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Ptevious on Michel
Dumont |
Michel Dumont
News Release
Victim of substantial
miscarriage of justice demands justice from Minister
Yvon Marcoux
To draw attention to 4 years
of inaction from the Ministry of Justice, Michel Dumont unveils a billboard in
front of the National Assembly aimed at Minister of Injustice (sic) Yvon Marcoux.
Montreal, April 26, 2005
Wrongfully sentenced for a rape he never committed and for which he served almost three
years in prison, Michel Dumont
is castigating the Quebec Ministry of Justice for its sloppiness
and inaction. The electrician
and father of five who had never had any tangles with the law, unveiled today a billboard
in front of Quebec's National
Assembly to denounce the fact that the last three Justice
Ministers in the Charest government
(in two years) have undermined the proper
workings of the Department, which has been painfully slow in
righting a wrong that has been
publicly acknowledged.
Michel Dumont, 45, an electrician
by trade working in the hospital sector,
woke up one day in a real-life version of The Fugitive as the
victim of a horrifying miscarriage
of justice. The resident of La Plaine unjustly spent 1,190 days in prison a stay
that ruined him financially and
left him, his wife and their five children scarred for life.
This decent family man
always proclaimed his innocence.
BACKGROUND
A long court saga ended in
February 2001 when the Quebec Court of Appeal cleared Dumont of the charges of kidnapping,
forcible confinement and armed
sexual assault for which he had been wrongfully sentenced in
June 1991. By then he had
served 34 months of his 52-month sentence in a penitentiary where he was brutally beaten by
other inmates because he was
falsely tagged as a rapist. Yet less than six months after his
sentencing, the rape victim signed
an affidavit clearing Dumont.
The Crown Prosecutor, however, chose to conceal that
information from the defence
and judge. Now four years after having been cleared, Dumont
wants compensation from the Charest
government. "I'm fed up with the indifference of Justice Department officials,"
said Dumont. "On numerous occasions
I've proclaimed my desire to reach an out-of-court
settlement, but it seems like
this message isn't getting through to the Minister of Justice. That has me wondering. Isn't
this problem clearly related
to the game of musical chairs the Charest government has played
with this ministry?"
Dumont had a solid alibi: he
was at home with friends at the time of the crime. Moreover, no fingerprints and no DNA tests
were taken at the scene
of the crime, which Boisbriand police investigators didn't even
bother going over even though
the bedspread, according to the police report, had sperm stains. Dumont was sentenced
to 52 months in prison.
He almost immediately appealed
the decision, but the application was denied even though unknown to him in the meantime
the victim had signed an
affidavit completely clearing Dumont.
Finally, after 34 months in
prison and numerous public statements by the victim to the media, Dumont was finally cleared
and released. Today, psychologically
in tatters and on the brink of bankruptcy, he and his
new spouse, Solange Tremblay,
feel that financial compensation is required
to right the wrongs suffered all those years. "The time
I spent n prison for sexual
assault was no picnic. I had to put with horrible beatings during my stay behind bars.
It was not at all like the star treatment
given to Montreal impressario Guy Cloutier. My children were
placed in a foster home by the
Youth Protection authorities (DPJ) and horribly assaulted. They now need good therapy
to lead normal lives." It
was only when the victim proclaimed her doubts about Dumont's
guilt that the case was
referred to the Quebec Court of Appeal by then federal
Justice Minister Ann McLellan.
The Court then unanimously cleared Dumont.
In his claim against the Quebec
government, Dumont argues that the police
botched the investigation and ignored facts pointing to his
innocence. Now trapped in an endless
judicial maze, this honest man is forced
to sue the government, with which he would gladly negotiate a
settlement. Dumont is asking $5.8
million for himself and $2.9 million for
his spouse and children. Despite the support of his MNA, Luc
Thériault of the Parti
Québécois who is actively involved in the case,
Dumont has been unable to obtain
a meeting with successive Justice Ministers
Marc Bellemare, Jacques Dupuis and Yvon Marcoux. The numerous
letters and requests that he sent
them, and which are published on his new
website launched today www.injusticequebec.ca
, went unanswered.
That's why Dumont is today
unveiling a billboard aimed at Minister of Injustice (sic) Yvon Marcoux in front of the
National Assembly.
After circulating an Internet
petition that now has tens of thousands of signatures, Dumont now wonders what he has to
do to get a response from
Marcoux. "I was unjustly
sentenced. I want compensation and the Ministry of Justice to set up a program for
the victims of miscarriages of justice
in Quebec such as they have in other provinces across the
country."
Last May QFL president Henri
Massé held a news conference with Dumont, an affiliated QFL member. Massé
pointed out that all the efforts made to date with the Ministry of Justice had produced
no results, not even a reasonable
explanation to Dumont for the denial of justice. "As humans,
we have no right to treat Dumont
with such disregard, especially since he was cleared of all charges in 2001,"
said Massé. "The government has to repair the serious prejudice he and his family
suffered during this long
ordeal. We hope that by making this a public issue, the new Justice
Minister will be smart enough
to drop the purely legalistic attitude the government has taken in this matter, and finally
agree to sit down with Mr.
Dumont and negotiate."
The public is asked to call
on Justice Minister Yvon Marcoux to set right this substantial miscarriage of justice.
Thousands of people have already
signed a petition calling for that which was tabled in the
National Assembly yet completely
ignored by the Ministry of Justice.
Dumont is now using his new
website (www.injusticequebec.ca) to denounce the treatment he as well as other Quebec victims
of miscarriages of justice
have received and that this minister continues to ignore.
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Contact: Michel Dumont (cell.):
(514) 893-9601
Carlo Tarini, Impact Communication
(514)916-2436
Michel Dumont-Chronology
of events-Timeline
November 17,
1990 In Boisbriand the
plaintiff with the initials "D.L." is alleged to have
been threatened with death,
forcibly confined and held at
knifepoint against her will, and ultimately
sexually assaulted.
November 20,
1990 Three days later,
she goes to Boisbriand police. According to the police
report, the victim described her
assailant as having tattoos on his forearms
and not wearing glasses.
December 20,
1990 Michel Dumont, who
can't see without his glasses and has no tattoos, is arrested.
June 25, 1991
Michel Dumont is found guilty.
No DNA test was done, no fingerprints taken. The evidence is weak aside from the victim's statement. The testimony
of several witnesses that
he was with friends is rejected. He is imprisoned for four months
while awaiting sentencing
because presiding judge Céline Pelletier is suspended from her duties for drunk
driving.
January 6,
1992 Michel Dumont is sentenced
to 52 months in prison by Judge Céline Pelletier. He
appeals and is released from prison on January 27, 1992.
Spring 1992 The victim
D.L. says she has doubts. She says she saw Michel Dumont's
double in a video club.
She believes she made a mistake
about her assailant's identity. On June 23, 1992, she signs an affidavit that clears
Michel Dumont yet is never given
to the defence.
February 14, 1994 Michel
Dumont's appeal is denied.
July 15, 1994
Michel Dumont is again arrested.
He begins serving 34 months in prison.
September 28
and November 4, 1994 The
victim again tells two different investigators she made a mistake
and once again clears Michel Dumont.
March 3 and
31, 1995 Solange Tremblay,
Michel Dumont's new spouse, writes two letters to federal Justice Minister Allan Rock.
A case is opened under section 690 on
miscarriage of justice.
February 27,
1997 The victim D.L. confirms
her statements clearing Michel Dumont on Jean-Luc Mongrain's Television show on Télé-Québec.
She does the same on Radio-Canada's
Enjeux.
May 23, 1997
Michel Dumont is released.
Fall 1997
Michel Dumont explains his situation
to the media, including Le Journal de
Montréal and La Presse, which
take an interest in his case.
February 10,
1998 Appointed by the Department
of Justice Canada, attorney Isabel Schurman, hears the victim's testimony that clears Michel
Dumont.
October 4,
2000 Justice
Minister Anne McLellan refers the case to the Quebec Court of
Appeal. The Court of Appeal hears
the case on February 13, 2001.
February 22,
2001 Michel Dumont is unanimously
cleared of all charges by the three Court of Appeal justices. His criminal record will
be wiped out. He was the victim of a miscarriage
of justice.
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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
