|
| Petty
harassment dueing the trial |
- Sept-Oct 2003:
The Klassen/Kvello civil action
- A self-represented
litigant's major accomplishment
Injusticebusters
thank all the journalists who got on board to help make this
the story of the century!
Lawyer attacks police
officer's investigation
Shauna Rempel, The StarPhoenix,
October 31, 2003
A veteran police officer faced
criticism in court for his conduct regarding what may have been
the biggest and most unusual case of his career.
Supt. Brian Dueck of the Saskatoon
Police Service spent another day on the stand Thursday defending
his investigation into sexual abuse allegations that resulted
in the arrests of 16 people in 1991. The allegations, which included
bizarre abuse of a satanic and ritualistic nature, turned out
to be false and now 12 people are suing justice officials for
$10 million in damages in a malicious prosecution lawsuit.
Robert Borden, the lawyer for
11 of the plaintiffs, questioned the choices Dueck made after
his lengthy investigation into allegations made by siblings Michael,
Michelle and Kathy Ross wrapped up and more than 70 counts of
sexual assault, incest and gross indecency charges had been laid.
"The role of a police
officer is to do a proper investigation and determine the truth,"
Borden said in his cross-examination.
Borden said part of a police
officer's duty is to include evidence that may rule out a suspect
and show that they didn't commit the alleged offences.
But Dueck failed to give prosecutors
Matthew Miazga and Sonja Hansen information that may have cast
doubt on some of the allegations made by the Ross children, Borden
suggested.
Borden said Dueck failed to
let prosecutors know about interviews done on the children of
Cheryl and Louis Dupuis sometime after the 1991 arrests. The
Dupuis' children had been babysat by some of the people accused
of abuse. In the interviews Dueck conducted, the children state
unequivocally that nothing inappropriate happened to them while
in the company of the accused.
Dueck said he didn't think
the interviews were significant. "It doesn't mean nothing
happened and No. 2 it doesn't mean something didn't happen to
other children," he told Borden.
Michael Ross, a foster child
in the home of Anita and Dale Klassen, had disclosed allegations
of abuse involving other foster children and many members of
the Klassen family.
Borden also wanted to know
why Dueck didn't conduct an interview with the Dupuis. The couple
had been neighbours and friends of some of the plaintiffs for
several years and they, Borden said, could attest to their character.
Dueck said he got some background
information from the Dupuis couple but didn't think it was necessary
to formally interview them.
Borden also felt that Dueck
had failed to make available information that would have helped
the accused defend themselves against the allegations.
Some of Dueck's information
about the foster children and the suspects came from what was
then called the department of social services. Dueck testified
that social services is generally not very forthcoming about
sharing records because of the sensitive nature of the information.
But Dueck did not make provisions
for the defence to access some of the same records. When Borden
asked him why, Dueck said that it was the prosecutor's job to
do that, not his.
Dueck testified he had never
handled a case that had satanic and ritualistic elements, although
he had attended three seminars on the topic. Dueck said the case
was so big that he requested help from other officers and tried
to get rid of his other cases in order to concentrate solely
on the Ross allegations.
Richard Klassen, a plaintiff
who is representing himself, also cross-examined Dueck Thursday
about the inconsistencies in his lengthy investigation.
Klassen went over one of Dueck's
written reports that discussed a videotaped interview with Michael
Ross. According to the report, the boy alleged Richard Klassen
had abused him in the home of Klassen's sister, Pam. But the
actual transcript of the interview indicates Michael Ross repeatedly
denied the abuse happened in that house. Dueck said he wasn't
sure why that denial didn't seem to be in his report.
During his cross-examination,
Klassen went through other discrepancies in documents related
to his own arrest and the arrest of other family members.
Klassen also pointed out that
the Ross children never mentioned the various tattoos on his
arms when they talked about the sexual abuse, which Klassen felt
was out of character since the Ross children were very descriptive
about details of the abuse.
"I would find it hard
to believe that any child being sexually assaulted would worry
about where tattoos are," Dueck replied, raising his voice
slightly.
As he has been throughout his
testimony and cross-examination, Dueck seemed calm and was emotionless
except for brief displays of mild frustration.
Dueck continued to decline
to speak to reporters. He said at the beginning of the trial
that he did not want to try the case in the media.
Don McKillop, who is representing
the other people named in the lawsuit, is expected to call his
first witness today.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Klassen confronts officer
on stand
Shauna Rempel, The StarPhoenix,
October 30, 2003
After 13 years, Richard Klassen
is finally able to confront the man who turned his world upside
down.
Today, Klassen continues his
cross-examination of Saskatoon police Supt. Brian Dueck, the
man he is suing for malicious prosecution.
Dueck, then a corporal, led
an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by siblings
Michael, Michelle and Kathy Ross that resulted in the 1991 arrests
of Klassen and many of his family members in what was known as
the "scandal of the century."
The charges of sexual abuse
were later stayed and the Ross children eventually admitted they
lied about the allegations. In fact, Michael Ross had been abusing
his sisters during that time.
"It's been excruciating,"
Klassen said of the intervening years.
Klassen and 11 others are now
suing Dueck, as well as therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys and prosecutors
Matthew Miazga and Sonja Hansen, for $10 million in damages.
Klassen, who has a Grade 7 education, has been representing himself
throughout the lawsuit because he felt he would do the best job.
"Who knows the case as
well as someone who lives it," he said outside of court.
On Wednesday, Klassen grilled
Dueck about the details of his approximately year-and-a-half
long investigation.
Klassen questioned the police
officer about arrest warrants, Dueck's notes and a chart that
connected all of the complainants and the accused, in order to
establish that Dueck's investigation relied heavily upon Michael
Ross's disclosures about the abuse that he and other foster children
allegedly suffered. In some cases, members of the Klassen family
were charged with sexually abusing children because Michael Ross
said the abuse had happened even though there was no corroborating
disclosure directly from the other children.
Dueck stated that although
he never doubted that the Ross children had been abused, at some
point in his investigation he began to disbelieve the Ross's
bizarre allegations of ritual abuse, such as the stories of killing
babies and drinking the blood of animals and children.
However, he still included
the allegations of ritual abuse in his April 1991 police report,
even though he didn't believe the stories were true.
"I put it in because it
had been disclosed," said Dueck when Klassen asked him why.
"But you didn't write
in that you didn't believe it," said Klassen, to which Dueck
simply replied, "well, sorry."
Dueck said he didn't remember
whether or not he told prosecutors Miazga and Hansen that he
didn't believe the more bizarre allegations.
Even as late as July 10, 1991,
the day members of the extended Klassen family were arrested
and charged with over 70 counts of incest, gross indecency and
sexual assault, a report prepared by a social worker detailed
the ritual abuse allegations without any indication that the
lead investigator suspected they might be false.
"Is there any writing,
anywhere, that you indicate through all of your documents, that
you didn't believe the children's allegations of ritual abuse?"
Klassen asked at one point on Wednesday.
"I don't believe so, no,"
was Dueck's answer.
Klassen brought up a transcript
from a previous court appearance that seem to suggest Dueck may
have indeed been talking to Bunko-Ruys outside the therapist's
office while Michael Ross supposedly assaulted his sisters inside,
although Dueck has testified he was not there at the time of
the incident.
Klassen questioned Dueck at
length about his interview techniques for both suspects and complainants.
Court has heard that Dueck
continued to question some members of the Klassen family even
after they asked for a lawyer, a police practice Dueck said was
standard at the time.
When asked if he ever asked
leading questions when interviewing a child about possible abuse,
Dueck said he tries to avoid influencing a child by asking leading
questions, but it sometimes happens.
Klassen asked him if Michael
Ross seemed eager to disclose information without prompting.
"He wasn't the hardest
interview I ever had; he wasn't the easiest," Dueck said
of Michael Ross.
Klassen has spent years preparing
to question Dueck, but the day didn't go as smoothly as he would
have hoped.
On a couple of occasions, Justice
George Baynton stopped to offer advice to Klassen and once asked
Klassen to slow down and think more carefully about the questions
he wanted to ask. "It's difficult for me to understand and
for the witness," Baynton said.
Klassen was also battling a
flu and at times found it difficult to speak.
"It hit me last night,
the sickness and the excitement," Klassen said in an interview.
Still, the former suspect was
grateful for the opportunity to have his questions answered.
"It's ironic, because
in 1991 I was on the couch and he was asking me questions. And
he's on the stand and I'm asking him questions."
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Officer testifies he believed children's abuse
stories
Tim Cook, Canadian Press
, Oct. 29, 2003
Saskatoon - A police officer
being sued for malicious prosecution testified Tuesday he believed
three children when they made bizarre allegations of ritual child
sex abuse - allegations that later turned out to be false.
Saskatoon police Supterindentent
Brian Dueck investigated the claims made by siblings Michael,
Michelle and Kathy Ross while they were in foster care in the
late 1980s. The bulk of the charges against Richard Klassen and
others ended up being stayed and now Mr. Klassen and several
other plaintiffs are suing Supt. Dueck and three other justice
officials.
The Ross siblings, now in their
20s, have admitted that Michael was actually the one abusing
his sisters and that they had made up the horrific allegations,
which included the murder of animals and babies, and graphic
descriptions of sex parties involving adults and children.
As adults, the three former
foster children have said they wanted to go public with their
accounts and did not seek a publication ban at this hearing.
On the eve of their trial in 1993, Mr. Klassen's father, Peter,
pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault in exchange for
charges being stayed against the rest of the family.
Supt. Dueck told the court
that he had carefully analysed all the evidence and concluded
the Ross children were telling the truth.
Supt. Dueck also said he was
also following a widely recognized protocol to always believe
children are being honest when they disclose information about
sexual abuse.
He said that during his investigation,
he was given notes made by Marilyn Thompson, who was a foster
parent to the Ross children after they were removed from the
foster home of Dale and Anita Klassen.
Ms. Thompson noted in earlier
testimony that the children appeared to be lying at times and
described inconsistencies in the children's allegations. But
Supt. Dueck said Tuesday he didn't see the discrepancies as significant
because children often forget details and remember them later.
During a full day of testimony,
Supt. Dueck described a "huge" workload of complicated
cases and little training for the sensitive interviews he did
with children who may have been sexually abused.
He said he had asked his supervisor
for assistance but none came.
Supt. Dueck denied earlier
testimony that he was talking to therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys in
the hall outside her office while Michael Ross abused his sister
in the office. Ms. Bunko-Ruys is among those being sued for malicious
prosecution.
Supt. Dueck also denied former
Crown prosecutor Terry Hinz's earlier testimony that Supt. Dueck
had sought him out for advice on the file specifically because
the two had already worked on a case in which a Klassen family
member had been charged and convicted of sexual abuse. Supt.
Dueck said he never worked on that case.
© 2003 Bell Globemedia
Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Officer believed kids
abused, court hears
Shauna Rempel, The StarPhoenix,
October 29, 2003
The police officer being sued
for malicious prosecution took the stand in his own defence on
Tuesday.
Saskatoon police Supt. Brian
Dueck told Court of Queen's Bench he believed the children making
allegations of sexual abuse were telling the truth when he investigated
the case that led to sexual abuse charges against Richard Klassen
and others in 1991.
The bulk of those charges were
later stayed, and now Klassen and 11 other plaintiffs are suing
Dueck and three other justice officials for $10 million.
Then-corporal Dueck investigated
allegations of sexual abuse made by siblings Michael, Michelle
and Kathy Ross, who were in foster care during the late 1980s.
The Ross's, now in their 20s,
testified during the trial that Michael Ross was actually the
one abusing his sisters and they had made up the horrific allegations,
that included the murder of animals and babies, and graphic descriptions
of sex parties involving adults and children.
Dueck told the court that after
carefully analysing all the evidence, he believed the Ross children
were telling the truth.
"I believed that these
children had been sexually abused and I believed that they had
named the people who abused them," Dueck said in response
to questions from his lawyer David Gerrand.
Dueck said he was also following
a widely recognized protocol to always believe children are being
honest when they disclose information about sexual abuse.
Dueck testified that while
investigating allegations made by the Ross children, he had been
given notes made by Marilyn Thompson, who was a foster parent
to the Ross children after they were removed from the foster
home of Dale and Anita Klassen.
Thompson noted in earlier testimony
that the children appeared to be lying at times and described
inconsistencies in the children's allegations of abuse.
But Dueck said Tuesday he didn't
see the discrepancies as significant because children often forget
details and remember them later.
"I didn't find it terribly
significant that they couldn't remember everything when they
talked to me or that they might remember another detail that
they hadn't told Marilyn Thompson," Dueck said.
Dueck's testimony covered numerous
issues and incidents that arose during the evidence presented
by the plaintiffs in the first half of the trial. In a full day
on the stand, he touched on interview techniques, previous testimony
and his own training and caseload.
Dueck described a "huge"
workload of complicated cases and little training for the sensitive
interviews he did with children who may have been sexually abused.
A 32-year veteran on the Saskatoon
Police Service with a Grade 12 education, Dueck underwent a standard
in-house course that lasted about 11 weeks when he joined the
service in 1971. The only training he received prior to his posting
at the police service's youth division in 1989 was informal "on-the-job"
training through consultations with guidance counsellors when
he was a school liaison officer, he told court.
The Saskatchewan Police College
in Regina occasionally had a course that dealt with how to investigate
sexual abuse of children, but it was not offered when Dueck transferred
to the youth division, he said.
While working in the youth
division, Dueck attended three conferences held by outside agencies
regarding satanic cults and the incidence of ritual sexual abuse
of children.
Dueck said he usually had between
five and 12 files, many of which were complicated and time-consuming.
Dueck said he had asked his supervisor for assistance but none
came.
Nearly all his work dealt with
sexual and physical abuse of children. Dueck said a challenge
was making sure the interviewer didn't influence what the children
disclosed.
"It's really important
that you not lead them, but you know it's inevitable -- there
are times when you review a tape later (and) you catch yourself
doing that," he said.
When interviewing suspects
in a sexual abuse case, Dueck said he finds it more effective
to take a "softer" approach than he does with suspects
of other crimes.
Weeks ago, court saw a tape
of Anita Klassen crying and repeatedly asking for a lawyer while
being interviewed by Dueck. The interview continued for more
than an hour.
On Tuesday, Dueck said that
she had been advised that she had the right not to speak with
him.
"As long as she was going
to talk to me I was going to continue to interview her,"
he said.
Dueck denied earlier testimony
that he was talking to therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys in the hall
outside her office while Michael Ross abused his sister in the
office. Bunko-Ruys is among those being sued for malicious prosecution.
"I was told sometime later
that this allegation had been made that in fact something had
happened in her office and that was the only news, or the only
knowledge that I had of it."
Dueck also denied former Crown
prosecutor Terry Hinz's earlier testimony that Dueck had sought
him out for advice on the file specifically because the two had
already worked on a case in which a Klassen family member had
been charged and convicted of sexual abuse. Dueck said he never
worked on that case.
Robert Borden, the lawyer for
11 plaintiffs, and self-representing Klassen are forbidden by
Justice George Baynton to comment on any of the evidence presented
by the defendants. They expect to cross-examine Dueck today.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Malicious prosecution
suit in Sask foster sex case to proceed; 1 name dropped
TIM COOK, Canadian Press,
October 27, 2003
SASKATOON (CP) - Richard Klassen
and 11 others may finally get to confront in court those who
tried to jail them over false accusations that they abused children
in bizarre, sadistic ways.
Justice George Baynton ruled
Monday that the malicious prosecution lawsuit being spearheaded
by Klassen will go ahead against four of the five defendants.
He dismissed a defence argument that the case should be tossed
out because the plaintiffs had not proven malice.
Though there is no guarantee
the defendants will now testify, there is a chance the 12 will
get a chance to cross-examine those who they believe recklessly
pursued a prosecution on nothing but the flimsiest of evidence.
"I'm really starting to
believe in justice," Klassen said outside court.
"What happened to us did
happen. It was real. Now we need to hear from them as to why
it happened and I will be able to cross-examine them."
Lawyers for the defendants
did not comment.
The 12 are suing after being
charged in 1991 with ritualistically abusing foster kids by forcing
them to eat eyeballs, drink blood, participate in orgies and
watch newborn babies get skinned and buried.
The three foster children who
made the accusations were pre-teens at the time but are now adults.
They have publicly revealed they made up the stories and have
not sought publication bans on their names.
The defendants in the case
are the lead investigator - Saskatoon police Supt. Brian Dueck
who was a corporal when the case broke - a therapist, two Crown
prosecutors and the estate of their former boss, Richard Quinney.
Baynton dismissed the claim
against Quinney, the former head of public prosecutions for Saskatchewan
Justice, who recently died.
But in written reasons for
his decision, Baynton said that based on case law and his three-week
review of the evidence, the other four "have failed to establish
that the evidence is insufficient."
The ordeal for Klassen and
the others began in 1987, when Michael Ross and his younger twin
sisters Michelle and Kathy, all under 10, were put into the foster
home of Klassen's brother and sister-in-law.
Michael was abusive to his
two sisters, both physically and sexually, and was eventually
removed from the home.
In an effort to be reunited
with his sisters at his new foster home, Michael told police
about horrific, ritualistic abuse they had suffered at the Klassen
home.
As investigators worked the
case, the Ross kids were reunited and the sisters began to back
up their brother's claims. Eventually the allegations included
almost every adult the children had known and most of Klassen's
extended family.
In 1991, police arrested 16
people, including the disabled birth parents of the three children
and many members of the foster family. Police called it the "scandal
of the century."
Court has heard that prosecutors
at the time had doubts about the children's credibility but that
Dueck approached more than one Crown to take the case.
Terry Hinz, a former prosecutor,
told court he asked Dueck to track down the babies that were
killed, but Dueck said it was the work of "brood mares"
- women who breed children specifically to sacrifice them.
"It made me feel I was
transported back into the 17th century reading about the Salem
witchcraft complaints," Hinz testified.
In 1993, charges against 12
of the 16 were stayed by the Crown on the grounds it wanted to
avoid further trauma to the children.
This prompted the lawsuit by
Klassen, who has fought numerous attempts by the defendants over
the years to dismiss the lawsuit.
Klassen is representing himself
and many of those who had gathered to hear the ruling Monday
burst into tears after it came down.
"My brother, he lived
and breathed this case for 13 years and we are really proud of
him," said Klassen's sister Pamela Shetterly, who is also
a plaintiff in the case.
"He stood by. There was
no rest. This is for us. This is justice."
© Copyright 2003 The Canadian Press
Judge ponders request
to drop Klassen lawsuit
Jason Warick, Saskatchewan
News Network, Saturday, October 04, 2003
The Klassen lawsuit trial has
been delayed for three weeks while Justice George Baynton decides
whether to grant the defendant's motion to dismiss the suit.
Baynton has just heard three
days of arguments on the dismissal motion from both sides, and
now must wade through thousands of pages of documents, various
videotapes, and other material which has been submitted during
the first four weeks of the trial.
"A lot depends on my decision,"
Baynton told court Friday afternoon.
"I hate to delay the trial
for that length of time, but that's the earliest possible (date).
I have to look at all of the evidence -- each little piece."
Members of the Klassen family
and their relatives are suing justice officials for $10 million,
alleging malicious prosecution.
These 12 people were among
those charged with abusing three foster children -- Michael,
Kathy, and Michelle Ross -- in Dale and Anita Klassen's foster
home in the early 1990s.
In reality, it was Michael
abusing his sisters during this period.
Their lawyers wrapped up their
case against the defendants earlier this week.
Lawyers for the five defendants
-- prosecutors Matthew Miazga, Richard Quinney, and Sonja Hansen,
Saskatoon police Supt. Brian Dueck, and therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys
-- then filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit because of a lack
of evidence.
Defence lawyers Don McKillop
and David Gerrand argued Wednesday that the various officials
were just doing their jobs and did not act maliciously.
But lawyer Robert Borden and
self-represented plaintiff Richard Klassen argued there is plenty
of evidence to suggest malice.
For example, according to court
documents Dueck told officials in the early 1990s that Michael
Ross had been "removed" from Dale and Anita Klassen's
foster home, implying the Klassens had abused him.
In reality, Anita told social
services to remove Michael because he was abusing his sisters,
Richard Klassen said.
"Brian Dueck misled throughout
his case in order to convince somebody that he had a case,"
Klassen said Friday.
Klassen and Borden pointed
to the alleged lack of disclosure by the Crown in the early 1990s.
They cited various documents
and videotapes which were apparently hidden from them, hindering
their ability to prepare a complete case. Also, the evidence
has revealed many officials knew Michael was abusing the girls
the whole time, but did not separate the children, Klassen said.
This proves the plaintiffs'
claim that officials knowingly kept the girls in an unsafe environment
with Michael in order to keep the children's stories consistent,
Klassen said.
If Baynton grants the motion
to dismiss, the trial is over. If he rules against it, the defendants
will present their case beginning Oct. 29.
A motion to dismiss is unique
because it essentially forces both sides to treat it like a final
argument. That forces the judge to review all of the evidence,
even though he'll have to do that again in the event the trial
continues.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Lawyer details evidence
of malice
Jason Warick, The StarPhoenix;
Saskatchewan News Network, Friday, October 03, 2003
Police, prosecutors, and a
therapist barrelled "full steam ahead" in a 1991 sexual
assault case against 12 people despite glaring inconsistencies
and a lack of evidence, court heard Thursday.
"We're not talking about
being reckless. They knew what they were doing (to the 12 accused).
That takes it beyond recklessness," said Robert Borden,
the lawyer for the 12 people now suing officials $10 million
for malicious prosecution.
"If malice cannot be proven
in this case, malice cannot be proven at all."
Borden argued all day Thursday
against a motion to dismiss the case by the defendants. He will
continue today, as will self-represented plaintiff Richard Klassen.
Lawyers for the defendants,
David Gerrand and Don McKillop, are trying to get the lawsuit
dismissed. The motion was filed at the end of the plaintiff's
case this week, and the defendants are claiming there's not enough
evidence to continue the trial.
Gerrand and McKillop argued
Wednesday that their clients were simply doing their job, and
there is no evidence of malice.
The officials being sued are
Saskatoon police Supt. Brian Dueck, therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys,
and prosecutors Matthew Miazga, Sonja Hansen, and Richard Quinney.
In the early 1990s, Richard
Klassen, his wife Kari, and members of his extended family were
charged with abusing Klassen's foster nieces and nephew -- Michael,
Michelle, and Kathy Ross. Foster parents Anita and Dale Klassen
were also among those charged.
On the eve of their trial in
1993, a plea bargain was reached. Klassen's father, Peter, pleaded
guilty to four counts of sexual assault and charges against the
rest of them were stayed.
Borden argued Thursday that
a reasonable person would not have pursued the case to such an
extent.
"Tragically, it is about
our legal system having gone awry," Borden said.
He told Justice George Baynton
that he could "infer" malice based on the various elements
of the case.
"It doesn't have to be
handed to you on a silver platter," Borden said.
Borden noted Dueck's interview
with Anita Klassen as evidence of malice. In the videotaped interview
played in court this month, a shrieking and crying Klassen demands
a lawyer three times but Dueck continues his interrogation alone
with her for nearly an hour.
One of Borden's most serious
allegations was that prosecutors and police hid documents from
the people accused of these crimes. The documents are required
to be disclosed by the Crown to the defence.
At one point, an animated Borden
held up a small bundle of papers to show what one defence lawyer
received in the early 1990s.
Borden then went to the evidence
table in the middle of the courtroom and held up a two-foot thick
pile of transcripts that he claimed were withheld.
"How about these? They're
called transcripts," said Borden. "It's the Crown's
obligation to give them. Those weren't turned over."
There were videotapes of other
children Dueck interviewed in which they stated that the Klassens
did not abuse them. These children can not be identified. These
were not given to the Klassens and their lawyers until recently.
There was also an audiotape
of another interview Dueck conducted in the early 1990s that
was only turned over to Borden and the Klassens last Friday,
he noted.
This information and other
documents would have been "a virtual gold mine" in
helping the accused prove their innocence 12 years ago, he said.
"There is a strong inference
of malice," Borden said of the alleged lack of disclosure.
Baynton indicated he may need
several days to review the evidence and make a decision. He could
dismiss the case altogether, or rule that it must continue.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Judge asked to dismiss
suit: No evidence of malicious intent: lawyers
Jason Warick, Saskatchewan
News Network, October 02, 2003
The Klassen malicious prosecution
lawsuit has reached a "critical juncture," Justice
George Baynton said Wednesday afternoon after lawyers for the
defendants argued to have the case thrown out.
Lawyers David Gerrand and Don
McKillop introduced a motion to dismiss the $10-million lawsuit,
saying the police, prosecutors and a therapist they represent
were simply doing their jobs.
"What we do have is an
absolute lack of evidence" that officials acted maliciously,
said McKillop.
After the plaintiffs make their
arguments today, a lengthy delay may be needed for Baynton to
read through the mountains of paper which have accumulated on
the evidence table at Saskatoon's Court of Queen's Bench.
"I will have to look at
all the evidence. I can't see any way around taking several days
to rule on these matters," Baynton said.
For the first three weeks of
the lawsuit, the plaintiffs have laid out their case against
therapist Carol Bunko-Ruys, then-Saskatoon police corporal Brian
Dueck, and prosecutors Matthew Miazga, Sonja Hansen and Richard
Quinney.
Richard Klassen is representing
himself, while Robert Borden and Ed Holgate are the lawyers for
the other Klassens and their extended family members.
The 12 plaintiffs and others
were charged in July of 1991 with sexually assaulting children
Michael, Michelle and Kathy Ross. Anita and Dale Klassen had
provided foster care for the Ross children in the late 1980s.
The charges against them were
stayed when another member of the Klassen family pleaded guilty
to four charges of sexual assault.
The children have since admitted
in this trial that they fabricated the stories of abuse by these
12 people. It was Michael who was abusing his sisters during
this period.
The Klassens and the others
are claiming that the questioning of the children was selective,
leading and intimidating.
They are claiming that the
defendants did not have an honest belief in their guilt, but
proceeded anyway.
The plaintiffs have now wrapped
up their case.
McKillop and Gerrand attempted
to refute those claims Wednesday while arguing for a dismissal
of the charges.
Gerrand said his client, Dueck,
"followed the steps . . . that were appropriate to take."
There was no evidence that
another officer would have acted differently, Gerrand said.
He cited previous witnesses
who said that child abuse investigations are often a judgment
call.
Gerrand noted the protocol
document designed for officials assessing child abuse complaints
that existed in the 1990s in Saskatoon stated that children are
to be assumed to be telling the truth.
There may have been bad decisions
made in hindsight, but that's a long way from proving Dueck acted
maliciously, Gerrand said.
"Dueck's judgment may
have been poor. That's not the issue," Gerrand said.
As for the two 1991 videotaped
interviews played in court this month where suspects ask Dueck
for a lawyer but don't get one, Gerrand said they're irrelevant.
The witnesses didn't confess, so that wasn't part of the case
when charges were laid, Gerrand argued.
The other defendants were also
acted properly throughout their handling of the case, said McKillop.
He said it wasn't until years
later that the children admitted they were lying. And justice
officials didn't make up the stories of abuse.
"Those stories weren't
created by any of the defendants," McKillop said.
McKillop went through the evidence
against his four clients individually. Quinney's role was "so
limited, so sporadic, so peripheral" that there are no grounds
to continue against him. Quinney is recently deceased.
As for Bunko-Ruys, who recommended
the children be kept together despite evidence of Michael preying
on the girls, McKillop said it was not her decision to move the
children. She could recommend, but it was the Department of Social
Services which decided.
Miazga and Hansen "openly
wrestled" with the issues surrounding the case, and stayed
various other charges at points when they became doubtful, he
said.
McKillop cited witness Daryl
Labach. Labach, who represented the Klassens at the criminal
matter in the early 1990s, testified this week that the Crown
did not hide any of the required documents in preparing his case.
He also referred to the testimony
of prosecutor of Terry Hinz, who said he was impressed with the
honesty of Miazga and Hansen.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Past hysteria created
many innocent victims
Martha Froese-Kooijenga,
to the editor, The StarPhoenix , October 02, 2003
Richard Klassen and all others
who have been falsely accused of child sexual abuse deserve our
apology. As the saying goes, "the only thing worse than
being sexually abused is to be falsely accused of sexually abusing
someone."
Unfortunately, we experienced
a witch-hunt craze in the 1980s and '90s, in which many of us
were duped. "Nobody makes up stories of child sexual abuse
-- it must be true," we thought. "Children don't lie,"
we were told. Well, now we know better, but in the meantime,
reputations are ruined and lives destroyed.
Repressed-memory hysteria also
swept the self-help movement off its feet. Women (and some men),
through therapy, were helped to discover memories of sexual abuse
from decades before, which they had apparently "blocked
out" all those years. Fathers, uncles, brothers were accused,
even charged, with no evidence.
This type of therapy has now
been discredited by mental health professionals worldwide. But
the damage is done.
The public hysteria which we
experienced deserves public attention and public awareness. There
has been no "private lid" available for the accused.
Klassen's courage in speaking
out is ground-breaking for the hundreds of thousands of documented
reports of false sexual abuse charges across Canada and the U.S.
Will the mental health professionals
and the justice system soon admit they, too, were the victims
of this New Age witch hunt? And will the real facts please be
made public?
Martha Froese-Kooijenga
Saskatoon
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
See Martin Stein
Klassen case weak: documents
Jason Warick, Saskatchewan
News Network, October 01, 2003
Saskatchewan's top Crown prosecutor
told the public in 1993 that a massive sexual assault trial would
not proceed because the three foster children were too "traumatized"
to testify, even though he was aware of many other weaknesses
in the case, court documents released Tuesday showed.
This wrongly left the impression
that the accused were all guilty, said plaintiff Richard Klassen
in the document.
Richard Quinney, the former
executive director of public prosecutions for Saskatchewan Justice,
stated at the time the Crown "would have liked to have taken
all of the charges to trial.
"It was not a happy solution
from the Crown's perspective."
Quinney's estate and four other
justice officials are now being sued for malicious prosecution
by 12 of the people charged in 1991 with abusing the three Ross
foster children.
All three have testified that
they lied about the fantastic stories of human sacrifice, bestiality,
and massive ritualistic orgies. It was actually the older brother,
Michael, who was abusing his sisters during this period.
Quinney, recently deceased,
was questioned last year as part of the lead-up to the lawsuit
trial, which began earlier this month.
Hundreds of pages of documents
were introduced in court Tuesday afternoon, containing many new
details about the investigation and prosecution of the Klassens
and their extended family.
The lawsuit, filed by 12 of
those accused, seeks $10 million.
In the Quinney transcript,
he discusses the controversial plea bargain that led to a stay
of charges against everyone except Peter Klassen, who pleaded
guilty to four counts of sexual assault.
Matthew Miazga, one of the
prosecutors handling the case, noted that one of the girls, Michelle
Ross, admitted during the case that she had lied about two of
the accused.
Her sister, Kathy Ross was
not credible, both he and co-prosecutor Sonja Hansen noted.
Kathy's "weak and sometimes
incredible presentation to the court would lead to a disastrous
acquittal if prosecutions . . . were pursued" against the
two accused, Hansen wrote.
They recommended a stay of
the charges. That means the case would be dropped, but could
be reopened within a year if warranted.
In another letter Miazga wrote
to Quinney, Miazga stated that the children have been traumatized
by having to testify numerous times before, and that their therapist
says it will harm them.
However, he states the children
"have not been good witnesses" in the other proceedings
and won't give good evidence in this trial.
There was medical evidence
of abuse, but they "cannot corroborate the identity of the
abusers," Miazga wrote.
Miazga also stated the psychological
evidence points to abuse the children suffered earlier in life,
before they ever met any of the accused.
Without any corroborating evidence,
the chance of conviction is low, Miazga wrote.
The plea bargain was reached
shortly after this in February of 1993.
Quinney wrote a letter to The
StarPhoenix several months after the plea bargain was reached,
in response to an article about the case.
Under questioning in court
last year, Quinney said he "didn't want to stay the charges."
He said he would have preferred to proceed against all of the
accused in a trial.
The letter defends the Crown
and the performance of the prosecutors. It states repeatedly
that the Crown had sufficient evidence but the children were
too traumatized to testify.
When asked how he knew prosecutors
had done their job, Quinney said it was because Miazga and Hansen
were experienced prosecutors.
Quinney admitted he did not
leave the impression that the accused were innocent.
"I would say presume the
Crown had done nothing wrong, not that they're innocent or guilty
or anything else," Quinney stated.
Quinney also testified that
he spoke to Ellen Gunn about the case in 1991. Quinney had taken
over Gunn's position as executive director of public prosecutions
when Gunn was named a judge in the Court of Queen's Bench that
year.
Gunn testified earlier this
month under questioning from Richard Klassen that she had "no
memory" of the case or any conversations she had about it.
According to other documents
released Tuesday, investigating officer Brian Dueck admits he
read another officer's report doubting Michael's story.
Dueck also says he would likely
be upset that another officer was assigned to his case, although
he can't specifically recall.
Lawyer Daryl Labach, who represented
some of the Klassen family members for a period of time, took
the stand Tuesday evening.
Labach, who has practiced law
since 1989, was asked about the documents he would have seen
regarding the Klassen matter.
In an interview outside Court
of Queen's Bench, plaintiff lawyer Robert Borden explained that
"we were hoping to prove that the disclosure in this particular
case was scant."
In court, Labach was also asked
about Crown prosecutor Miazga and his approach to files.
Labach described Miazga as
a strong "hard-nosed" prosecutor who is "good
at what he does."
Labach also testified Miazga
hasn't "jerked me around" on a file.
"I haven't had a bad experience
with a prosecutor, and I've been doing this since 1989,"
he said.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
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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