep on putting the administration of justice
in disrepute!
- December 1: Christmas comes early for injustice
warriors
- December 4: Wide open Saskatchewan?
- December 16: Crawling through the tunnel of justice
since 1991
- December 24: The Crown keeps right on breaking
the law
- December 30: Who will find justice under their tree?
-
- 2004
-
- January 1. 2004: Unprecedented publicity and Happy New
Year
- January 8, 2004: Malice still afoot
- January
10, 2004: Shame
and mugshots
- January
14, 2004:
Telling more truth about the undefamable: McKillop and Quennell,
the static duo
- January
17, 2004: Fifth Estate
returns and A working class hero is something to be
- January
22,23,
2004: Justice is still prevailing -- it is just taking longer
and Bits and pieces are
now coming together to tell the story of the century
- January
27, 2004: Telling the
truth about the undefamable, restoring reputations to the defamed.
- February
5, 2004: Negotiations
and strategies: getting an intransigent government to remedy
its damage
- February
10, 2004: How many
lawyers does it take to ruin a province? and Lawyer continues to treat people's
lives as a cruel game: monopoly?
- Febrary
16, 2004: Calvert
is not King Arthur
- March 29,
2004:
Counting down to the damages trial
- April
16, 2004:
The internet, the courts and now the movies -- We will so what
it takes to get justice
- May 1,
2004:
If Frank
Quennell is any example of what former Justice Minister Chris
Axworthy called "evolving," Saskatchewan is ready to
kiss justice good-bye!
- May 27,
2004: Some observations
on Saskatchewan and justice
- June 7,
2004:Media coverage of Monique
Turenne's story illustrates journalistic laziness
- June 8:,
2004
-- The police not only failed to serve and protect Don and Lorna
Smith and their children but set them up for false charges and
community shunning
- September
2, 2004:
A tale of three cops: Dueck, Gobeil and Schinkel -- with an update
on how they get away with criminal obstruction of justice
- November,
2004:
Wilfred Hathway, Atif Rafay and Sebastian Burns -- RCMP stings
offensive to community standards
- November
11, 2004:
Rogue Platoon? Identifying
the rotten apples in Saskatoon Police Service and why we need
a full public inquiry into our whole justice system
- November
28, 2004:
Can Justice Minister Quennell
take a few more steps? The Prosecutors' office is still harbouring
crowns who put the administrative of justice in disrepute
- November
12, 2004: Saskatchewan
Justice in chaos: The Stonechild report suggests it is.
- November
28, 2004: The
price for being a good judge or a good prosecutor
- December
30:
When the government interferes
with the judiciary, we know a Police State is a dangerous possibility
(The government appeal of the Klassen/Kvello decision)
-
- 2005
-
- Jan 1, 2005: Chewed up digested and spit out
- Jan.
5, 2005:
More on chief Sabo
- February
18, 2005:
Tunnel vision: Darren Koehn, Wilf Hathway and Leon Walchuk
- March 2: Fixing the system: Time to quit talking and
implement previous commission recommendations
- March 19, 2005 : Injustice as ShowBiz
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