The provincial government says it is not responsible for the wrongful convictions of two Indigenous men 50 years ago because its prosecutors didn’t know Winnipeg police officers had obtained false confessions.
Lawsuits filed last year by Allan Woodhouse and Brian Anderson accused police officers and a Crown prosecutor of colluding to bring false evidence into the trial. In separate statements of defence filed last week, the province claims that’s not the case.
The province admits the two men were victims of a “miscarriage of justice,” but says police, not provincial prosecutors, are the only ones responsible for investigating crimes and it is up to the federal courts to determine whether confessions are “voluntary and accurate.”
“The plaintiff’s conviction was primarily caused by a false confession unlawfully obtained from him by members of the Winnipeg Police Service,” the province claims in the documents.
“The Government of Manitoba and the Attorney General for Manitoba had no knowledge of the falsity of the confession and bear no responsibility for the miscarriage of justice that it occasioned … the prosecuting Crown attorneys relied upon the information, records, evidence and other disclosure given to them by the members of the WPS in making the decision to charge the plaintiff.
“Any loss or damage sustained by the plaintiff, as alleged, was caused or significantly contributed to by third parties for whom Manitoba is not responsible.”
The province also launched cross-claims against the City of Winnipeg and the Attorney General of Canada, saying if a court does order the province to pay damages, the city and federal government should be responsible for paying it instead.
James Lockyer, a lawyer for the two men and director of Innocence Canada, said the statement of defence is not what Woodhouse or Anderson wanted to hear.
“It’s frustrating … the finger pointing,” Lockyer said Wednesday.
“They are just looking for compensation and that’s it. It would be nice if everyone could get together and sort out what’s appropriate.”
Lawyer James Lockyer said Clarence Woodhouse “will likely be joining in the civil case” but the estate of Russell Woodhouse is not eligible to join the lawsuit yet because he remains convicted in the slaying.
Restaurant worker Ting Fong Chan was stabbed to death in Winnipeg in 1973.
Woodhouse and Anderson, along with brothers Clarence and Russell Woodhouse — all from Pinaymootang First Nation — were convicted and given life sentences in 1974. Anderson received parole in 1987 and Woodhouse in 1990. Russell died in 2011, while Clarence served 12 years in prison before being paroled in 1987.
During a 2023 hearing, where Woodhouse and Anderson were acquitted, Michele Jules, Manitoba Prosecution Service executive director, said their confessions had been “entirely manufactured by police detectives.”
In October, Clarence walked out of court an innocent man for the first time in half a century after Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal issued an acquittal for him. The court had been told the case involving all four men included systemic racism, police brutality and false and forced confessions.
Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said both he and Premier Wab Kinew have apologized to all four men for the miscarriage of justice.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Allan Woodhouse (left) and Brian Anderson pose for a photo after exiting the Law Courts as innocent men in July 2023.
“We will never be able to give back the past that was robbed of these individuals and others in a similar situation, but we can take steps to move forward in a way that attempts to do right,” Wiebe said in a statement.
“Manitoba is actively pursuing settlement discussions with the plaintiffs in the hopes of quickly reaching a resolution to right this wrong.”
Lockyer said Clarence “will likely be joining in the civil case” with the other two men.
Lockyer said the estate of Russell is not eligible to join the lawsuit because he remains convicted in the slaying.
“We haven’t got his conviction quashed by the minister yet,” said the lawyer. “We are still hoping that will happen, but it hasn’t happened yet. Russell still stands convicted of manslaughter. There’s nothing we can do in his case until we’ve quashed the conviction.”
Last year, both the city and the federal government filed statements of defence with both denying legal liability for the miscarriages of justice.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.
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