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Thomas Sophonow
(5)
Wrongly
convicted on the perjured testimony of a jailhouse snitch: The
settlement
Sophonow drops lawsuit,
accepts $2.3-M settlement
February 22nd, 2003, By
Leah Janzen
Thomas Sophonow has dropped
his lawsuit against the province and will receive a $2.3-million
compensation cheque within the next few days.
"We have received notice
that (Sophonow) has accepted the settlement," said Justice
Minister Gord Mackintosh. "The money should flow from his
lawyer's account early next week."
In 2001, a judicial inquiry
awarded Sophonow $2.6 million for the four years he spent in
jail, wrongly convicted of the brutal 1981 murder of doughnut
shop waitress Barbara Stoppel, 16.
Following the inquiry report,
retired Supreme Court judge Peter Cory issued a letter that suggested
the province pay 40 per cent of the award, the City of Winnipeg
50 per cent and the federal government 10 per cent.
But the City of Winnipeg refused
to pay its share. The details were ironed out last August when
the province agreed to cut a cheque for the outstanding amount
and be reimbursed by the city later.
A spokesperson for the Justice
Department said the city is still negotiating with its insurance
company and has not yet reimbursed the province for its share.
Sophonow accepted the federal
government's $260,000 portion of the award, but refused to cash
the province's $2.3-million cheque because it was issued on the
condition that Sophonow drop his lawsuit against the province
and because he wanted to know why compensation had taken so long.
Yesterday, Sophonow said he
agreed to drop the suit and accept the compensation deal in an
effort to move forward with his life and put the nightmare of
his time in jail behind him.
"It is time to leave that
part of the battle behind," he said from the home he shares
with his wife and three children in New Westminster, B.C.
But Sophonow said he will continue
to act as an advocate and spokesperson for people wrongly accused
of crimes.
He said he plans to offer his
services by testifying on behalf of other victims of wrongful
conviction.
"I want to help people
who find themselves in a similar situation," he said. "I
have accepted the settlement, but I'm not leaving this behind
completely. I will keep (the justice system's) feet to the fire
in other ways."
Yesterday, Mackintosh said
he's pleased Sophonow has agreed to accept the compensation package.
"As much as money can
bring some sense of justice to this travesty, I hope it can bring
some healing and moving on for (Sophonow)," he said. "This
closes a difficult case in Manitoba's legal and social history."
Sophonow's lawyer, Norman Boudreau
said his client is delighted that the deal is done.
"(Sophonow) would like
to thank the people of Manitoba for supporting him through this
ordeal," he said.
Since the inquiry, Sophonow
has lived in B.C. with his family. He has not returned to his
job as a machinist. Recently, Sophonow and his wife bought an
1891 heritage house in New Westminster. He said he'll use the
compensation to restore the home.
The family will move into the
home when the restoration is complete.
leah.janzen@freepress.mb.ca
Summer
2002 developments | See also Monique Turenne where Winnipeg police have again made
serious mistakes
One year
ago, everyone interested in seeing justice done for wrongfully
charged, prosecuted and indicted people was watching the Cory
commission unfold. The recommendations arising from this commission
are thoughtful and necessary. Judge Kaufman is now presiding
over an inquiry into Steven Truscott, Greg Parsons was bullied into a paltry settlement
and Joyce Milgaard has once again called
for the inquiry into David's case. Perhaps this year will see
some consistency -- and some attention paid to the recommendations
of these inquiries. Now Winnipeg says it won't pay! Shame on
Mayor Glen Murray! On April 1, suspect Terry Arnold was
released from prison but no charges were laid against him.
Sophonow wants compensation
offer in writing
Thursday,
July 18th, 2002
Thomas Sophonow
will not decide whether to drop his lawsuit against the province
until he sees this week's offer to pay him the rest of the compensation
owed to him in writing.
On Tuesday,
the province and the city reached an agreement to give Sophonow
the $2.26 million they owed by having the province pay up front
and recoup the city's $1.3 million portion later.
Premier Gary
Doer said the cheque should be sent by the end of the week but
added the lawyers were still working on the final details.
Sophonow, through
his Winnipeg lawyer, Norman Boudreau, said he was making no statements
until the province sends him the offer in writing. Sophonow launched
a lawsuit against the province in June to get the rest of his
compensation.
Justice Peter
Cory recommended Sophonow be paid $2.6 million for pain and suffering
after he was arrested and wrongly convicted in the 1981 murder
of Winnipeg teenager Barbara Stoppel. Sophonow was exonerated
in 2000.
Boudreau only
learned of the province's intention to pay the total through
the media on Tuesday. He has not yet spoken to the government's
lawyers or to the Justice Minister, but has said he will urge
Sophonow to accept the deal.
© 2002
Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved.
Sophonow cash quarrel
over
Province
to pay $2.26M for wrongful conviction, recoup $1.3M from city
July 17th,
2002, By Mia Rabson
Thomas Sophonow
will be compensated in full before the end of the week, more
than nine months after an inquiry into his wrongful conviction
determined he was owed $2.6 million for pain and suffering.
An agreement
between the city and province, announced by Mayor Glen Murray
and Premier Gary Doer yesterday, ends a months-long dispute over
who owed Sophonow what.
"We have
agreed that the Province of Manitoba will pay the outstanding
amount of money to Mr. Sophonow pursuant to the Cory report,"
Doer said yesterday. "We will recover $1.3 million from
the City of Winnipeg, and in the future we will develop a protocol
agreement to allow us to deal with wrongful-conviction cases
that is more systemic and appropriate."
Last month,
Sophonow launched a lawsuit against the province to recoup the
$2.26 million still owed to him. The federal government sent
$260,000 to him in April to cover its 10 per cent share. When
the province sent him about $953,000 in June to cover its 40
per cent share, Sophonow returned the cheque, claiming the province
owed him all the rest.
Had he accepted
the cheque, Sophonow would have been forced to give up his right
to sue the province. The cheque that will be sent later this
week will include a similar release.
Sophonow's
lawyer, Norman Boudreau, was not able to find Sophonow yesterday.
The province released the agreement to Boudreau only when it
was announced to the news media, and it was unexpected.
But Boudreau
said he will recommend that Sophonow sign the release.
"I think
this is a fair settlement," the lawyer said.
Boudreau said
the one sore point may be that the lawsuit makes a claim for
additional general, aggravated and punitive damages due to the
delay in paying the compensation.
If Sophonow
accepts the agreement, it will bring some closure to a 20-year
ordeal that began when he was arrested for the slaying of Winnipeg
teenager Barbara Stoppel in 1982. Sophonow spent four years in
jail for murder and went through three trials after guilty verdicts
were overturned on appeal. He was exonerated in June 2000.
The one-man
inquiry into the case by retired Supreme Court Justice Peter
Cory reported last fall. It recommended that Sophonow be compensated
with $2.6 million -- 10 per cent from the federal government,
40 per cent from the province and 50 per cent from the city.
The city balked
at paying, believing it to be a provincial matter, and that the
distribution of responsibility was done too arbitrarily. It is
the first time a municipality has been held financially accountable
for a wrongful conviction.
Mayor Glen
Murray said Cory's recommendations were not a court order and
could not be used to make an insurance claim. But the province
will take legal action against the city, which will give the
insurance company reason to pay.
"That
may seem like splitting hairs, but insurance companies do not
pay unless there is a court order or legal action demanding payment,"
Murray said.
City taxpayers
will be on the hook for the $250,000 deductible on the insurance
policy. Provincial taxpayers are on the hook for the entire $1.1
million the province owes Sophonow, because the province chose
not to go after the insurance companies, worried the process
was taking too long.
Sophonow rejects conditions,
returns $900,000 to province
By Leah
Janzen, Jul 3, 2002
Thomas Sophonow
has sent back a $900,000 cheque he received from the Manitoba
Justice Department to cover the province's portion of his $2.6-million
wrongful conviction award.
"We take
the position that the province is liable for 100 per cent of
the compensation," said his Winnipeg lawyer Norman Boudreau.
Boudreau said
Sophonow refused to sign a release that accompanied the cheque
from the province because it came with conditions.
One of the
conditions stipulated that Sophonow had to accept that the province
was responsible for 40 per cent of the $2.6-million award.
"Clearly,
for the government to do this is like dangling a carrot in front
of him,'' said Boudreau. "He decided to say thanks, but
no thanks."
After a lengthy
judicial inquiry, retired Supreme Court of Canada Justice Peter
Cory ruled last September that Sophonow deserved $2.6 million
in compensation for the nearly four years he spent behind bars
wrongly convicted of the 1981 murder of Barbara Stoppel, 16.
After he released
his inquiry report, Cory recommended the federal government should
be held responsible for 10 per cent of the compensation, the
province of Manitoba should pay 40 per cent and the City of Winnipeg
should bear 50 per cent of the financial burden.
The federal
government has already paid Sophonow $260,000 dollars. The city
has balked at forking over its recommended share.
Sophonow formally
filed a statement of claim against the provincial government
on June 17. The province has until July 8 to file its statement
of defence.
leah.janzen@freepress.mb.ca
Winnipeg won't pay wrongfully
convicted man Jailed 4 years for murder: Mayor can't find instance
where city forced to pay award
The Canadian
Press, March 25, 2002
WINNIPEG -
The Mayor of Winnipeg says the city will not pay its half share
of the $2.6-million in compensation awarded to Thomas Sophonow
by a judicial inquiry last year.
Glen Murray
said last weekend he believes Mr. Sophonow deserves to be compensated
for the nearly four years he spent wrongly imprisoned for the
1981 murder of Barbara Stoppel, 16. But he doesn't think the
city should write a cheque.
"The province
should pay the $2.6-million now and then negotiate with the federal
government for reimbursement," Mr. Murray said.
"That's
the tested formula in cases like this. I can't find any precedent
where a town or municipality has had to pay."
Mr. Sophonow,
who is originally from British Columbia, criticized Mr. Murray
for his comments.
"You have
said more than any public official would ever dare to say. The
irreversible damage has already been done," Mr. Sophonow
said, aiming his remarks directly at Mr. Murray.
"Take
your negotiations and a mirror into your board room and try to
resolve the issues that you have in your mind and make sure you
come out feeling good."
Earlier this
month Mr. Sophonow and his lawyer travelled to Winnipeg to meet
senior Justice Department officials in an effort to speed up
the process.
But last week,
Mr. Sophonow said the process is "destroying" his life
and family and he's decided to let the compensation drama play
out without him.
Mr. Sophonow
said he will not pursue an extension of the deadline to launch
civil lawsuits against any of the three levels of government.
"It's
caused so much grief already," Mr. Sophonow said. "If
I get the money, I get it. If I don't, I don't. My family and
our peace of mind is worth far more than anything."
In the inquiry's
final report, retired Supreme Court Justice Peter Cory singled
out the Winnipeg police service as having been chiefly responsible
for putting Mr. Sophonow behind bars.
Judge Cory
recommended the province should pay $1.1-million, the federal
government should be responsible for $260,000 and the City of
Winnipeg should fork over "at least" 50% of the tab,
or $1.3-million.
Legal observers
say they believe that by highlighting the city's role, Judge
Cory opened the door for a new precedent on compensation awards.
"It was
utterly appropriate that [Judge Cory] would recommend the city
should pay part of the compensation," said Louis Sokolov,
a Toronto lawyer who acted for the Association in Defence of
the Wrongly Convicted at Mr. Sophonow's inquiry.
"It's
outrageous that they'd now balk at their responsibility to make
it right."
The provincial
government announced it would pay its share as soon as negotiations
with its insurer are complete.
Ottawa has
also agreed to pay its portion.
James Lockyer,
lead counsel for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted,
said compensation awards that stem from judicial inquiries are
not enforceable by law. Mr. Sophonow's only option may be a civil
lawsuit against the city, he 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
