Canada: Miscarriage of justice feared

Ivan Henry has spent 25 years in prison for notorious series of Vancouver rapes

New evidence gathered by police casts doubt on the 1983 conviction of Ivan Henry -- who has spent the past 25 years in prison for a series of rapes in the city. Independent special prosecutor Len Doust has told the province it should not oppose re-opening his case. Henry, 62, has always denied committing the attacks.

The new evidence -- along with evidence used by the Crown to convict Henry, now 62, for raping three young women, attempting to rape two others and five indecent assaults -- was examined by Doust to see if a miscarriage of justice occurred.

On Friday, the Criminal Justice Branch issued a press release saying Doust recommends the Crown not oppose re-opening an appeal by Henry against his conviction. Doust ruled the new evidence was “relevant and potentially exculpatory” and said it should be made available to Henry and his lawyer Cameron Ward, the release said

Unless his appeal is successful, Henry could spend the rest of his life in prison. After his conviction, the Crown successfully applied for a dangerous offender designation, with the judge describing Henry as lacking “any redeeming qualities.” Under the designation, Henry received an indeterminate prison sentence.

Doust was asked by the attorney-general’s ministry in November to review the new evidence and the conviction. Just what this evidence is or how it would potentially clear Henry was not spelled out in the press release. Neither were details given of “Project Smallman” -- the Vancouver police investigation that apparently unearthed evidence that might prove Henry was not the rapist who caused such panic in the city between May, 1981 and June, 1982.

The attacks were carried out against women living in ground floor or basement suites in the Mount Pleasant, Marpole and Kitsilano areas. At the time of his arrest, Henry was out on mandatory release after serving most of a five-year sentence for an attempted rape in Winnipeg.

Ward said Friday that he would be meeting with Henry within the next week to lay the groundwork for an appeal to the B.C. Court of Appeal. Ward said he had no idea what the new evidence might be. “As far as I can see it’s something that came from the police to the Crown. So we will have to wait and see what they intend to disclose,” said Ward, who was on holiday in the United States when reached by The Vancouver Sun. “I haven’t spoken to Mr. Henry yet but I have spoken to his family and they are greatly encouraged by what has happened. “He always maintained his innocence from the time of his arrest until the present,” Ward said.

Henry was tried in March, 1983, by a B.C. Supreme Court jury and Justice John Bouck. Henry represented himself at the trial. It took the jury only six hours to convict him of three counts of rape, five of indecent assault and two of attempted rape. “He’s been in jail ever since and he’s never really had an appeal on the merits of the case against him,” said Ward. He said Henry filed an appeal against his convictions and the sentences but they were dismissed “for want of prosecution.” “What happened was he missed the deadline for filing transcripts. So the appeal court has never had a chance to review the evidence against him,” said Ward.

He has reviewed the trial transcript and said the Crown’s case was built on Henry being identified as the attacker by some of the victims: “There wasn’t any physical evidence linking him to the crimes. As far as I can see the Crown now has come into possession of evidence suggesting his conviction may have been a miscarriage of justice and someone else may have been responsible.”

Vancouver lawyer David Crossin has been appointed by the Criminal Justice Branch as independent special prosecutor to deal with the case. Ward said if the evidence shows Henry was wrongfully convicted, his client would have “lost a quarter of a century” of freedom. “It’s a serious matter and, as we know from the David Milgaard and Thomas Sophonow cases, compensation might become an issue,” said Ward. Milgaard and Sophonow both served lengthy jail terms for murders they didn’t commit. Milgaard received $10 million in compensation while Sophonow received $2.6 million.

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