Court rules B.C. doesn’t have to pay full $8 million for wrongful conviction

Justice Christopher Hinkson said in a ruling issued last week that the lawsuit against the three levels of government was indivisible, so the claims should also be unified.

“While the allegations against the settling defendants and non-settling defendants were based upon different allegations of fault, the relief sought was essentially the same: compensation for a wrongful conviction and some 27 years of incarceration,” he wrote.

“I find that at least some of the settlement funds paid by the settling defendants to the plaintiff must be deducted from the damages that I have found the plaintiff is owed by the province.”

The ruling did not say how much the city and federal government settled for or how much the province must now pay Henry.

Henry’s lawyers declined comment on the decision or whether they will appeal.

They argued in court that Henry should be awarded as much as $43 million for damages.

Hinkson wrote in his original ruling on the compensation award that Henry likely would have been acquitted during a trial in 1983 if he had received the disclosure he was entitled to.

The judge said the Crown’s decision to withhold information demonstrated a “shocking disregard” for his rights and “seriously infringed” on his right to a fair trial.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Court rules B.C. doesn’t have to pay full $8 million for wrongful conviction

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