|
 January 25, 2005: The Federal government
released the
first national examination of the reasons for so many wrongful
convictions in Canada. This should be required reading for every prosecutor,
cop and criminal defence lawyer in the country. News
reports
Update on wrongful convictions in Canada, October,
2004
Leon Walchuk
Previous |
oldest
Leon Walchuk: No one in the media has
bothered to become familiar with the real facts in this story.
Now, the insurance companies are ganging up with the crown to
not only deprive him of his liberty but also his livelihood.
|
It cannot
be over-emphasized that the purpose of a criminal prosecution
is not to obtain a conviction, it is to lay before a jury what
the Crown considers to be credible evidence relevant to what
is alleged to be a crime. Counsel have a duty to see that all
available legal proof of the facts is presented: it should be
done firmly and pressed to its legitimate strength but it must
also be done fairly. The role of prosecutor excludes any notion
of winning or losing; his function is a matter of public duty
than which in civil life there can be none charged with greater
personal responsibility. It is to be efficiently performed with
an ingrained sense of the dignity, the seriousness and the justness
of judicial proceedings. --The role of a Crown prosecutor was
described years ago by the Supreme Court of Canada in Boucher
v. R., [1955]
In The James
Driskell case, we have seen how a prosecutor failed to provide
defence counsel with salient facts regarding the nature of their
evidence: namely that thir chief witness was a known liar and
had been paid about $80,000 for his testimony. Even though defence
counsel Greg Brodsky was aware that there was something very
fishy, he became aware of just how fishy 5 months after Driskell
lost his appeal.
Every case is different,
of course, but there are some similarities in the Walchuk case.
The RCMP tampered with the accident scene, turning it into a
"crime" scene, and failed to produce evidence which
the defence expected them to produce and which they could easily
have defended. The prosecution used witnesses with no expertise
but only malice towards the defendant to present a case which
stood the facts on their head. All the evidence supported Leon
Walchuk's testimony that Cori had driven the vehicle into the
house causing gas to become ignited which started the blaze.
Half of the hockey stick which became broken during the tussle
which resulted in Cory falling down the stairs is clearly seen
in one of the photos but is mysteriously missing from another
one. This was a prosecution theory which flew in the face of
the facts and which put the defence at a terrible disadvantage.
After Walchuk's murder conviction,
he hired an independent fire investigator who concluded that
the evidence fit the defence version of the case and could not
fit the facts which the prosecution presented. The car which
Cori drove into the house has since disappeared.
It is a shame that it takes
so long for a conviction obtained so maliciously to receive a
hearing.
|
Justice quashes Walchuk
suit
By LIN OROSZ, Melville Advance
Editor, December 24, 2003
A Melville-area man, currently
imprisoned for the second-degree murder of his estranged wife,
won't be able to collect fire insurance on his house.
In a Court of Queen's Bench decision delivered Thursday in Regina,
Justice William Matheson rejected a lawsuit by Leon Dale Walchuk
seeking to collect the insurance from Wawanesa Mutual Insurance
Company.
Wawanesa refused to pay the insurance on the farm home northeast
of Melville that burned March 30, 1988 saying because Walchuk
deliberately ignited the fire he voided the policy.
On the night of the fire, the body of Walchuk's estranged wife,
Cori, was discovered in the basement. An autopsy revealed she
died of carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from the fire.
Walchuk was convicted of second-degree murder in June 2000 and
was sentenced by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Larry Kyle to
16 years in prison with no possibility of parole.
In sentencing Walchuk following a two-week trial in Yorkton,
Justice Kyle determined Walchuk "intentionally started the
fire which caused the death of Cori".
During his murder trial Walchuk contended the fire was accidental
and began when Cori drove her car into the porch on the northeast
side of the house. That argument was rejected by Justice Kyle.
Walchuk hoped to use a section of the Criminal Code to appeal
to the federal Justice Minister to re-open the case based on
new evidence which purportedly showed the fire was accidental.
Part of that evidence was contained in a nine-page report by
Dr. Gerald Hurst of Austin, Texas, an arson expert who examined
the house in October 2002 with another arson expert from Texas,
Wayne Gibson.
"The evidence purported to show arson does nothing of the
kind," Hurst concluded in his report.
A second report by Alberta arson investigator Peter Pendlebury
indicated the fire likely was caused by an electrical short when
Cori rammed her car into the house.
In dismissing Walchuk's lawsuit against Wawanesa Justice Matheson
ruled allowing it to continue would be an "abuse of process"
because it would challenge the results of his criminal trial.
To find that the fire was accidental would mean an attack on
the original ruling by Justice Kyle that the fire was deliberately
set and caused the death of Cori.
Insurance
Co. won't pay
- Judge ponders Walchuk
claim
By LIN OROSZ, (Melville)
Advance Editor,
December 3, 2003
A Court of Queen's Bench justice
has reserved his decision as to whether a Melville-area farmer
convicted of murdering his wife can pursue an insurance claim
on a house he's accused of burning to cover his crime. Justice
Bill Matheson has been asked by Wawanesa Insurance to throw out
a claim by Leon Dale Walchuk who is currently imprisoned for
the second degree murder of his estranged wife, Cori Walchuk,
March 30, 1998.
Walchuk was convicted and later
sentenced June 14, 2000 to life in prison with no possibility
of parole for 16 years by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Larry
Kyle following a trial in Yorkton. Although Justice Kyle ruled
Walchuk set the blaze that killed his estranged wife, Walchuk's
suit contends that since arson wasn't proved, his insurer, Wawanesa
Insurance, should pay his claim, believed to be about $150,000.
Walchuk filed the claim in
1998 but Wawanesa rejected it shortly after Justice Kyle ruled
Walchuk deliberately set the fire that killed his estranged wife.
During court proceedings in
Regina last week, Wawanesa lawyer Dan Kwochka argued Walchuk's
civil suit should be disallowed and to let it proceed could put
the administration of justice into disrepute.
Walchuk's claim also constituted
an abuse of process, Kwochka argued.
Kwochka told court that to
allow Walchuk's civil suit to proceed would be a "collateral
attack" on Walchuk's murder conviction.
However, Walchuk's lawyer,
Grant Schmidt of Melville, argued the suit doesn't question the
actual murder conviction but instead disagrees with the proposition
Walchuk deliberately set the fire. Schmidt told court the federal
Justice minister will be asked under Section 696 of the Criminal
Code to reopen the case based on fresh evidence that points out
the fire was not a case of arson. An autopsy done on Cori Walchuk
determined she died of carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from
the fire. If it's proved the fire was accidental, then Walchuk's
conviction of second degree murder could be thrown into doubt.
In a interview with The Advance
Thursday, Schmidt said he doesn't know when the judge's ruling
will be made nor would he comment any further.
"This is a professional
matter, it's not political," says the former provincial
politician.
However, on a website - www.saskatchewangold.com
- Walchuk professes his innocence, refuting the findings of Melville
fire investigator Jim Fairbank who testified at the murder trial.
According to the website "Wawanesa
Insurance is trying to have the court throw out Leon's civil
suit citing "abuse of process". They believe that because
Justice Kyle found Leon guilty of murder, they should not have
to pay out the insurance claim. This action erupted only after
the overwhelming evidence proving the cause of the fire was filed
and after the payment to secure a jury was paid.
"It seems quite obvious
that someone is afraid of this matter being heard in court once
again especially when the decision of there being no arson would
be decided by reasonable citizens," the website reads. The
website takes further issue with Fairbank: "One must also
remember that the Crown's fire expert, ex-cop turned fire investigator,
Jim Fairbank, never determined the cause of the fire, nor could
he say whether the fire was accidental or intention(al). he also
got a nice new job with Wawanesa Insurance shortly after the
conclusion of the criminal trial."
In an affidavit filed with
Court of Queen's Bench Oct. 30, 2003, Walchuk states his conviction
for murder was based on incomplete evidence: "Fresh evidence
makes the issue of arson an entirely different issue". Part
of that evidence is the findings of Dr. Gerald Hurst, an arson
expert from Texas, outlined in a report compiled following his
examination of the fire scene in October 2002 when he and another
Texas expert, Kenneth Wayne Gibson, conducted tests.
In his nine-page report, Dr.
Hurst disputes the findings of a cause-and-origin report by Wawanesa
Insurance investigator W. Ross Cheriton that determined arson
as the fire's cause.
Dr. Hurst's report discusses
ignition of wood, time of ignition, burn patterns, gasoline effects
and Zonolite insulation effects, among other points.
"After having both read
Cheriton's report and investigated the scene of the fire myself,
I see no reason based on the physical evidence to doubt the testimony
of Mr. Walchuk. The physical evidence at the scene points to
an accidental fire and not arson.
"The evidence purported
to show arson does nothing of the kind. This is a classic case
of a finding of arson which could only be reached by ignoring
techniques and admonitions of (National Fire Protection Association
921- Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations) and other well-accepted
learned treatises in the fields of fire investigation and fire
dynamics," Hurst concluded in his report.
November 26: The insurance
company gangs up with the Crown to try to strike Walchuk's civil
claim. Walchuk was not present at
the hearing. He has provided us with his response to the Leader
Post report:
- There is significant new evidence
which indicates that the cause of the fire was accidental.
- The original fire investigator
never did determine the cause of the fire.
- This ex-cop turned fire investigator
also chose to deviate from the guidelines which are accepted
by his profession and tried to convince the court of his own
theory in regards to this matter.
- It should also be noted that
Jim Fairbank began working for Wawanesa Insurance shortly after
the completion of the trial.
- Without the cause of the fire
been known the judge should not have been able to return a murder
conviction. Our laws are such that in matters as serious
as this the crown's case must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
- This did not happen in my
case. The court of appeal chose to blindly follow
the lower court's decision, despite acknowledging the obvious
errs made be the lower court. This, in my opinion, was
nothing more than an attempt to maintain the credibility of the
system instead of pursuing justice.
- I hope that the judge reviewing
this matter doesn't fall in the footsteps of the previous courts
especially in light of such overwhelming new evidence.
There have been two fire investigations done on the site by extremely
competent individuals who all agree that this is not a case of
arson.
- I am requesting that a jury
hear this civil matter. I feel that this is the only chance
for a fair hearing. --Leon Walchuk, November 26, 2003
Burned down the house,
but wants insurance
Kevin O'Connor, Leader-Post,
November 26, 2003
A Melville-area farmer convicted
of murdering his estranged wife and accused of setting his house
on fire to cover his tracks is trying to collect on the insurance
money.
But serving prisoner Leon Dale
Walchuk won't get the cash if the insurance company has its way.
On Tuesday, Wawanesa Insurance
was asking Queen's Bench Justice Bill Matheson to throw out the
claim as an abuse of process.
Dan Kwochka, the lawyer representing
Wawanesa, said the civil suit shouldn't be allowed to continue
because it would be a "collateral attack" on the criminal
conviction that could put the administration of justice in disrepute.
On June 14, 2000, Justice Larry
Kyle sentenced Leon Dale Walchuk to life in prison with no possibility
of parole for 16 years after finding him guilty of the second-degree
murder of Cori Walchuk on March 30, 1998.
When emergency crews arrived
at Leon Walchuk's farm the night of the death, they found the
house in flames and Cori Walchuk's car smashed through the back
porch door. She was found dead in the basement.
Walchuk's story was that he
had been fighting with his ex-wife, but that it was she who had
rammed the house with the car, accidentally starting the fire.
Kyle said that story wasn't
credible, ruling instead it was Leon Walchuk who deliberately
set the blaze that killed the mother of two young children.
Kyle also said the blows Walchuk
inflicted on his ex-wife, apparently with a hockey stick, were
a factor in her death.
The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal
later upheld the conviction.
On Monday, Leon Walchuk's lawyer,
Grant Schmidt, said Walchuk plans to use a section of the Criminal
Code to ask the federal justice minister to re-open his case
based on fresh evidence suggesting the fire wasn't arson.
Schmidt also argued that while
the civil lawsuit takes issue with the notion Leon Walchuk set
the fire, it isn't an attack on the murder conviction.
Matheson reserved his decision
on whether or not he would quash the lawsuit, but expressed skepticism
with some of Schmidt's arguments.
He referred to a section of
Kyle's decision that noted Cori Walchuk was screaming as the
house burned around her.
"He (Kyle) couldn't have
found him guilty of murder unless he also found him guilty of
setting the fire," Matheson said.
Schmidt countered that some
future proceeding might find that Cori Walchuk was beaten to
death but that the fire was set accidentally.
"I urge that the civil
case here proceed," Schmidt said.
Leon Walchuk filed an insurance
claim in 1998, but Wawanesa rejected it after he was convicted
of murder and the judge said he set the fire.
The value of the claim wasn't
discussed in court, but it's believed to be approximately $150,000.
© Copyright 2003 The Leader-Post (Regina)
|
Revitalizing the
archives
From 1998 until
2002, injusticebusters was in the throes of identity crisis.
What was it? What were we doing? We grappled with editorial policy
at the same time we were learning the nuts and bolts of building
and posting a website. Once we had a secure, paid site I had
full editorial control, although I talked regularly to Richard
Klassen who was forced to move his family several times and did
not always have access to the internet. Rick's pages: one | two
We posted our
earliest and later actions.
Early versions
of the site can be found on the Wayback Machine.
I began following
other threads to stories of police and prosecutorial misconduct
and the site's character took on another facet: a newsclipping
scrapbook where stories could live longer than they would in
print form. I also began picking up other stories of wrongfully
convicted people. It was an explosion. By 2003 there were over
700 pages. I also had contact with several other people (Don Smith, Leon Walchuk, Monique Turenne, the Vopnis) and kept these stories
going.
It was the
story of the Ross children's treatment at the hands of the Saskatchewan
government which grabbed the attention of The
Fifth Estate.
The civil claim (The $10M Lawsuit as we called it) was only mentioned
briefly at the end of their show which aired in November, 2000.
When Richard
Klassen began to make progress in bringing his civil claim to
court, the government and police defendants alleged he was breaking
the rules of court by publishing discovery material on the internet.
- MacNeil clinic (the document which started it all)
- The Thompson Papers
- Carol
Bunko-Ruys reports
This claim
was absolutely false. However, rather than risk being thrown
out of his civil claim, Klassen undertook before Judge Mona Dovall
to sever all ties with the website.
The court fights:
- Les
Perreaux report
- QB271
These pages have links which
lead to other pages from that era. Now that some of the dust has settled,
I have been going back through the material we had posted in
the early days. In the spirit of keeping the scrapbook alive,
I have been reformatting and placing links. The original material
remains intact. I hope the information, which chronicles our
struggle is useful to you.
The identity
crisis is over. We know who we are --Sheila Steele, March
28, 2005
|
|
