Canada: B.C. man set free after 27 years in custody for wrongful conviction

Crooked prosecutors again

Ivan Henry's family burst into tears as an appeals court judge set him free after 27-years in custody because of a wrongful conviction. Speaking as a free man for the first time in nearly three decades, Ivan Henry, now 63-year-old, says he isn't angry.

"What for, it just wouldn't heal me if I was angry." said Henry, "I've got grandkids that I'm so proud of and I've got a little dog that I look after, he's my friend."

His daughter, Tanya Oliveras, said she couldn't be happier with the courts decision. "We're just going to move ahead, I mean it's going to take a long to try to lead a normal life. This has been a sentence for my dad but it's also been a sentence for my sister and I." said Oliveras,"It's 29 years. 29 years we have known nothing different than this."

Henry was found guilty on eight counts of rape and indecent assault in 1993.

Major holes were found in the original investigation and in his conviction after reviewing police practices and non-disclosure by the crown, including the judge allowing jurors to infer Henry was guilty because he refused to be in a police line-up. His lawyer Marilyn Sanford said Henry spent years trying to get those convictions overturned.

"I think one thing to keep in mind about Ivan Henry's case is this is not someone who just sat quietly in jail languishing for 27 years. He brought application after application to the courts." said Sanford. "(it was) shocking to read how many times he was asking to see the exhibits - I want to see the witness statements that I never got - and nobody paid attention for the longest time." Sanford says Henry wasn't treated fairly because he represented himself.

Henry has spent the last 18 months under house arrest during the appeals process. Henry's family says they would like to celebrate for a while before they decide whether not not to pursue compensation.

Original report here




(And don't forget your ration of Wicked Thoughts for today. Now hosted on Wordpress. If you cannot access it, go to the MIRROR SITE, where posts appear as well as on the primary site. I have reposted the archives (past posts) for Wicked Thoughts HERE or HERE or here