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Michael
Cardamone
| Adriaan
Mak
| Phil
Bourgelais
| Lessons
from the Proulx case | Michael
Jackson | Claudette Grieb
| Gordon Folland | What they are saying
in the law journals: Conflicts
of interest | The Seven
Deadly Sins of prosecutors | Lessons
from the Proulx case | Courageous prosecutor Terry
Hinz | Miazga | Hansen | Quinney
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Alain Andre
Quebec
appealed this case to the Supreme Court of Canada. July 10, 2003
, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal. Andre's award, and the
reasons for upholding it have now become law. See also Folland
Falsely accused; exonerated
and civil suit setted
Alain emailed injusticebusters
to thank us for having the story posted. I wrote back and asked
him for an update and a picture. The response from Alain and
Lorraine:
Hi Sheila
Our ordeal ended on February
13th 2004, Lorraine's birthday, when we received the check from
the city of Montreal which, as the employer, had to pay for the
Police officers that were found negligent in my case.
In the last few months, we
took the time to breathe a little. We got involved in our house
renovations and went back to our day to day routine. You see,
the most important thing in such an event, is for the "couple"
to survive! And we did wonderfully well on that level. A lot
of them can not and do not survive, unfortunately.
As a lawyer and College law
professor to future Police officers (sic), I regularly get some
calls from desperate people that are caught in the judicial process.
Once found innocent by the criminal court, these people would
like to see justice done and take a civil action in damages for
all the trouble they went through. Unfortunately, 99% of these
people can not afford the legal expenses. I was fortunate enough
on that level!
However, I do try to help these
people and do succeed in some cases. For instance, in one case,
the 6 months prescription to take a civil action against a Montreal
city police officer was pushed back by the Appeal Court of Quebec
to the normal 3 years prescription!
Again, not later than yesterday,
someone who had been falsely accused and found innocent after
having spent 3 months in jail, was referred to me by a confrère,
to sue the Police department. Again, he can not afford the amounts
of money necessary to get the civil action rolling, to make the
proper investigations, to organize the legal research etc...
To put it briefly, me and Lorraine
got out of this ordeal in good physical and mental health and
are willing and happy to do more in order to counter act the
negligence of some crown prosecutors and police officers!
In closing, I would like to
know more about "injustice busters" and maybe, in a
small way, be of some resource to you people and especially to
anyone in and around Montreal.
Keep up the good work.
Alain & Lorraine
Alain
André: update on crown/police appeal
March 1, 2003: Recent judgement
re case of Alain André falsely accused of incest as a
result of Recovered Memory Therapy.
CBS regional ( Montreal) news
this morning reported that the court of appeal has upheld the
decision to award Alain André and his wife compensation.
In 1999 the Superior Court decision awarded them the sum of $326,000,
condemning both the police and the crown prosecutor.
However the police and crown
prosecutor appealed this decision. This week, Thursday, Feb.27,
the Court of Appeal upheld the condemnation against the Montreal
Urbain Community (responsible for the police) for a faulty investigation,
but pardoned the prosecutor, referring to the changes in the
law since 2001.
The Court of Appeal cited the
prosecutor for negligence and lack of prudence, but said that
she did not intentionally act out of malice. The police themselves
must now pay the full sum of $650,000 ( interest and court costs
added onto the original sum of $326,000).
The article is reported in
two french language newspapers in Montreal, today, Saturday,
March 1, 2003.
La Presse, section Actualités,
page A4, Affaire Alain André, La police fustigée,
by Christiane Desjardins.
Le Journal de Montréal,
section Nouvelles, page 19, La police devra payer 650,000$ à
Alain André, by Pierre Richard.
Eight months after his arrest
in 1994, the crown did drop his case just before the preliminary
hearing when she realized that the case was weak. Prior to the
preliminary hearing, at Alain's insistence, his two lawyers presented
the crown with forty witness statements, on his behalf, submitted
by family, friends, teachers, etc., which contradicted the accusations
of the accuser.
Prosecutor, policeman
fined for councillor's wrongful arrest $366,800 plus interest
George Kalogerakis, The
Gazette, Friday, September 17, 1999
MONTREAL - Montreal police
and prosecutors have to pay $366,800 plus interest to a former
councillor for wrongfully arresting him on sexual-assault charges.
In awarding the damages to
Alain Andre and his wife, Superior Court Justice Luc Lefebvre
sharply criticized a police investigator and a Crown prosecutor
for basing their case solely on the statements of Mr. Andre's
adopted daughter, who was described as having psychological problems.
"The nightmare has finally
ended," said Mr. Andre, 59, a former mayoral candidate.
"The reason I fought my case is that you can't accuse someone
without a minimum of proof."
Mr. Andre was opposition leader
at city hall in 1994 when his adopted 25-year-old daughter told
police he had beaten and raped her when she was a child.
He was arrested at home and
held in a jail cell until he was released on bail the same day.
The charges were dropped by prosecutors before the preliminary
inquiry stage, after Mr. Andre's lawyers gave prosecutors 40
affidavits from people who refuted his daughter's accusations.
Judge Lefebvre awarded Mr.
Andre and his wife, Lorraine Drouin, $366,800. With interest,
the final figure will be close to $500,000.
Lawyers involved in the case
said the decision could have far-reaching consequences on sexual-assault
cases, because Judge Lefebvre ruled that police need more than
just an alleged victim's version of events.
Since sexual-assault cases
often come down to the alleged victim's words against the person
he or she is accusing, that need for extra proof could make police
reluctant to lay charges for fear of lawsuits, the lawyers said
-- especially in cases where the assault is alleged to have taken
place years before.
Judge Lefebvre ruled that investigator
Raoul Lacombe of Montreal police didn't seek corroborating proof,
even though he was urged to do so by his boss.
"The court is of the opinion
that Lacombe didn't undertake a serious investigation before
the arrest," the judge wrote.
The judge faults the police
investigator for not talking to schoolmates, relatives, neighbours,
doctors, nurses and psychologists who treated the daughter.
And the judge also criticizes
the prosecutor in the case, Ghislaine Larrivee.
"The court is of the opinion
that the prosecutor, Mme. Larrivee, acted recklessly in basing
her case only on [the woman's] statements."
The judge said the prosecutor
destroyed the life of a man on so little proof.
The judge mentions that Mr.
Andre had to leave his job during the criminal case.
The judgment also blames Mr.
Andre's adopted daughter. She never showed up for the civil trial
last winter, and she has not been heard from for years.
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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
