|
Hathway letter from remand | injusticebusters
original coverage of Hathway | |
Robert Stewart: has a publication
ban helped keep this man in Collins Bay, Kingston for 9 years
after an unfair trial? | Original
coverage of Crawford murder |
Wilf Hathway
<
<Previous
Accused murderer Hathway
asks for new Crown prosecutor
Darren Bernhardt, The
StarPhoenix, Saturday, March 11, 2006
Scathing criticism of Saskatoon
police and prosecutors punctuated arguments made Friday by an
accused murderer trying to get the Crown prosecutor removed from
his case.
Wilfred Hathway, 46, who is
charged with firstdegree murder in the 1998 stabbing death of
his landlord, read out what he called a "list of liars"
as he attempted to outline what he feels is a wrongful imprisonment.
He has been held in custody for 22 months pending a resolution
of his case.
He called prosecutor Brent
Klause a contaminator of potential jury pools for talking about
the case in social circles, accused him of "manufacturing
evidence" to reach a conviction and labelled him as mean-spirited
for making demeaning comments.
"I am seeking relief from
a particular individual who is adversarial to me," Hathway,
46, told Justice Allisen Rothery at Court of Queen's Bench. "I
do not want to be arguing the case with him in the room or for
him to have any jurisdiction over the proceedings."
Relations between Hathway and
Klause have been tense since the first day of the preliminary
hearing, which stretched from July to December. On that opening
day, Klause accused Hathway of glaring at him and mouthing the
words "f-- prick."
The judge in that hearing routinely
called for decorum as Hathway loudly objected from the prisoner's
box and was confrontational with Klause and with police officers
serving as Crown witnesses.
Hathway was committed to trail,
which is expected sometime in the fall, though a date has not
been set.
On Friday, Hathway presented
a handful of motions to Rothery. In addition to his request for
Klause's leave, Hathway asked for a copy of the photographic
negatives taken by police investigators in 1998 of the crime
scene and 84-year-old victim, Denver Crawford.
Klause was not present in the
courtroom Friday. Instead, prosecutor Krista Zerr, who has been
working with him on the case, represented the Crown. She objected
to the motions, suggesting the arguments be heard before a trial
judge during a formal hearing instead.
Zerr also expressed concern
about Hathway unnecessarily presenting evidence of the case during
his submissions, but Rothery allowed Hathway full range.
He accused police of tampering
with evidence and demanded photo negatives in order to prove
it.
"I need an explanation
in order to make full defence and answer in my case, which is
my right," Hathway said.
He also referred to a witness
who he said had information that could vindicate him but was
ignored by police. Hathway quoted from police reports which he
believes demonstrate Klause's interference in efforts being made
by the defence.
Details of the accusations
cannot be published as a publication ban was imposed on case
evidence. "They've been caught in lies upon lies, all of
which I can prove," said Hathway. "Mr. Klause has recreated
the Milgaard story right under your nose and it brings the administration
of justice to an all-time low in a city which cannot afford such
disrepute." A lengthy inquiry is underway into how the 1969
murder of a Saskatoon nursing assistant led to Canada's longest
imprisonment of a wrongfully convicted man. David Milgaard served
23 years in prison before he was ultimately cleared by DNA. Rothery
reserved her decision on granting the motions or whether a trial
judge should make that determination in a formal hearing.
dbernhardt@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2006
Crown warns Hathway to
hire a real lawyer
Murder suspect told helpers risk hot water with law society
Darren Bernhardt, The
StarPhoenix. Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A man being held in custody
pending his firstdegree murder trial has been warned by a senior
Crown prosecutor to refrain from using a pair of local injustice
crusaders to act on his behalf.
Wilfred Hathway, 46, who is
charged in the 1998 stabbing death of his 84-year-old landlord,
has been aided in his defence by Richard Klassen and Angela Geworsky,
who helped launch a website to bring attention to alleged miscarriages
of justice.
In a recent letter to Hathway,
prosecutor Brent Klause threatened to report Klassen and Geworsky
to the Law Society of Saskatchewan for unauthorized practice
of law. The letter accompanied a notice of motion signed on Hathway's
behalf by Klassen.
Klause returned the notice
with the explanation that he refuses to respond to any materials
"prepared by anyone other than yourself or a member of the
law society. I strongly suggest you retain and instruct a lawyer
to assist you in this matter," the letter says.
Klause is on vacation and was
unable for comment. The letter was also forwarded to the attention
of Allan Snell, co-director of the Law Society of Saskatchewan.
Robert Borden, who was Hathway's
most recent lawyer, withdrew from the case in January but maintained
there is a strong case for the defence. Geworsky accused Klause
of trying to derail Hathway's attempts to defend himself.
"It's against the law
to help people? That's ridiculous," she said in an interview
Tuesday. "Wilf is not the only person we're helping. We
research and go over things with the accused so they understand
what is happening.
"That's not against the
law. If they (Crown prosecutor's office) want to charge us for
that, go ahead."
"We're not going to quit,"
added Klassen. "If I have to go to the Supreme Court, I
will."
According to Snell, the penalties
for unauthorized practice of law range from fines up to $2,000
(first offence) or $5,000 (subsequent offences) or a possible
contempt of court charge and jail time.
Klassen has experience in the
courtroom. In 2003, a Queen's Bench judge ruled in favour of
Klassen, who represented himself in a malicious prosecution case
against a police officer, a prosecutor and a therapist.
He and Geworksy have faced
a number of obstacles in the Hathway case. At one point, at Klause's
behest, a provincial court judge placed strict trust conditions
on the Crown's disclosure. That prohibited anyone other than
a licensed investigator or lawyer to see the material.
Klassen and Geworsky appealed
but a Queen's Bench judge ruled members of the public are not
entitled to have access to material the Crown discloses, and
there would be no exception for Klassen and Geworsky.
In his letter to Hathway, Klause
refers to the Criminal Code, which "does not permit you
to designate anyone other than a lawyer to file documents on
your behalf."
He continues, "I cannot
ethically correspond with anyone on your file unless it is you
personally or a member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan who
is being instructed on your behalf. In my opinion, Ms. Geworsky
or Mr. Klassen do not fall into that category."
Geworsky said she believes
Klause's hard stance is "a personal issue." He and
Klassen argued throughout Hathway's lengthy preliminary hearing,
which ended in early December with a committal to trial. None
of the evidence from the preliminary hearing can be reported
due to a publication ban.
Klassen and Klause routinely
traded barbs in court during breaks in the proceedings. One time,
Klassen asked Klause to go outside and talk in the alley while
he has a cigarette. Klause took it as an invitation to a fight
and informed the judge upon her return that a threat was made
against him and that Klassen should be removed from the courtroom.
Hathway has been in custody
for nearly two years. His frustration boiled over many times
in court during the preliminary hearing. He shouted at Klause
on occasion and once stood up in the prisoner's box prepared
to fight. He also called a police witness a liar.
dbernhardt@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2006
Police open to new evidence
in Hathway case as trial nears
Darren Bernhardt, The
StarPhoenix, Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Saskatoon police say they are
willing to examine new evidence in the 1998 stabbing death of
Denver Crawford as a trial date looms for Wilfred Hathway, who
has spent 22 months in jail accused of the crime.
But police are tight-lipped
on whether there is something new to investigate.
Hathway was ordered in December
to stand trial on a charge of first-degree murder following his
preliminary hearing.
Meanwhile, police recently
received information on the 2000 stabbing death of Jaime Wheeler,
which happened in the same neighbourhood as Crawford's death.
Angela Geworsky and Richard
Klassen, who are assisting Hathway's defence, hoped a link between
the two crimes might exist to exonerate Hathway. A police investigator
was recently assigned to look into the relevance of the new information.
At that time, Staff Sgt. Kelly
Cook of the Saskatoon police major crime unit said the information
related to Wheeler and would not affect Hathway's trial.
The two killings happened a
block apart in the Broadway area -- Wheeler's at 521 10th St.
East and Crawford's at 323 Ninth St. East. Between 1998 and 2000
there were a number of similar attacks in the city, including
two others within blocks of Wheeler's home.
Although no one was arrested
in most of those cases, Dominic McCullock, 23, was convicted
in 2004 of second-degree murder in Wheeler's death. He was sentenced
to life in prison with no eligibility of parole for 15 years.
Cook said this week the latest
information contained no new evidence "that would be relevant
and cause the Wheeler case to be reopened."
But he was no longer unequivocal
about any connection with the Crawford case. Cook said that matter
is before the courts and he could not comment on specifics.
"The Hathway court case
is still an open case and if there was any information related
to it, we would look into it," he added.
Crawford, 84, ran a Saskatoon
rooming house where Hathway lived at the time of the killing.
No one was immediately arrested. Hathway was living in B.C. when
he was arrested in May 2004.
In a telephone interview from
the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, Hathway, 46, said, "I'm
freakin' out in here. I'm in orange coveralls, facing the most
heinous Criminal Code charge in this country for something I
didn't do. If there's something that can help me out, they shouldn't
be playing games."
He has a pre-trial hearing
set for Feb. 17. Although Klassen and Geworsky are helping him,
Hathway has no lawyer. His previous lawyer, Robert Borden, withdrew
from the case in mid-January.
dbernhardt@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2006
Sermonette: Hathway Prelim.
has turned into a farce celebrating tunnel vision and malicious
intent
Yesterday, Prosecutor Brent
Klause made clear in court that it was more important for him
to "make amends with the RCMP" than to try Wilfred
Hathway fairly and to consider that the original shoddy investigation
into the death of 84 year old Denver Crawford may have ignored
important clues which would have led to the real killers.
The hearing yesterday began
with Judge Sheila Whelan addressing Hathway's lawyer, Robert
Borden regarding an interview he had given to Darren Bernhardt
and published in The StarPhoenix earlier this month. The phrase which Whelan suggested might be
in violation of the publication ban was "alleged confession."
The RCMP and B.C. Attorney-General
were in court in July to try to obtain a sweeping publication
ban over the details of this case. What they achieved was a ban
on the publication of any information which could reveal the
identities of undercover operatives in scenario stings which
have become a staple tool of the RCMP during the past decade:
so staple that they sometimes by-pass the tried and trued investigative
techniques of the past and go directly to a sting.
The RCMP also continue to spin
Rafay and Burns as cold-blooded killers and not the scared Canadian
kids they helped convict in Seattle by taking manufactured evidence
stateside. In that case, their names and questionable tactics
were publicly reported and a defence
committee to appeal their convictions is gathering steam.
We have no idea how many wrongful
convictions have arisen from these stings because the RCMP have
been able to talk the courts into banning the publication of
the resulting trials. Under freedom of information applications
CBC exposed the methods in the case of Clayton Mentuck who had
been stung in a series of scenarios, confessed to a murder he
did not commit and eventually was acquitted.
The RCMP seem eager to continue
with stinging suspects even when they have solid alibis and there
is evidence that clearly points to other suspects. They play
a kind of dance with the courts where responsibility for the
original investigation is placed on the local police service
which hired them -- and then paid them exhorbitant amounts of
money to carry out a sting.
Klause has made it his mission
to protect the RCMP's tactics (once again he referred to the
"photo" which was briefly posted on this website) and
to harrass and discredit the defence.
Funny thing. In the past we
have found the louder the Crown calls us kooks the closer we
are to the truth.
Court was adjourned until September
29 to give the defence an opportunity to go to Court of Queen's
Bench to get a ruling on the absurd disclosure restrictions Klause
wants placed on this case. Klause is claiming it is his boss,
Director of Public Prosecutions, Murray Brown who insists on
these restrictions.
We know that the local prosecutor
has autonomy and responsibility regarding disclosure matters.
He has, nonetheless, bought himself some more time. Time to contemplate
a career going down the drain and that every day he continues
to keep Hathway in jail is another day of malice.--Sheila
Steele, September 14
Missing documents slow preliminary
hearing
Darren Bernhardt, The
StarPhoenix, September 14, 2005
The preliminary hearing for
Wilfred Gordon Hathway, accused of first-degree murder in the
brutal stabbing of his Saskatoon landlord, continues to get bogged
down with arguments over missing documents.
On Tuesday, defence lawyer
Robert Borden told Judge Sheila Whelan that his copy of police
crime scene photographs -- as well as hers -- was missing a picture
referred to by an officer who testified last week.
Borden also said he just received
1,000 pages of photocopied officers' notes. Although he had transcribed
versions, Borden discovered earlier this month that some information
was missing.
Another officer, the lead investigator
in the case, spoke last week about comments by Hathway that Borden
said he had not seen.
The hearing, which began in
July and was expected to last a week, has been dragged over nearly
two months. Borden has requested time to recall the officer regarding
the photographs as well as other witnesses.
The hearing was adjourned to
Sept. 29. Borden said he likely needs a week to question other
witnesses, and available court time is at a premium.
Crown prosecutor Brent Klause
is also busy, which means Hathway could be waiting until January
to get his case back on track.
Hathway, 46, has been charged
in the 1998 stabbing death of his former landlord, Denver Bruce
Crawford, 84. Crawford operated a rooming house at 323 Ninth
St. East. His body was found by Hathway, who called the police.
Hathway was arrested in British
Columbia last year after city police re-opened the file.
Evidence in the preliminary
hearing has been banned from publication, although Hathway wants
it reported.
Klause has suggested information
may have been misplaced by Hathway's two previous lawyers (both
of whom were fired by Hathway).
The RCMP is angry with the
provincial Crown prosecutors' office because some of that information
eventually appeared on an Internet site.
"Disclosure has been massively
compromised and we are trying to make amends with the RCMP,"
Klause said.
As a result, he placed strict
trust conditions on the latest information, which means no one
other than a member of the Saskatchewan bar or a licensed private
investigator can see it.
Borden asked Whelan to have
the Crown drop the conditions because he needs help sorting though
it all and "not even my secretary can touch it now."
He has an assistant who can sift through the thousands of other
pages of disclosure but she cannot handle the new information
either. Hathway cannot have the materials unless Borden sits
with him the entire time.
Meanwhile, Klause has another
prosecutor as well as the police helping him, Borden noted.
"With all due respect,
it is not your jurisdiction to make a decision on trust conditions,"
Klause told Whelan, who acknowledged Borden would have to make
a charter application to the Court of Queen's Bench.
Whelan said such restrictions
in a preliminary hearing seem unnecessary, "but the law
is pretty clear about it."
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Judge tells participants
to 'ratchet down' tension
Darren Bernhardt, The
StarPhoenix, Friday, October 21, 2005
The threat of a hunger strike,
an outspoken man accused of murder and a blowup between the Crown
prosecutor and a defence team member have pushed a provincial
court judge to impose strict rules on decorum while she hears
the case.
"There has certainly been
a lot of tension and it has been building. Everyone realizes
there is a lot at stake here," Judge Sheila Whelan said
Thursday during the ongoing preliminary hearing into the fi rstdegree
murder charge against Wilfred Hathway.
"I've talked about decorum
before. It has been a problem before."
Hathway has been routinely
scolded for outbursts from the prisoner's box, once calling a
police witness a liar.
"We all have the ability
to set something off through the tone of a question or comments
directed at a witness. But we also have the power to ratchet
it down. Everyone plays a part in this," said Whelan. "I
have a number of rules at my disposal to ensure we have decorum
and proceed in an orderly fashion."
Extra security was added to
the courthouse Thursday and the Crown and defence were ordered
to remain at their respective tables while court is in session.
As well, Richard Klassen, a member of Hathway's defence team,
which is led by lawyer Robert Borden, will not be allowed into
the courtroom until Whelan is present.
"I am trying to avoid
what is apparently going on while I'm not in the room,"
Whelan said.
Hathway has told Klassen he
will go on a hunger strike and refuse to attend court if any
of his defence team is barred from the courtroom.
The rules of conduct are the
result of a confrontation between Klassen and Crown prosecutor
Brent Klause on Wednesday.
During questioning of a witness
by a prosecutor assisting Klause, Klause sat behind Klassen in
the gallery. According to Klassen, Klause whispered insulting
comments about Hathway.
During an adjournment, Klassen
asked Klause to go outside and talk in the alley. Klassen said
he steps out the back door of the Queen's Bench courthouse for
a cigarette during breaks.
"I wanted he and I to
come to an agreement and stop this behaviour," Klassen said.
Klause took it as an invitation
to a fight. When Whelan returned to the courthouse, Klause informed
her a threat was made against him and Klassen should be removed
from the courtroom.
Hathway then stood up, extended
his cuffed wrists and asked that he also be removed in that case.
He said Klassen, a civilian with much experience in court matters,
is an important part of the defence team.
Whelan agreed Klassen has been
a valuable help and refused to send him out. Klause suggested
he would put Klassen and witnesses to the alleged threat on the
stand. Threatening a member of the judicial system carries a
maximum 14-year prison sentence.
Whelan adjourned court early
Wednesday. Klause's proceedings against Klassen were to begin
Thursday, but the lawyers and Whelan met and agreed to set the
matter off to a later date to allow the preliminary hearing,
which began in July, to continue.
The evidence given during the
hearing, held to determine if there is enough evidence to go
to trial, is banned from publication.
As part of Whelan's new rules,
Klassen must sit in a location approved by the sheriff "to
observe at an optimum distance from Mr. Klause." He is also
prohibited from unnecessary interaction with anyone while court
is in session.
Klassen expressed displeasure
with the rules, saying they blackball him when he didn't do anything.
"I'm offended. I think
I'm being targeted," he told Whelan.
"Perhaps I'm being over-cautious,"
she said, but warned Klassen he could be "in an even more
awkward position if there were further proceedings against you."
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Update on Hathway
There was a quick session of
the Hathway Prelim on October 31. In keeping with the Halloween
theme, two prosecution witnesses disguised themselves as truthful
witnesses but they did not win any prizes.
The next sitting will be at
Queen's Bench courthouse Friday, Nov. 4 for a bail hearing and
important disclosure aplications. This is a change from the previously
posted date and has been arranged to accomodate the RCMP lawyer,
Jeffrey Hayes who wants to come and check to make sure that Klassen,
Geworsky and I don't get to learn of material in more dislosure
which is maybe yet to come? Prosecutor Krista Zerr has recently
been handling the Crown's file against Hathway.
Hayes should rest assured that
orders he obtained from his previous attendances have faithfully
been posted on every courtroom where these proceedings take place.
These warn the media that they must not report anything which
would reveal the identities of undercover operatives of the RCMP.
I have no intention of revealing
the identities of the particular thugs who were involved in the
Hathway sting; I have every intention of revealing all I can
about these scandalous operations and focusing enough attention
on this disgraceful activity by the RCMP, Ontario Provincial
Police and other police agencies so the public can be sufficiently
outraged to order them shut down once and for all!
Hayes should also understand
that he has no automatic right to intervene in the Hathway proceedings
in Saskatchewan Provincial court.
Man accused of murder
embarks on hunger strike
CBC News, December 8,
2004
When murder suspect Wilfred
Hathway walks into court Thursday afternoon, he'll do so weakened
by a week-long hunger strike.
Hathway is the Saskatoon man
who is charged in the 1998 stabbing death of his landlord. He
maintains his innocence and has asked Richard Klassen to look
into his case.
Klassen is well known for his
own successful battle with the justice system.
Hathway, who has been in custody
for more than a year, says he stopped eating after the court
wouldn't let Klassen see certain files.
A week later, Hathway says
his body is starting to deteriorate and his vision is failing.
He vows he won't eat, until his entire defence team has access
to all court documents.
A judge is expected to tell
Hathway at 2 p.m. if there's enough evidence for a trial on first-degree
murder.
(An interview with Hathway
was aired Dec. 8 A.m.)
|
Accused launches
hunger strike to protest evidence ruling
Janet French, The StarPhoenix,
December 01, 2005
An accused murderer says he
is going on a hunger strike because some of the people he enlisted
to defend him can't have access to the evidence against him.
Richard Klassen and Angela
Geworsky can't see boxes of documents, video and audio tapes,
and pictures police and Crown prosecutors have collected on Wilfred
Gordon Hathway, a judge ruled Wednesday.
"This has tied the hands
of me, the accused," Hathway said in a voice mail to The
StarPhoenix. "I'm not getting full answers of defence."
Hathway is charged with first-degree
murder in the death of 84-year-old Denver Bruce Crawford, a Saskatoon
rooming house landlord found stabbed to death May 13, 1998.
After police arrested Hathway
in British Columbia, he befriended Klassen and Geworsky, who
agreed to assist him with his case.
Hathway said his father has
paid the pair $11,000 to "reveal the truth."
But Wednesday, Queen's Bench
Justice Robert Laing ruled members of the public are not entitled
to have access to material the Crown discloses, and he wouldn't
make an exception for Klassen and Geworsky. He did tell Hathway's
defence lawyer Robert Borden he could apply to the court for
higher pay in order to hire some paralegals, or ask for an additional
lawyer to be appointed to the case.
"They've been told to
go to hell because the truth is something this case cannot withstand,"
Hathway said. "They cannot live with the truth."
The evidence the Crown collected
contains the names of undercover police offi - cers and video
of at least one officer. A publication ban prevents the identification
of any of these undercover officers.
Klassen said he won't accept
the judge's decision and will appeal immediately.
Hathway has maintained his
innocence since he was arrested. A preliminary hearing concluded
in provincial court Tuesday. None of the evidence can be reported
due to a publication ban.
"We pored through this
stuff for four months, and as we did, we came to realize there
were a lot of problems with the Crown's case and also that there's
another murderer out there," Klassen said in an interview
Wednesday. "Wilfred Hathway did not commit this murder.
We believe we know who and we've asked the police to investigate
that."
Klassen was a victim of a malicious
prosecution after police investigated him and 11 others in what
they thought was a case of sexual abuse against three foster
children. He said he'll stand by Hathway, regardless of whether
he has access to the evidence.
Borden said the volumes of
reports, statements and transcripts he alone must go through
to defend Hathway is overwhelming and he needs assistance.
"The prosecution has 35
prosecutors -- they can help to look at those documents,"
Borden said outside court. "They have a staff that can look
at the documents. They have the police service, consisting of
more than 300 officers (who) can assist them with those documents.
They have the staff of the police department that can assist
with those documents. At this point of time there is one sole
practitioner, and that is me, and I'm required at this time to
prepare the case on behalf of my client."
Borden plans to apply for a
raise from the court so he can hire some assistants to work on
the case.
Crown prosecutor Krista Zerr
said the rationale for keeping the files out of public hands
is to protect witnesses and police involved in the investigation.
Although a member of the public may promise not to reveal that
information, only lawyers would be subject to sanctions by the
Law Society of Saskatchewan if they let that information slip.
Although Hathway had also intended
to seek bail Wednesday, he withdrew the application because a
decision on whether he will be committed to stand trial is due
Dec. 8 in provincial court.
jfrench@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
|
Clicking on
any of the above pictures will take you to a place where you
can add comments. It is very easy to join Flickr (membership
is free).
If there is
anything that is not clear about this story, please ask us. We
will provide answers as fully as possible. Ask your questions
on the Flickr page, please. E-mail only if you have new information
to add.
(We already
have a lot of new information, including that which quite possibly
identifies the real killer(s). For obvious reasons we cannot
trust the police with this information. Police Chief Russell
Sabo is clearly more interested in preserving his job/salary/personal
comfort than he is in serving and protecting the people of Saskatoon!)
|
Preliminary hearing delayed
after outbursts from accused
Janet French, The StarPhoenix,
November 30, 2005
The preliminary hearing of
a man accused of killing his landlord wrapped up Tuesday with
more outbursts from the accused, including insults hurled at
the Crown prosecutor and police investigators in the gallery.
Wilfred Gordon Hathway, 46,
who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 84-year-old
Denver Bruce Crawford, jumped up in the prisoner's box and said,
"Excuse me, is that taped?" when prosecutor Krista
Zerr presented a piece of evidence to the court.
As Judge Sheila Whelan adjourned
court for 15 minutes after Hathway's outburst, he said of Zerr,
"This bitch is lying through her teeth."
Deputy sheriffs in the courtroom
jumped up to block Hathway from leaving the prisoner's box and
cuffed him at the wrists and ankles.
Before court resumed, Hathway
called one of the police investigators in the gallery "smelly"
and "a liar," then told the deputy sheriff, "As
soon as the judge comes in, I'll be an angel."
Hathway's preliminary hearing
has been going off and on since late July. None of the evidence
presented at the inquiry can be reported because of a publication
ban.
Zerr and Hathway's lawyer,
Robert Borden, made their arguments Tuesday about whether he
should be committed to stand trial on the first-degree murder
charge. As the hearing came to a close, Zerr asked the judge
to include Hathway's remarks in the court records, which prompted
Hathway to yell from the prisoner's box that Zerr was "grandstanding."
Again, Whelan adjourned the
hearing.
Hathway was angry at Zerr's
argument to the judge.
"Maybe I killed Kennedy,
too," Hathway said as people in the courtroom waited for
the hearing to resume. "I've got a stomach. It churns. I've
got blood, it boils. I'm human."
When Whelan returned, she told
Hathway although people may say upsetting and disturbing things
in court, they are entitled to say them, and it is ultimately
the judge or a jury who will decide how much weight those comments
have.
Zerr repeated her wish to have
Hathway's remarks included in the court record so if he is committed
to trial, the trial judge will be prepared to guard against such
outbursts in front of witnesses and jurors.
Hathway's vociferous interjections
are not new to the hearing. Whelan has previously warned Hathway
not to yell out during the proceedings and told him she will
take increasingly long breaks from court with each outburst.
Crawford was found stabbed
to death May 13, 1998, in a rooming house he ran at 323 Ninth
St. East.
Hathway has maintained his
innocence. He is also backed by Richard Klassen, who was once
the subject of a high-profile police investigation but vindicated
in 2003.
Previous hearing days have
been tense, including a confrontation between prosecutor Brent
Klause and Klassen outside the courthouse. The judge has asked
the prosecution and defence teams to stay at their tables during
the proceedings.
Borden said outside court Tuesday
some of Hathway's reactions to evidence presented at the hearing
are understandable.
"He is facing first-degree
murder charges and he will react to the evidence," Borden
said. "Some people don't, they react in a different way.
This is his (way)."
Borden said he does not think
Hathway's demeanour in court will affect a Queen's Bench judge's
decision this afternoon on whether to grant Hathway bail.
Hathway was relieved when the
hearing ended Tuesday afternoon, Borden said.
"It's very emotional,"
he said. "There's a lot of tension, not only among members
of the defence side but on the prosecution side as well."
Whelan will announce her decision
on committing Hathway to trial on Dec. 8.
jfrench@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2005
Hathway lawyer Borden
quits despite belief defence case is strong
Darren Bernhardt, The
StarPhoenix, Saturday, January 14, 2006
Lawyer Robert Borden has withdrawn
as defence lawyer for Wilfred Hathway, who was recently committed
to stand trial for first-degree murder.
Borden is the third lawyer
to represent Hathway, 46, who is charged in the stabbing death
of his 84-year-old landlord in May 1998. Denver Bruce Crawford
ran a Saskatoon rooming house at 323 Ninth St. East.
Hathway was living in British
Columbia in 2004 when he was arrested and charged. He has maintained
his innocence.
"I am not guilty of the
murder of Denver Crawford and somebody needs to begin to give
a damn," he wrote in a letter this week to The StarPhoenix.
"Living in a society which might possibly allow me to be
convicted of Denver's murder is an abomination of democracy,
humanity and justice."
Borden "very much believes"
there is a strong case for the defence.
"I want it to be clear
I am not withdrawing because of any sudden revelation that would
change my opinion of the case," he said. "I think this
is a strong case of reasonable doubt."
Matters have arisen that have
caused Borden to conclude "I can't reasonably act for my
client in the present circumstances." He wouldn't elaborate
on those issues but said it "is really hard" to walk
away from the case after spending nearly nine months working
on it.
Hathway, who fired his previous
two lawyers, believes Borden had difficulty working with Richard
Klassen and Angela Geworsky, injustice crusaders who have been
doing their own research into the case. Borden was told last
month to take direction from them, Hathway said from the Saskatoon
Correctional Centre, which has been his home for the past 20
months.
Any lawyer on the defence case
must be amenable to a three-part defence team, he said.
"Angie and Richard are
the only people on the face of the Earth I would trust with my
life -- and I am trusting them with my life."
Geworsky said she and Klassen
will continue to work on Hathway's behalf and hopes a lawyer
can be found who is "open and willing to work with us."
A trial date should be set
in February for sometime in fall at the earliest, said Crown
prosecutor Brent Klause, who expects a new lawyer for Hathway
could get caught up to speed by then.
dbernhardt@sp.canwest.com
© The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2006
|
Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell