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Steven Richard
Kaminski
Innocent Albertan got $2.2M
payout
By KATHLEEN HARRIS, OTTAWA
BUREAU, Calgary Sun, October 4, 2006
OTTAWA -- An Alberta man who
spent seven years in prison for a sexual assault he didn't commit
was the recipient of a $2.2-million secret settlement by the
RCMP for malicious prosecution, Sun Media has learned.
Steven Kaminski was labelled
a dangerous offender in a bizarre case his lawyer has described
as "unusual beyond belief." The former chef was convicted
in 1992 of raping a co-worker, but it was later revealed the
female complainant had sex several times with the Mountie assigned
to investigate the case, as well as with a witness called to
testify against Kaminski.
Despite his protests the encounter
was consensual, Kaminski was found guilty of entering his 24-year-old
co-worker's cabin at a resort near Red Deer and raping her. Former
federal justice minister Martin Cauchon eventually ordered a
new trial, but provincial authorities opted not to proceed with
a new prosecution.
The whopping $2.2-million payout
was quietly listed in the government's just-released public accounts
documents, but the name of the recipient was withheld.
Kaminski's lawyer Hersh Wolch
could not confirm his client's settlement due to a confidentiality
agreement.
"The case is closed; I
can say that," he said. "We are content with what occurred
but we are bound by confidentiality."
Wolch is the Calgary-based
lawyer who helped David Milgaard get $10 million for the 23 years
he spent behind bars for a murder he didn't commit -- the biggest
wrongful conviction payment in Canadian history.
The lawsuit filed on behalf
of Kaminski claimed $10 million in damages for defamation, malicious
prosecution, negligent conduct and conspiracy, and accused Ottawa
of being slow to review the case.
James Lockyer, a top Canadian
lawyer who represents the wrongfully accused, said confidentiality
clauses "almost always" come at the request of the
government to keep damaging details from the public.
"I think it's disgraceful,
but that's what you have to do," he said. "As a taxpayer,
you feel you're entitled to know where your dollars are going
and when a public institution is at fault, you're entitled to
know how."
Sun papers in Edmonton and
Calgary Dec. 7, 2003 carried stories of Hersh Wolch's announcement
he had filed a $10M+ lawsuit on behalf of Steven Kaminski. On
the Peter Warren Show, December 14, Wolch said he expects to
have the claim before the courts within a year.
Province dumps new trial:
Justice says conviction unlikely in 1992 sex assault case
By AJAY BHARDWAJ, EDMONTON
SUN, Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Alberta Justice will
not proceed with a new prosecution against a man whose conviction
for sexual assault was overturned by the federal justice minister.
After a review of evidence
heard during the November 1992 trial of Steven Kaminski, along
with new information that came to light three years later, the
Crown determined there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction
in the case.
"There's nothing worse
one can imagine than being incarcerated for something you didn't
do," said Hersh Wolch, Kaminski's lawyer. "Especially
when your protestations of innocence are taken as a sign of no
remorse. It's a nightmare that's unique to certain people."
Wolch said he would seek compensation
for his client from the province.
"The minister could agree,
in principle, to award compensation," said Wolch, adding
there's a possibility of a civil lawsuit. "That's the first
avenue we're going to explore."
Kaminski, found guilty in 1992
of sexually assaulting a Red Deer woman, was sentenced to seven
years and declared a dangerous offender.
In early 1996 the Crown learned
of new information that had surfaced in November 1995 about Kaminski's
case and forwarded it to Kaminski's lawyer.
Based on that evidence, last
month federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon directed a new
trial in the case, under Section 696.1 of the Criminal Code.
"The time it took for
the federal minister of justice to make a decision is something
we'll have to explore," said Wolch. "It is disturbing
it took that long."
But a spokesman for Alberta
Justice said the department did everything reasonable in the
case.
"The Crown did everything
it should have at the time, gave full disclosure of information
it had at the time and when the new information came to light
it acted quickly to make that information available to Mr. Kaminski,"
said Bart Johnson.
Kaminski, 57, said he felt
vindicated but is waiting for a March 3 court date in a Red Deer
Court of Queen's Bench where a prosecutor will ask the justice
to dismiss the charge. His dangerous offender tag has also been
dropped.
"It took a long time,"
he said. "The truth always works out for you. I just wanted
things straightened out and I was going to go to the bitter end."
Justice Department policy states
the Crown will go ahead with a prosecution only if there is a
reasonable chance of conviction based on evidence available,
or if it would be in the public interest.
'BEYOND BELIEF': Bizarre
sex, lies cited in wrongful conviction of Red Deer man
By DAVID SANDS, LEGISLATURE
BUREAU, Edmonton Sun, January 28, 2003
Kinky sex and bald lies combined
to send an Alberta man to jail for seven years in the most bizarre
case of wrongful conviction the courts have yet seen, says the
lawyer representing the ex-con.
Hersh Wolch, the lawyer who
got David Milgaard $10 million in the biggest award for a wrongful
murder conviction in Canadian history, said yesterday the real
story behind the sex assault conviction of Steven Richard Kaminski
is "unusual beyond belief.
"I've never come across
anything like this before," said Wolch, a veteran of several
wrongful-conviction cases.
Kaminski's 1992 trial didn't
hear key evidence, said federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon
yesterday.
"Based on the evidence
put before me, I believe a new trial is appropriate in this case,"
Cauchon said.
This is the new evidence: that
the woman who accused Kaminski of raping her later had sex a
number of times with the Mountie assigned to investigate, and
with a witness called to testify against Kaminski.
"It gets even kinkier
than that, but I don't know how much I want to say right now,"
Wolch told The Sun.
Kaminski, who had a lengthy
prior record including two convictions for sex assault, was declared
a dangerous offender and jailed for seven years after he was
found guilty of entering a 24-year-old co-worker's cabin at the
Ghostpine Lake Resort near Red Deer and sexually assaulting her
in September 1991.
Kaminski claimed the sex was
consensual. The judge, noting the victim had been married just
two months earlier, didn't believe him.
Kaminski, now in his 50s, lost
an appeal in 1994.
However, while serving his
time at Bowden Institution, Kaminski received a package of information
from the prosecutor in his case, revealing the sexual escapades
of the Mountie and the woman.
"New information came
to light in 1995 that would have been relevant to his defence.
Had the Crown been aware of it in 1992, we would certainly have
disclosed it," said Alberta Justice spokesman Bart Johnson.
However, by the time Kaminski
got the information in 1996, the only remedy he had was an appeal
to the federal minister of justice.
That's the same kind of appeal
once filed by David Milgaard, sentenced in 1970 to life in prison
for murder before a new trial was ordered by the Supreme Court
of Canada in 1992. No trial took place, and the charges were
stayed.
Alberta Justice has not decided
if it will seek a new trial, Johnson said.
However, Wolch said his client
wants either a new trial that would exonerate him, or a clear
statement from Alberta Justice that the facts don't support his
conviction.
"What we don't want is
any suggestion that they won't go ahead because he's already
paid his price."
Kaminski, who was released
from prison in 1999 after serving his sentence, is "likely"
to seek compensation for his time behind bars, Wolch said.
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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
