Friday, September 4, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Regarding Colin Thatcher
This video is quite funny, making fun of the prison. But on the more serious side, we have the case of Colin Thatcher. Who is he? A former premier of the Province of Saskatchewan, in Canada.
Colin Thatcher, being a politician, became a media target when his former wife was found murdered. He was blamed, of course, since the relationship had become quite sour. Throughout his trial and his appeals, Thatcher has steadfastly maintained his innocence, which he admits is probably the reason he was not paroled until late 2006.
Sounds a little familiar doesn't it? Derik has also maintined his innocence for over 17 years now. He also cannot get parole. He also refused to confess to a crime he did not do. At least, in Colin Thatcher's case, there was some evidence, circumstantial as it was, that allowed the police to believe they may have been correct. Derik's case shows nothing like that at all.
I am looking forward to reading the book Colin has written about his wrongful conviction. I am expecting some very similar things between the investigation in that case and the investigation in Derik's case. A substantial lack of physical evidence, police coercion of witnesses, police fabrication of evidence, crown hiding evidence which could have helped the defense, and more.
This is yet another nail in the coffin of the laws of Canada in relaion to appeals on wrongful convictions. Once again, the case is made that Canada needs to take a page from Great Britain. We need to have an independent group look into these cases of potential wrongful convictions. We can go back many years and look at cases that have been proven to be wrong. The pattern is unmistakeable.
The largest issue by far has to be the appeals to the Minister of Justice. The entire process of appeal there is contaminated by the fact that the Minister is the overall boss of the entire process of evidence gathering, holding trials, and holding appeals. Despite the laws of Canada, the Minister can override any evidence of wrongful conviction and refuse to allow a closer look. Even when a closer look is made, the Minister can choose to overlook any mistakes found and hold the verdict. This system is about as fair as asking the dog who chases the cat to decide if chasing the cat is an ok thing to do.
There is something else in common between these two men. Neither Colin Thatcher nor Derik Lord has been abl to gain parole from the prison system because of their maintaining their innocence. In both cases, parole officers employed by the prison demanded a confession, an accouting for the crime, an apology for committing the crime, or some other detailing of the crime. This is wrong in more was than one. The issue that I have with this process is that Canada is a signatory to the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. Canada has agreed to this Body of Principles.
Principle 21
It shall be prohibited to take undue advantage of the situation of a detained or imprisoned person for the purpose of compelling him to confess, to incriminate himself otherwise or to testify against any other person.
Forcing a confesion before allowing the prisoner to apply for Parole violates this fundamental principle. Forcing a confession to gain support for any sort of release is also a gross violation of this fundamental principle.
If you want more details, check out the website:
Please write to the Minister of Justice, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A1
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://coachelouise.com
http://twitter.com/coachelouise
Monday, August 31, 2009
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Sunday, August 30, 2009
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Friday, August 28, 2009
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Thursday, August 27, 2009
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
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Thursday, August 20, 2009
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Again
Just browsing around this morning and I checked a site I had not read in a while. On it I found some comments about Derik's case that I had not read before. I was especially intrigued by the new posts by Derik's fiancee, Jasminda. I know she could write, but was suprised by her eloquence in this one! Way to go Jasminda! Here is the blog if you would like to read what she says:
http://closer-look.blogspot.com/2007/01/derik-lords-long-wait-jan.html
It is extremely hard in Canada to get a wrongful convicton overturned. We may never be able to do that.
My biggest issue with the system of incarceration we have here is the lack of parole availability. Our Parole Board states over and over that he will not see the outside of a prison without confessing to the crime. That volates the Criminal Code of Canada, is against the National Parole Board's own policies, flies in the face of the agreements Canada has signed with other countries under the United Nations umbrella, and is just not fair.
Derik, because he has family and friends who support him, has been able to stay away from the bad things that happen in our prisons on a regular basis. For example, he has not started using drugs, which are so readily available inside our prisons. Other prisoners have told me drugs are not only more avalable, they are cheaper than on the street. Drugs are the biggest problem inside our prisons. Management tries many things to solve the issue, but the roadblocks set up by the Guard's Union keep the measures from being more effective. Sure searching visitors catches some of the drugs being brought in, but not searching the gym bags and other containers brought in by guards gives a large avenue of importation that is not being closed off.
The only way to stop that door is to remove guards from the front entrances and replace them with a different security force such as the Commissionaires. That way, union members are not searching other union members. It would close a very large portal for getting contraband into the prisons.
The lack of family support becomes more apparent when we attend social events in the prisons. I have been approached by many prisoners who have not seen any family members or friends since being incarcerated. There are many reasons for this, but from what I have seen, visiting is not encouraged by the system. Although they give mouth to a great policy and openness for visiting, in actual practice, it does not happen easily. My husband has not seen his son for nearly 3 years now because they do not like his words. He writes letters to upper anagement noting obvious, glaring errors in the functioning of the visitng process. Because he embarrasses them, he is not allowed to visit. Derik has even been told to shut his father up and he might get parole! What a farce!
I can't help everyone, but I have supported some men who finally were able to gain parole. All except one have stayed out because they had someone to talk to outside of the prison environment. Someone who could give advice, support ( not with money) and just be friendly. These men are doing fine now. workng, supporting themselves and in some cases, their families, participating in outreach activties in the prisons, and more. Many more helpful people are needed in order to reduce Canada's growing prison population. Our Federal Government and its policies make it a very hard place to be.
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
Please write our Prime Minister
Stephen HARPER
Office of the Prime Minister of Canada,
Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa,
Ontario,
Canada
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://coachelouise.com
http://closer-look.blogspot.com/2007/01/derik-lords-long-wait-jan.html
It is extremely hard in Canada to get a wrongful convicton overturned. We may never be able to do that.
My biggest issue with the system of incarceration we have here is the lack of parole availability. Our Parole Board states over and over that he will not see the outside of a prison without confessing to the crime. That volates the Criminal Code of Canada, is against the National Parole Board's own policies, flies in the face of the agreements Canada has signed with other countries under the United Nations umbrella, and is just not fair.
Derik, because he has family and friends who support him, has been able to stay away from the bad things that happen in our prisons on a regular basis. For example, he has not started using drugs, which are so readily available inside our prisons. Other prisoners have told me drugs are not only more avalable, they are cheaper than on the street. Drugs are the biggest problem inside our prisons. Management tries many things to solve the issue, but the roadblocks set up by the Guard's Union keep the measures from being more effective. Sure searching visitors catches some of the drugs being brought in, but not searching the gym bags and other containers brought in by guards gives a large avenue of importation that is not being closed off.
The only way to stop that door is to remove guards from the front entrances and replace them with a different security force such as the Commissionaires. That way, union members are not searching other union members. It would close a very large portal for getting contraband into the prisons.
The lack of family support becomes more apparent when we attend social events in the prisons. I have been approached by many prisoners who have not seen any family members or friends since being incarcerated. There are many reasons for this, but from what I have seen, visiting is not encouraged by the system. Although they give mouth to a great policy and openness for visiting, in actual practice, it does not happen easily. My husband has not seen his son for nearly 3 years now because they do not like his words. He writes letters to upper anagement noting obvious, glaring errors in the functioning of the visitng process. Because he embarrasses them, he is not allowed to visit. Derik has even been told to shut his father up and he might get parole! What a farce!
I can't help everyone, but I have supported some men who finally were able to gain parole. All except one have stayed out because they had someone to talk to outside of the prison environment. Someone who could give advice, support ( not with money) and just be friendly. These men are doing fine now. workng, supporting themselves and in some cases, their families, participating in outreach activties in the prisons, and more. Many more helpful people are needed in order to reduce Canada's growing prison population. Our Federal Government and its policies make it a very hard place to be.
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
Please write our Prime Minister
Stephen HARPER
Office of the Prime Minister of Canada,
Parliament Buildings,
Ottawa,
Ontario,
Canada
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://coachelouise.com
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Troubled Waters
I was in William Head prison for a social event last week. It was a lot of fun. But it had a dark side to it as well.
It was a family day, so the inmate committee hired a clown group to entertain the children. Unfortunately, there were not many children there. My granddaughter had so much fun running after the clowns, the gigantic beach ball, and throwing water balloons at everyone. We lost the giant beach ball though. The prison is on a point, surrounded on 3 sides by ocean. The wind caught the ball and carried it over the fence and into the water. Last we saw of it, it was heading rapidly towards Bellingham, WA. A helpful sailor tried to catch it using his sailboat, but the wind carried it away so fast, he had to give up within minutes!
I found that most of the prisoners do not have family who visit them. We were greatly outnumbered by lonely men watching and wishing they had someone to visit them. Tony is one such man
Tony comes from the other coast of Canada. The east coast. Labrador, to be exact. He was never close to his family. There were issues around alcohol and drugs in his home. Since he left home at 13, he has not had contact with any family, for 27 years. He has spent a long time in prison, 21 years. He made parole a couple of times and came back both times because he fell right back into the same stuff that got him there in the first place. Now, at the ripe age of 40, he is looking to start his life over again. This time, he is clean, no drugs. He and Derik have been working together to get him training for a job out there. He has been off the drugs for 2 years now. He is working on carpentry skills. He is learning to cook from Derik, He is working in the prison sawmill. But he has no family support.
We allowed him to participate in the activities with our family. He had agreat day, but... I wonder how he will do outside those prison walls. He has never had a bank account. He has never learned to budget. He has never learned how to find a job. He has never seen a computer up close. He will need coaching when he gains parole next. Who will be there for him? So many are in the same situation.
Drastic changes are needed to our prison system to give these fellows a fighting chance to have a "normal" life. Trsining for work is not provided in all prisons. Counselling is not always readily available outside the walls. The parole system sets them up to fail. Job security for prison workers?
Because Derik has been wrongfully convicted, he is spending much more prison time than someone who confesses to a crime. He cannot lie well. He refuses to make a false confession just to get out of prison. So he stays. He has grown up inside those walls. Fortunately he has family support. He will have a job almost immediately in carpentry. He will have guidance to set up his living quarters, his bank account, his budget, and all those other things we all take for granted by the time we reach our 30's.
The current Parole Board cannot see past a confession. It violates the Criminal Code of Canada to use imprisonment in order to coerce a confession, but they do it anyway. It appears they set themselves above the law. The United Nations has realized that using coercion to force a confession is a violation of basic human rights. Canada is signatory to the agreement on treatment of prisoners. So why does our government not force our prison system to follow the laws and tenets? Why is there no avenue to correct errors in the system?
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml
Anyone have any ideas?
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
Contact me or leave a comment.
Don't be afraid to leave your name. I will not come after you. Anonymous comments do not lead to further discussion; it always stops there it seems.
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://coachelouise.com
http://twitter.com/coachelouise
Monday, June 29, 2009
The cost of wrongful convictions
Canada has its share of trials that go wrong. Occasionally the wrong people are found guilty of grievous criminal acts.
WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
Some of the Canadians who have been exonerated after being wrongfully convicted
STEVEN TRUSCOTT
Truscott, 14 at the time, was charged with the rape and killing of 12-year-old Lynne Harper in 1959. He was sentenced to hang, but instead spent 10 years in prison. In 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal called his incarceration and the subsequent 40 years of being labelled as Ms. Harper's killer "a miscarriage of justice." He was to receive $6.5-million in compensation.
DAVID MILGAARD
Found guilty of the 1969 murder of Gail Miller. Spent 23 years in prison. Received $10-million in compensation, including $750,000 payment to his mother.
THOMAS SOPHONOW
Found guilty of the murder of a 16-year-old Winnipeg waitress. Spent four years in jail before being freed in 1985. Received $2.5-million in compensation.
DONALD MARSHALL JR.
Found guilty of the 1971 murder of acquaintance Sandy Seale, who was actually killed in a robbery attempt. Spent 11 years in prison before being acquitted. Received a lifetime pension of $1.5-million.
CLAYTON JOHNSON
Found guilty in 1993 of murdering his wife when she had actually fallen down the stairs. Spent five years in prison before the conviction was overturned. Received $2.5-million.
RANDY DRUKEN
Found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in 1993. Spent nearly six years in prison before a jailhouse informant recanted his testimony. DNA evidence later implicated his brother. Received $2.1-million.
GUY PAUL MORIN
Tried for the 1984 murder of nine-year-old neighbour. Released in 1986, retried in 1992. Finally cleared in 1995 based on DNA evidence. Received $1.2-million in compensation.
JASON DIX
Convicted of murder in 1994 deaths of two Edmonton-area factory workers. Spent 22 months in jail before charges dismissed, based on case mismanagement by RCMP. Awarded nearly $765,000 damages.
RONALD DALTON
Charged with strangling his wife in 1988 and spent almost nine years in a Newfoundland jail. A retrial in 2000 found him not guilty. Paid $750,000 in compensation.
MOST RECENTLY, THE CASE OF IVAN HENRY
Ivan Henry already had a criminal history in 1983, a previous conviction for attempted rape. He also had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. According to a court-appointed psychiatrist, he was psychotic and suffered paranoid delusions.
Clearly, there was no advantage for him to defend himself on multiple sex charges in B. C. Supreme Court. But he did and despite a lack of reliable evidence -- and a host of other troublesome factors, unacknowledged at his trial but surfacing now -- Henry was convicted by a jury on three counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and five of indecent assault.
A judge declared him a dangerous offender, which meant he might never experience freedom again.
He has spent the past 26 years in prison for crimes he has always maintained he did not commit.
Now released on bail, pending a decision on whether or not he will be re-tried, Ivan Henry has to learn how to live in a much changed world. Based on previous settlements for overturned convictions, he could easily be a recipient of several millions of dollars to smooth the way.
Would it not be more cost effective to monitor convictions with issues able to be reviewed by a totally separate group such as the Criminal Case Review Commission in England, one which is independent of police and prosecution, and on that will not cost the wrongfully convicted person hundreds of thousnds of dollars in lawyer fees?
WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS
Some of the Canadians who have been exonerated after being wrongfully convicted
STEVEN TRUSCOTT
Truscott, 14 at the time, was charged with the rape and killing of 12-year-old Lynne Harper in 1959. He was sentenced to hang, but instead spent 10 years in prison. In 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal called his incarceration and the subsequent 40 years of being labelled as Ms. Harper's killer "a miscarriage of justice." He was to receive $6.5-million in compensation.
DAVID MILGAARD
Found guilty of the 1969 murder of Gail Miller. Spent 23 years in prison. Received $10-million in compensation, including $750,000 payment to his mother.
THOMAS SOPHONOW
Found guilty of the murder of a 16-year-old Winnipeg waitress. Spent four years in jail before being freed in 1985. Received $2.5-million in compensation.
DONALD MARSHALL JR.
Found guilty of the 1971 murder of acquaintance Sandy Seale, who was actually killed in a robbery attempt. Spent 11 years in prison before being acquitted. Received a lifetime pension of $1.5-million.
CLAYTON JOHNSON
Found guilty in 1993 of murdering his wife when she had actually fallen down the stairs. Spent five years in prison before the conviction was overturned. Received $2.5-million.
RANDY DRUKEN
Found guilty of murdering his girlfriend in 1993. Spent nearly six years in prison before a jailhouse informant recanted his testimony. DNA evidence later implicated his brother. Received $2.1-million.
GUY PAUL MORIN
Tried for the 1984 murder of nine-year-old neighbour. Released in 1986, retried in 1992. Finally cleared in 1995 based on DNA evidence. Received $1.2-million in compensation.
JASON DIX
Convicted of murder in 1994 deaths of two Edmonton-area factory workers. Spent 22 months in jail before charges dismissed, based on case mismanagement by RCMP. Awarded nearly $765,000 damages.
RONALD DALTON
Charged with strangling his wife in 1988 and spent almost nine years in a Newfoundland jail. A retrial in 2000 found him not guilty. Paid $750,000 in compensation.
MOST RECENTLY, THE CASE OF IVAN HENRY
Ivan Henry already had a criminal history in 1983, a previous conviction for attempted rape. He also had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. According to a court-appointed psychiatrist, he was psychotic and suffered paranoid delusions.
Clearly, there was no advantage for him to defend himself on multiple sex charges in B. C. Supreme Court. But he did and despite a lack of reliable evidence -- and a host of other troublesome factors, unacknowledged at his trial but surfacing now -- Henry was convicted by a jury on three counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and five of indecent assault.
A judge declared him a dangerous offender, which meant he might never experience freedom again.
He has spent the past 26 years in prison for crimes he has always maintained he did not commit.
Now released on bail, pending a decision on whether or not he will be re-tried, Ivan Henry has to learn how to live in a much changed world. Based on previous settlements for overturned convictions, he could easily be a recipient of several millions of dollars to smooth the way.
Would it not be more cost effective to monitor convictions with issues able to be reviewed by a totally separate group such as the Criminal Case Review Commission in England, one which is independent of police and prosecution, and on that will not cost the wrongfully convicted person hundreds of thousnds of dollars in lawyer fees?
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
How little we think
I was thinking this morning about how the littlest thing can become a huge roadblock if we just ignore it.
A friend, LG, had the engine in his truck blow up and leave him stranded in the bush. He is a pensioner, living on a restricted income, so he does whatever he can to increase his paltry earnings. One of those things is to buy a truckload of potatoes and vegetables and then bag and resell them for some extra money. Unfortunately, that does not cover the cost of a new truck or even a new motor for an old one.
It was really hot that day. He was worried that his vegetables would become spoiled quickly, so he started to walk out. after a couple of hours walking, he suffered a heat stroke and fell into the ditch. That cooled him off enough to save his life.
Long story short, he made it to Hope that evening.
He stayed with a friend overnight, then purchased an alternator and battery for his old truck believing that would get it back on the road again. Then he hitched and walked back to his truck.
It turned out to be just a temporary fix, however, but at least this time he was on the main road, not away out in the bush. He hitched to a mechanic's place that he knew in Hope and had the fellow tow his truck in and have a look at the problem. Turns out the engine was beyond repair. The estimated cost of fixing the truck would be over $2500. He did not have that much!
He then went across to the local car dealership. There was an older truck similar to his own, the price was $2000. Better than repairing the old one. However, that was still too much money for him to pay. He then arranged for a test drive, using a dealer plate to cover him for insurance and proceeded to his bank to arrange a loan to pay for it.
He did not get the loan. Then the race was on! going from one debtor to another, he was trying to collect from everyone who owed him for potatoes or whatever else to collect enough for the truck. He didn't make it. So, he kept the truck overnight.
Meantime, the police were notified and he was now a fugitive without realizing it. It was 3 more days before he went back to the dealership to try again to purchase the truck. Imagine his surprise when he was arrested for theft and possession of stolen property.
Ignoring the fact that what you are doing could be conceived as wrong, does not make it right. He truly believed all he had to do was explain and he would be fine. Not quite that easy.
Brought me back to a time about 17 years ago when I told my son, Derik, that he would not go to prison for a crime he did not do as there would be no physical evidence to put him there. Boy was I wrong!
He was arrested, tried and sentenced to life in prison despite the fact it was admitted in court that there was no physical evidence to tie him to the scene. There were no eye witnesses, no hair was found, no fingerprints, nothing that could put him there. There were footprints, fibers, etc at the scene, but since they did not match Derik's they were mentioned briefly and ignored.
At the end of it all, one small thing like making a purchase in a store in a different city would have exonerated him, but he bought nothing, just shopped around.
So now, because he did not make a purchase, he spent 17 years in prison so far for a crime he did not commit because he had no proof that he was elsewhere. LG will get away with stealing a truck because he can claim senility, despite the fact he brought the truck back after using it on the dealer plate for nearly a week.
Where is the fairness?
http://canadianinjustice.com
http://coacheouise.com
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
A friend, LG, had the engine in his truck blow up and leave him stranded in the bush. He is a pensioner, living on a restricted income, so he does whatever he can to increase his paltry earnings. One of those things is to buy a truckload of potatoes and vegetables and then bag and resell them for some extra money. Unfortunately, that does not cover the cost of a new truck or even a new motor for an old one.
It was really hot that day. He was worried that his vegetables would become spoiled quickly, so he started to walk out. after a couple of hours walking, he suffered a heat stroke and fell into the ditch. That cooled him off enough to save his life.
Long story short, he made it to Hope that evening.
He stayed with a friend overnight, then purchased an alternator and battery for his old truck believing that would get it back on the road again. Then he hitched and walked back to his truck.
It turned out to be just a temporary fix, however, but at least this time he was on the main road, not away out in the bush. He hitched to a mechanic's place that he knew in Hope and had the fellow tow his truck in and have a look at the problem. Turns out the engine was beyond repair. The estimated cost of fixing the truck would be over $2500. He did not have that much!
He then went across to the local car dealership. There was an older truck similar to his own, the price was $2000. Better than repairing the old one. However, that was still too much money for him to pay. He then arranged for a test drive, using a dealer plate to cover him for insurance and proceeded to his bank to arrange a loan to pay for it.
He did not get the loan. Then the race was on! going from one debtor to another, he was trying to collect from everyone who owed him for potatoes or whatever else to collect enough for the truck. He didn't make it. So, he kept the truck overnight.
Meantime, the police were notified and he was now a fugitive without realizing it. It was 3 more days before he went back to the dealership to try again to purchase the truck. Imagine his surprise when he was arrested for theft and possession of stolen property.
Ignoring the fact that what you are doing could be conceived as wrong, does not make it right. He truly believed all he had to do was explain and he would be fine. Not quite that easy.
Brought me back to a time about 17 years ago when I told my son, Derik, that he would not go to prison for a crime he did not do as there would be no physical evidence to put him there. Boy was I wrong!
He was arrested, tried and sentenced to life in prison despite the fact it was admitted in court that there was no physical evidence to tie him to the scene. There were no eye witnesses, no hair was found, no fingerprints, nothing that could put him there. There were footprints, fibers, etc at the scene, but since they did not match Derik's they were mentioned briefly and ignored.
At the end of it all, one small thing like making a purchase in a store in a different city would have exonerated him, but he bought nothing, just shopped around.
So now, because he did not make a purchase, he spent 17 years in prison so far for a crime he did not commit because he had no proof that he was elsewhere. LG will get away with stealing a truck because he can claim senility, despite the fact he brought the truck back after using it on the dealer plate for nearly a week.
Where is the fairness?
http://canadianinjustice.com
http://coacheouise.com
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Visiting a Prison
You know, I have been visiting my son in various prisons for 17 years now. It seems like forever, but it is only half of his life. The other half was spent with me and the rest of the family at home.
Some things never change.
Visiting at a prison is one of those things. Firstly, you had better make sure your booking for the visit was properly recorded, otherwise, you will not get in no matter how far you have come.
When we were still living in Victoria, I made an appointment to visit Derik at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford. The visiting time started at 1 pm for a Saturday visit. At the same time, I booked for my then 72 year old mother to come with me.
I was up at 5:30 am to ensure I would be on the first ferry from Victoria, at 7 am. I had left my car at the Boundary Bay Airport and taken the bus back to the ferry last time, so I did not have the additional cost of the parking or of the fare for bringing the car both ways on the ferry. I arrived at my car around 9:30 am by bus and a nice walk. Then I went into Vancouver to pick up my mother. We could only visit for about a half hour in order to get out to Abbotsford in time for the visit.
1:00 pm. We arrived at the prison. We had to wait outside for 15 minutes while the guards got ready to process visitors, an inconvenience that usually took 10 to 15 minutes away from our visit. Then, while being processed (sounds like cattle) I was told that I could go in, but not my mother as she had to make a separate phone call to book her own visit even though without me she would not have gotten there!
What a surprise. We had only been doing this same procedure for two and a half years. Policy change. No notification, no warning, suddenly we had to make two separate long distance calls to be able to visit Derik together.
My mother was quite a woman. She told me to go visit as I had come so far. She would keep herself amused watching the front entry guards play card games on their computers. She thought it was quite funny that they could not find anything else to do to us, so they split us up. I was angry, and so was Derik.
He put in a grievance about it and within 3 months, quick by Canadian Government standards, I had a letter giving me permission to book visits for my mother
Sounds like the end of the issue doesn't it? Now, he is at William Head Institution near Victoria, a minimum security institution, and we have had to make 3 phone calls for 3 visitors to visit him last weekend. Some things never change.
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
Some things never change.
Visiting at a prison is one of those things. Firstly, you had better make sure your booking for the visit was properly recorded, otherwise, you will not get in no matter how far you have come.
When we were still living in Victoria, I made an appointment to visit Derik at Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford. The visiting time started at 1 pm for a Saturday visit. At the same time, I booked for my then 72 year old mother to come with me.
I was up at 5:30 am to ensure I would be on the first ferry from Victoria, at 7 am. I had left my car at the Boundary Bay Airport and taken the bus back to the ferry last time, so I did not have the additional cost of the parking or of the fare for bringing the car both ways on the ferry. I arrived at my car around 9:30 am by bus and a nice walk. Then I went into Vancouver to pick up my mother. We could only visit for about a half hour in order to get out to Abbotsford in time for the visit.
1:00 pm. We arrived at the prison. We had to wait outside for 15 minutes while the guards got ready to process visitors, an inconvenience that usually took 10 to 15 minutes away from our visit. Then, while being processed (sounds like cattle) I was told that I could go in, but not my mother as she had to make a separate phone call to book her own visit even though without me she would not have gotten there!
What a surprise. We had only been doing this same procedure for two and a half years. Policy change. No notification, no warning, suddenly we had to make two separate long distance calls to be able to visit Derik together.
My mother was quite a woman. She told me to go visit as I had come so far. She would keep herself amused watching the front entry guards play card games on their computers. She thought it was quite funny that they could not find anything else to do to us, so they split us up. I was angry, and so was Derik.
He put in a grievance about it and within 3 months, quick by Canadian Government standards, I had a letter giving me permission to book visits for my mother
Sounds like the end of the issue doesn't it? Now, he is at William Head Institution near Victoria, a minimum security institution, and we have had to make 3 phone calls for 3 visitors to visit him last weekend. Some things never change.
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Should prisoners get mail?
Not only are telephones not free, but it can be difficult to get in touch too. A friend of mine from Algeria sent my son a letter a couple of months ago. The letter has not yet arrived to Derik.
That did not upset me too much at first, but then I received an email from the Innocence Project at UBC asking why Derik had not responded to their last 3 letters.
On Sunday. I asked Derik if he had received their letters. He said no that he only know what I had told him from the letters we had received. Unfortunately, our letters do not contain the information as to what they have done and are doing on Derik's case. Our letters also do have the Questions that they require answers to.
These letters are legal mail and cannot be held back. The letters were written in February, March and April of this year. It is now June. I called the institution, and was told that someone would check into it and call me back. At the same time, I requested that they pass a message to Derik to call home. This was at 10 am.
By noon, I had not heard anything, so I called the Deputy Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada in Abbotsford. Could not speak to her, of course, but her assistant did take note of my concerns and said someone from William Head would contact me soon.
Around 7 pm, Derik called thinking some sort of emergency was going on since I rarely use that method of getting hold of him. I said no emergence, just informed him of the calls I had made. Also passed along the message that the Innocence project has been waiting for a reply. He told me that there were 3 letters waiting for him to pick up after the call. As I found out, those were the 3 letters that had not been delivered to him.
What really bothers me is that if we were to somehow interfere with mail delivery, we could get up to 14 years in prison. It seems they can do it without penalty. 4 months to deliver a letter is absolutely absurd. the letters came from Vancouver. they had to travel a total distance of 40 km to get to him. Funny how they all showed up on the same day, after I had made a call to Regional Headquarters!
Unfortunately the one from Algeria still has not turned up.
My letters take two days to get to the institution, but usually another week to get to him. but legal mail is supposed to be delivered the day that it arrives, unopened. My letters have to be opened for security reasons. It only takes extra time if they want to photocopy them or read them first.
Reminds me of an incident about 14 years ago. A staff member at Matsqui's visiting and correspondence location was suspended after taking mail home to read. The only way she was caught doing that was that she became ill and the mail she had at home did not get back to the institution for a few days. Someone had noticed it was missing.
Surprisingly, she was not fired for interfering with the mail. had it been me, I would now be in prison! Different laws for different folks.
To learn more, click here.
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
That did not upset me too much at first, but then I received an email from the Innocence Project at UBC asking why Derik had not responded to their last 3 letters.
On Sunday. I asked Derik if he had received their letters. He said no that he only know what I had told him from the letters we had received. Unfortunately, our letters do not contain the information as to what they have done and are doing on Derik's case. Our letters also do have the Questions that they require answers to.
These letters are legal mail and cannot be held back. The letters were written in February, March and April of this year. It is now June. I called the institution, and was told that someone would check into it and call me back. At the same time, I requested that they pass a message to Derik to call home. This was at 10 am.
By noon, I had not heard anything, so I called the Deputy Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada in Abbotsford. Could not speak to her, of course, but her assistant did take note of my concerns and said someone from William Head would contact me soon.
Around 7 pm, Derik called thinking some sort of emergency was going on since I rarely use that method of getting hold of him. I said no emergence, just informed him of the calls I had made. Also passed along the message that the Innocence project has been waiting for a reply. He told me that there were 3 letters waiting for him to pick up after the call. As I found out, those were the 3 letters that had not been delivered to him.
What really bothers me is that if we were to somehow interfere with mail delivery, we could get up to 14 years in prison. It seems they can do it without penalty. 4 months to deliver a letter is absolutely absurd. the letters came from Vancouver. they had to travel a total distance of 40 km to get to him. Funny how they all showed up on the same day, after I had made a call to Regional Headquarters!
Unfortunately the one from Algeria still has not turned up.
My letters take two days to get to the institution, but usually another week to get to him. but legal mail is supposed to be delivered the day that it arrives, unopened. My letters have to be opened for security reasons. It only takes extra time if they want to photocopy them or read them first.
Reminds me of an incident about 14 years ago. A staff member at Matsqui's visiting and correspondence location was suspended after taking mail home to read. The only way she was caught doing that was that she became ill and the mail she had at home did not get back to the institution for a few days. Someone had noticed it was missing.
Surprisingly, she was not fired for interfering with the mail. had it been me, I would now be in prison! Different laws for different folks.
To learn more, click here.
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
Friday, May 29, 2009
telephones are not free!
Unfortunately not enough of us are living by this. I know that the Corectional Service of Canada is not following any of the suggestions here.
I just received this month's phone bill. nearly $300.00!
It is only around the 30 dollar mark to have a Telus phone line and us it locally. But, When you have a loved one in prison, there is no economical phone service. At least not here in the west. Derik can only phone us collect. There is minimum connection fee of $1.75. Now if that was it, we could afford it. But, the calls can only be made to another Telus number. That is where the rest of my telephone ill comes from. 47 cents a minute is gouging! I have another service, WestCoast Teltech, which would not ave any long distance charges on it ecause it is a local Victoria number. Unfortunately, Telus will not allow the call to go to that number. $270.00 for 4 phone calls in one month is not reasonable.
Since deregulation of the telephone service providers, the costs have increased by 1300% This is nothing short of holding prisoners hostage. Most prisoners families are in low income groups. Exhorbitant phone bills prevent the maintenance of family ties, community involvement, and rehabilitation. It places undue hardship on the families at a time when support is needed most.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. ~ Lewis B. Smedes Most of us carry around anger, resentment, jealousy, or some other negative emotion directed to other...
So where is this anger generated by the unfair telephone system being directed? The telephone company is too hard to be angry with, you need the service to communicate. So, the anger is directed at the powers that be in the prisons. To the prisoner and his family, this is where the restrictions appear to be coming from. This does not lead towards the rehabilitation that is preached by the system. Some will lash out somehow, and the angrier they are, the more damaging the lashing.
It is more than enough punishment to be locked up. no more!
Please write to Canada's Prime Mnister and the Minister of Justice at Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A1
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype coach_elouise
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
Saturday, May 9, 2009
American injustice.
When I was younger, I listened a lot to Johnny Cash. I loved his gravely voice. Often times the songs he wrote and sang were sad. This was one I liked.
But that was before my son went to prison for a crime he did not commit. Now it is harder to listen to because of the life my son has had for the past 17 years. He was arrested at the young age of 17, and has been inside the prison since he was 19. He has been in Solitary confinement, and in general population. He has witnessed things that no one should ever have to see. Murders, drug overdoses, stabbings, suicides, and the list goes on.
He has been in a dark place for a very long time. Talk about missing someone, he has missed the birth of his neice; his girlfriend could not take the prison, so she stopped visiting. Now he is so far from home, it is difficult for me to visit.
A very dear friend sent me a link to a website that brought out a strong sense of Deja Vue.
Please help this man to clear himself and put the justice system right. He is a non violent man with no past criminal record who has been wrongfully convicted by the federal justice system. He was convicted solely on circumstantial evidence and nothing was proven during trial. The judge made this statement herself during sentencing.
There is, however, evidence to show that another person closely involved with Daniel (defendant) was responsible. The case was not properly investigated. Besides that - important evidence was destroyed at the police station before the FBI ever became involved. This evidence could have cleared Daniel of all charges had it not been destroyed forever by the police department.
All we ask is for a new trial and new investigation into this case. Why keep someone in prison for a crime they did not commit and allow the guilty party to walk free? Please help us! Even if Daniel were pardoned or his sentence commuted, he still plans on proving his innocence. It is a matter of principle. If you would like more information about this case please email me at blacksgeneralstore@gmail.com
I am Daniel's outside contact. If you want to help and need more details I would be happy to speak with you after initial email contact.
Thank for reading this.
Jonathan
Unless he gets the chance to prove his innocence, the rest of his life is ruined and for a crime he did not commit.
The similarities to my son's case are astounding.
http://criminaljustice.change.org/actions/view/help_for_a_wrongfully_convicted_man
http://www.canadianinjustice.com
compare them.
If you feel compelled to help, please write letters to the Prime Minister of Canada, at Parliament Buildings, 80 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A2
Also visit the young man's site in the USA and add your signature to his petition.
Friday, May 1, 2009
It is a beautiful, sunny day here in Chilliwack. My heart still has an ache in to for Derik
I remember so many times telling him you cannot be convicted of a crime if you were not there. They cannot convict without any physical evidence. I have so painfully learned that is not true. You CAN be convicted without any physical evidence to put you on a crime scene. It happened to Derik.
All you need is the following:
1. a Judge who is biased and hates teenaged boys with a passion, someone like the late Thomas Fisher.
2 police officers who are not experienced in criminal investigations, such as the Delta Police.
3. incompetent police officers in charge ofkeeping case files straight, such as the Delta Police.
4. a prosecutor who is out to win at all costs, including not disclosing evidence supporting the accused, misplacing evidence, using fear tactics to witnesses, and generally obfuscating things in court.
5. a defense lawyer whose inexperience and arrogance lead him to believe he is next to God and the system is fair.
There were more items leading to this wrongful conviction, but it happened. It happened in Canada. Canada's justice system is flawed as is any system devised by man.
I am waiting for the sunny day when we finally can get at the truth.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Conversation
I went to listen to the annual multicultural lecture at the Chan Theatre at University of British Columbia last night. It was very interesting for me being a Canadian. My ancesters were among the very first to settle this great country. I always wondered why Canada's relations with its Aboriginal peoples was so much better than our neighbours.
Our neighbours and many other countries settled the same way treated Aboriginals like they were the interlopers. Aboriginals were pushed out of the way for immigrants to take the land and resources. Maybe not right away, but as soon as the European settlers became numerous enough to survive without help, they did so.
Canada's early settlers would not have survived their first winter without the help of the Aboriginal peoples in the area. That they did survive is a testiment to them, and a testiment to the Aboriginal peoples who taught them what was safe to eat, how to make a shelter from the cold, and so much more. Canada began right off the hop with a dialogue, a conversation with the native peoples.
Unfortunately, that dialogue no longer is helping the survival of Canada. My son, Derik Lord, is Metis. One of the aboriginal peoples of Canada. Since he has been in prison for a wrongful conviction, I have learned many things about the ongoing conversations in Canada.
I have discovered that there is a very large discrepancy between the percentage of European descent prisoners and Aboriginal ones. White prisoners get out of prison faster, get programs to help them faster, and are generally better treated than aboriginals. Aboriginal prisoners are kept in prisons longer, denied parole much more often, treated like scum and not given programs that will help them.
The Correctional Investigator for the Correctional Service of Canada has been pointing these facts out to the government and to the citizens of Canada for more than 20 years. So what has changed?
The Correctionsl Service of Canada now says they have special programs for Aboriginal prisoners. Just try to get into one of them! Derik has tried many times and always gets turned down as not needing the programs. He finally gave up.
He was convicted with another young man at the same trial and they both received the same sentence. Life - 10 means a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years. The other young man, white, got out at his 10 year eligibility. One parole hearing is all it took. Derik, Aboriginal, has now been in for 17 years, with 5 separate parole hearings all turning him down for release. Is this system fair? I think not.
It is good to talk about the conversations between the various poeples who made Canada what it is today, but where are the conversations when it comes to punishment?
The Correctional Service of Canada has a mandate to get its prisoners back out of prison, to resume a normal life outside the bars without criminal activity. It is supposed to be concerned with correcting, not punishing. After this long time, it is no longer in a correcting mindset, it is in a punishment mode. Derik has maintained his innocence all these years. The fact that he has not confessed should not be used to keep him in prison forever, but it is happening. He has been told, orally and in writing, and I have been told, orally and in writing, that if he would just confess, he would get parole. They make it sound like it would be that easy. It is not.
I don't believe that one bit. If he suddenly changed and said he did it, then they would just a quickly put him in line for all those programs designed to correct his behaviour. I feel very strongly that those programs would make it worse for him, not better. He will not learn what he should not do, but what he should have done. He already knows what he should not do and one of those things is he should not lie.
I am very proud of the man my son has become despite the events that have brought him to this day. He is a caring man. He volunteered for many years as a peer counsellor for other prisoners, helping them in many ways. I know he has saved marriages, prevented suicides, prevented murders and helped some kick their drug habits. His strength shows in the fact that he did not get involved with the drugs which are rampant within Canada's prisons.
Where is the conversation that will get him released? No one on his case management team will speak to me now.
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype elouise.lord
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://www.canadianinjustice.com for more of the story.
Our neighbours and many other countries settled the same way treated Aboriginals like they were the interlopers. Aboriginals were pushed out of the way for immigrants to take the land and resources. Maybe not right away, but as soon as the European settlers became numerous enough to survive without help, they did so.
Canada's early settlers would not have survived their first winter without the help of the Aboriginal peoples in the area. That they did survive is a testiment to them, and a testiment to the Aboriginal peoples who taught them what was safe to eat, how to make a shelter from the cold, and so much more. Canada began right off the hop with a dialogue, a conversation with the native peoples.
Unfortunately, that dialogue no longer is helping the survival of Canada. My son, Derik Lord, is Metis. One of the aboriginal peoples of Canada. Since he has been in prison for a wrongful conviction, I have learned many things about the ongoing conversations in Canada.
I have discovered that there is a very large discrepancy between the percentage of European descent prisoners and Aboriginal ones. White prisoners get out of prison faster, get programs to help them faster, and are generally better treated than aboriginals. Aboriginal prisoners are kept in prisons longer, denied parole much more often, treated like scum and not given programs that will help them.
The Correctional Investigator for the Correctional Service of Canada has been pointing these facts out to the government and to the citizens of Canada for more than 20 years. So what has changed?
The Correctionsl Service of Canada now says they have special programs for Aboriginal prisoners. Just try to get into one of them! Derik has tried many times and always gets turned down as not needing the programs. He finally gave up.
He was convicted with another young man at the same trial and they both received the same sentence. Life - 10 means a life sentence with parole eligibility after 10 years. The other young man, white, got out at his 10 year eligibility. One parole hearing is all it took. Derik, Aboriginal, has now been in for 17 years, with 5 separate parole hearings all turning him down for release. Is this system fair? I think not.
It is good to talk about the conversations between the various poeples who made Canada what it is today, but where are the conversations when it comes to punishment?
The Correctional Service of Canada has a mandate to get its prisoners back out of prison, to resume a normal life outside the bars without criminal activity. It is supposed to be concerned with correcting, not punishing. After this long time, it is no longer in a correcting mindset, it is in a punishment mode. Derik has maintained his innocence all these years. The fact that he has not confessed should not be used to keep him in prison forever, but it is happening. He has been told, orally and in writing, and I have been told, orally and in writing, that if he would just confess, he would get parole. They make it sound like it would be that easy. It is not.
I don't believe that one bit. If he suddenly changed and said he did it, then they would just a quickly put him in line for all those programs designed to correct his behaviour. I feel very strongly that those programs would make it worse for him, not better. He will not learn what he should not do, but what he should have done. He already knows what he should not do and one of those things is he should not lie.
I am very proud of the man my son has become despite the events that have brought him to this day. He is a caring man. He volunteered for many years as a peer counsellor for other prisoners, helping them in many ways. I know he has saved marriages, prevented suicides, prevented murders and helped some kick their drug habits. His strength shows in the fact that he did not get involved with the drugs which are rampant within Canada's prisons.
Where is the conversation that will get him released? No one on his case management team will speak to me now.
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype elouise.lord
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
http://www.canadianinjustice.com for more of the story.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Evidence Really Can Lie
Beautiful pictures and calming music, Enya has the ability to soothe. The only issue is that sometimes one cannot be soothed.
The sloppiness of the Delta police investigation into the murders of Doris Leatherbarrow and Sharon Huenemann, which led to the arrest and convicton of the 3 teenage boys, is one of those things that will not let one be soothed. It was absolutely dreadful! The police coerced witnesses, made up evidence, misplaced evidence, lost evidence, hid evidence and mishandled the entire case.
The investigation of this terrible crime began as most do with the interviewing of family and neighbours.
In the police reports of the follow-up, Ralph Huenemann did not appear to be upset or surprised with the news brought to him by Saanich police officers. It had been noted that he showed "absolutely no remorse and did not appear to be upset with the news we brought." He was co-operative, offering to help by attending at Delta to speak to the police there and assist them in any way he could. Darren, however, was very upset. It is noted that he showed the "usual reactions and was very upset. "
On October 6, 1990, Saanich police also interviewed Amanda Cousins at her home in Victoria. Other than a two hour discrepancy between when she said that Ralph got home and when Ralph said that he got home, Amanda's story corroborated the story that Darren would tell about where he was that night. Amanda says that Darren picked her up about six-thirty, and that Ralph came home about 7 or 7:15. Ralph said that Darren and Amanda were there when he got home about 5 p.m.
Amanda told about picking up Derik and David downtown about 8 pm and driving around for a while, both in the downtown area, and in areas where Darren's parents were looking to buy a house. She tells of bringing David to Derik's house to pick up his bike, then driving around a while longer with Derik until around 10pm.
On October 6, 1990, in Delta, Darren Huenemann also gave a statement to police. This statement bears mostly on items of value which were or should have been in the house at the time. In it he also gave details of his mother's and his grandmother's wills as he knew them. This statement was hand written by detective Bill Jackson in Delta.
On October 7, the police continued investigating through the interviewing of neighbours. Two boys, the May boys who lived across the street, gave statements to the police describing two young men they had seen wandering around apparently lost on the evening of October 5, at around 6:30 pm. The descriptions which they gave were not closey linked to Derik and David, and actually had many features not consistent with the appearance of either of them. Both described men about 6 feet tall and white, about 20 or 21 years old. Greg May said that both men wore dark leather jackets. Neither Derik or David are that height. Neither could have passed for 20 or older. Derik had been asked for proof of age more than once at a movie theater showing a movie restricted to 17 or over. Neither Derik or Dave was wearing a leather jacket. At the time, Derik did not own a leather jacket, his jacket was a tan and white cotton one. I don't know about David Muir as I did not see him often. The only jacket I remember seeing him wearing was a jean jacket.
Charles Smith stated that he had seen one of the ladies inside the white car belonging to Mrs. Leatherbarrow at around 7:30 that Friday evening while he was closing his curtains. He thought that it had been Sharon Huenemann. He lived in a corner house across from the Leatherbarrow residence and had a clear view of the driveway and front of the house from his kitchen.
Two taxi drivers described passengers that they had picked up in Tsawwassen. One described a pair of young men that had called for a taxi from the ferry terminal around 5 p.m., and the other described two men he picked up at the mall and took to the ferry terminal around 6:30 or 6:45. The descriptions were sketchy, and inconclusive.
Photo lineups with the May boys and the taxi drivers were not done until November 7, quite a length of time later. None of the identifications were for certain. All of the photos that were pointed out were described as "sort of looks like one", or "someone like him", or one had a similar haircut, or other similar phrasing. Many people would not take such sketchy possibilities as certain and irrefutable evidence, but it appears that Delta police officers do.
Derik was interviewed at our home on October 16. At that time, he told police of his whereabouts and the whereabouts of Darren as he knew them. Derik described the evening as it went quite uneventfully in Victoria. This statement corroborated an earlier one given by Amanda Cousins, and again was corroborated by the statement of Amanda Cousins dated November 16, 1990, (and dated again as typed January 9, 1990).
In yet another statement a half hour later that same evening, Amanda Cousins again says that the boys, Derik and David were picked up downtown by her and Darren at about 8:30 p.m. on October 5. One might question why two statements were taken about a half hour apart by the police.
The way that Derik was interviewed on October 16, 1990, upset some neighborhood children, especially a seven year old girl who had been playing with Derik and Dawn (my younger daughter) and a couple of other young children in the back yard. I complained to the Saanich Police about the handling of the interview.
On November 6, 1990, Sgt. Gordon Tregear, representing the Saanich police, and Detective Wiliam Jackson, representing the Delta police, came to our house to speak to Dave (my husband) and I about the method used to question Derik. In answer to the complaint I had made, they said that it was normal procedure to put someone in the car to talk to him and not to go into the house as they had been invited to do by Derik. Apparently, it was also normal procedure to question children without at least one of the parents being present. During the hour or so that they were here, the police officers spent very little time explaining the events upon which the complaint was based. Most of this time was spent telling us all about the crime scene, all the gory details of the murders and the messing up of the house. Everything from the size of the footprints found in the house to the violence of the scene. They told us about the use of common kitchen rubber gloves, kitchen knives to cut the throats of the victims, the size 10 men's tennis shoe footprint that was clear enough to photograph, both women had been hit with a bar of some sort, money was taken, traveler’s cheques were taken, no jewelry was taken, purses were dumped out, the key once hidden outside was found inside, there were four pieces of lasagna, there were beets in a pot on the stove, there were beans in another pot on the stove, and the room was very hot, making time of death difficult to determine. They said that there was one little detail that they were keeping secret in order to catch the criminal. We found out what that one was a couple of days later from Ralph Huenemann. Ralph told us about the cloths over their faces. Quite a bit of effort was put into trying to convince me to talk to Darren about taking a lie detector test to prove his innocence.
By November 16, it had become obvious that the police investigation was centering only on the three boys and not in any other direction. The boys had noticed that they were being followed everywhere. Derik had been approached at work and brutally questioned about Darren and his relationship with him. He had been accused at work and frightened on more than one occasion. Both phone lines were tapped. Neighbours phoned in to the Saanich police often to complain about strange cars with people not belonging to the neighborhood sitting in them staying for long periods of time in the area. One of Dawn's friends, Stacey, had dropped by to see her, but no one was at home that afternoon. On her way home, she stopped by a brown car parked across the street and down the block a ways and told the two undercover officers sitting in the car that they could go for coffee and doughnuts because no one was home. I really had become a joke with all the kids!
Once it seemed that the investigation was stalling on the boys, Ralph Huenemann suggested that they should be represented by legal counsel. He researched a few firms, then hired the firm of Considine and Lawler. Considine was representing Darren, Lawler was to represent Derik. Ralph was paying the bills for this legal advice. We were invited over to the Huenemann residence at Ten Mile Point to meet with Lawler in November. His advice to us was to remain calm, keeping his phone number handy just in case, and to refuse to take any lie detector tests.
Something very odd happened when we arrived at the Huenemann house to meet Ralph for the first time. While we were waiting for the lawyer, Ralph talked to us for a while about how he had been through this before. His first wife, Joanne, had been murdered and at that time he had been a suspect in her death. He told us that is why he wanted to make sure that the boys both had representation. This had also been offered to the Muirs for David, but they had decided to go with another firm in town.
Later, we discovered that Joanne's death was listed by police as a death from exposure caused in part by use of drugs and alcohol. Her body had been found at a picnic table in a campground in Manning Park. We spoke to the park ranger who had found the body. "It was the strangest thing. She looked like something had struck her and thrown her straight back from the bench." He had never forgotten the way she looked. Fear was etched on her face. Her book was lying open on the table. Her coffee mug, only partly emptied, was still on the table too.
Police reports did not suggest murder.
But Ralph Huenemann had told us that both his wives had been murdered, first Joanne, then Sharon.
Go to our website http://www.canadianinjustice.com to learn more about this very strange set of events.
Now I need to go listen to Enya again so I will be able to sleep tonight.
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype elouise.lord
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
I will be back with more on Monday!
The sloppiness of the Delta police investigation into the murders of Doris Leatherbarrow and Sharon Huenemann, which led to the arrest and convicton of the 3 teenage boys, is one of those things that will not let one be soothed. It was absolutely dreadful! The police coerced witnesses, made up evidence, misplaced evidence, lost evidence, hid evidence and mishandled the entire case.
The investigation of this terrible crime began as most do with the interviewing of family and neighbours.
In the police reports of the follow-up, Ralph Huenemann did not appear to be upset or surprised with the news brought to him by Saanich police officers. It had been noted that he showed "absolutely no remorse and did not appear to be upset with the news we brought." He was co-operative, offering to help by attending at Delta to speak to the police there and assist them in any way he could. Darren, however, was very upset. It is noted that he showed the "usual reactions and was very upset. "
On October 6, 1990, Saanich police also interviewed Amanda Cousins at her home in Victoria. Other than a two hour discrepancy between when she said that Ralph got home and when Ralph said that he got home, Amanda's story corroborated the story that Darren would tell about where he was that night. Amanda says that Darren picked her up about six-thirty, and that Ralph came home about 7 or 7:15. Ralph said that Darren and Amanda were there when he got home about 5 p.m.
Amanda told about picking up Derik and David downtown about 8 pm and driving around for a while, both in the downtown area, and in areas where Darren's parents were looking to buy a house. She tells of bringing David to Derik's house to pick up his bike, then driving around a while longer with Derik until around 10pm.
On October 6, 1990, in Delta, Darren Huenemann also gave a statement to police. This statement bears mostly on items of value which were or should have been in the house at the time. In it he also gave details of his mother's and his grandmother's wills as he knew them. This statement was hand written by detective Bill Jackson in Delta.
On October 7, the police continued investigating through the interviewing of neighbours. Two boys, the May boys who lived across the street, gave statements to the police describing two young men they had seen wandering around apparently lost on the evening of October 5, at around 6:30 pm. The descriptions which they gave were not closey linked to Derik and David, and actually had many features not consistent with the appearance of either of them. Both described men about 6 feet tall and white, about 20 or 21 years old. Greg May said that both men wore dark leather jackets. Neither Derik or David are that height. Neither could have passed for 20 or older. Derik had been asked for proof of age more than once at a movie theater showing a movie restricted to 17 or over. Neither Derik or Dave was wearing a leather jacket. At the time, Derik did not own a leather jacket, his jacket was a tan and white cotton one. I don't know about David Muir as I did not see him often. The only jacket I remember seeing him wearing was a jean jacket.
Charles Smith stated that he had seen one of the ladies inside the white car belonging to Mrs. Leatherbarrow at around 7:30 that Friday evening while he was closing his curtains. He thought that it had been Sharon Huenemann. He lived in a corner house across from the Leatherbarrow residence and had a clear view of the driveway and front of the house from his kitchen.
Two taxi drivers described passengers that they had picked up in Tsawwassen. One described a pair of young men that had called for a taxi from the ferry terminal around 5 p.m., and the other described two men he picked up at the mall and took to the ferry terminal around 6:30 or 6:45. The descriptions were sketchy, and inconclusive.
Photo lineups with the May boys and the taxi drivers were not done until November 7, quite a length of time later. None of the identifications were for certain. All of the photos that were pointed out were described as "sort of looks like one", or "someone like him", or one had a similar haircut, or other similar phrasing. Many people would not take such sketchy possibilities as certain and irrefutable evidence, but it appears that Delta police officers do.
Derik was interviewed at our home on October 16. At that time, he told police of his whereabouts and the whereabouts of Darren as he knew them. Derik described the evening as it went quite uneventfully in Victoria. This statement corroborated an earlier one given by Amanda Cousins, and again was corroborated by the statement of Amanda Cousins dated November 16, 1990, (and dated again as typed January 9, 1990).
In yet another statement a half hour later that same evening, Amanda Cousins again says that the boys, Derik and David were picked up downtown by her and Darren at about 8:30 p.m. on October 5. One might question why two statements were taken about a half hour apart by the police.
The way that Derik was interviewed on October 16, 1990, upset some neighborhood children, especially a seven year old girl who had been playing with Derik and Dawn (my younger daughter) and a couple of other young children in the back yard. I complained to the Saanich Police about the handling of the interview.
On November 6, 1990, Sgt. Gordon Tregear, representing the Saanich police, and Detective Wiliam Jackson, representing the Delta police, came to our house to speak to Dave (my husband) and I about the method used to question Derik. In answer to the complaint I had made, they said that it was normal procedure to put someone in the car to talk to him and not to go into the house as they had been invited to do by Derik. Apparently, it was also normal procedure to question children without at least one of the parents being present. During the hour or so that they were here, the police officers spent very little time explaining the events upon which the complaint was based. Most of this time was spent telling us all about the crime scene, all the gory details of the murders and the messing up of the house. Everything from the size of the footprints found in the house to the violence of the scene. They told us about the use of common kitchen rubber gloves, kitchen knives to cut the throats of the victims, the size 10 men's tennis shoe footprint that was clear enough to photograph, both women had been hit with a bar of some sort, money was taken, traveler’s cheques were taken, no jewelry was taken, purses were dumped out, the key once hidden outside was found inside, there were four pieces of lasagna, there were beets in a pot on the stove, there were beans in another pot on the stove, and the room was very hot, making time of death difficult to determine. They said that there was one little detail that they were keeping secret in order to catch the criminal. We found out what that one was a couple of days later from Ralph Huenemann. Ralph told us about the cloths over their faces. Quite a bit of effort was put into trying to convince me to talk to Darren about taking a lie detector test to prove his innocence.
By November 16, it had become obvious that the police investigation was centering only on the three boys and not in any other direction. The boys had noticed that they were being followed everywhere. Derik had been approached at work and brutally questioned about Darren and his relationship with him. He had been accused at work and frightened on more than one occasion. Both phone lines were tapped. Neighbours phoned in to the Saanich police often to complain about strange cars with people not belonging to the neighborhood sitting in them staying for long periods of time in the area. One of Dawn's friends, Stacey, had dropped by to see her, but no one was at home that afternoon. On her way home, she stopped by a brown car parked across the street and down the block a ways and told the two undercover officers sitting in the car that they could go for coffee and doughnuts because no one was home. I really had become a joke with all the kids!
Once it seemed that the investigation was stalling on the boys, Ralph Huenemann suggested that they should be represented by legal counsel. He researched a few firms, then hired the firm of Considine and Lawler. Considine was representing Darren, Lawler was to represent Derik. Ralph was paying the bills for this legal advice. We were invited over to the Huenemann residence at Ten Mile Point to meet with Lawler in November. His advice to us was to remain calm, keeping his phone number handy just in case, and to refuse to take any lie detector tests.
Something very odd happened when we arrived at the Huenemann house to meet Ralph for the first time. While we were waiting for the lawyer, Ralph talked to us for a while about how he had been through this before. His first wife, Joanne, had been murdered and at that time he had been a suspect in her death. He told us that is why he wanted to make sure that the boys both had representation. This had also been offered to the Muirs for David, but they had decided to go with another firm in town.
Later, we discovered that Joanne's death was listed by police as a death from exposure caused in part by use of drugs and alcohol. Her body had been found at a picnic table in a campground in Manning Park. We spoke to the park ranger who had found the body. "It was the strangest thing. She looked like something had struck her and thrown her straight back from the bench." He had never forgotten the way she looked. Fear was etched on her face. Her book was lying open on the table. Her coffee mug, only partly emptied, was still on the table too.
Police reports did not suggest murder.
But Ralph Huenemann had told us that both his wives had been murdered, first Joanne, then Sharon.
Go to our website http://www.canadianinjustice.com to learn more about this very strange set of events.
Now I need to go listen to Enya again so I will be able to sleep tonight.
Coach Elouise
604-794-3218
Skype elouise.lord
Email: lordelouise@gmail.com
rascal60@shaw.ca
I will be back with more on Monday!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Sunshine on my shoulders
A long time favorite song. I used to sing along to it when my family was whole. I remember so well the day that Derik was arrested. I had been trying to keep him calm for a few weeks by telling him things like: "You were not there, they can't arrest you without some evidence. Don't worry!"
In retrospect, that was a very bad idea.
The two women were murdered on the Thanksgiving long weekend, October 5, 1990. There was a lot of press and media attention because of the size of the estate, over $3 million dollars. Since the husband of the younger victim was a close personal friend of the then Lieutenant Governor of BC, David Lam, there was considerable political pressure on the Delta Police to solve it fast and to leave Ralph Huenemann alone.
http://www.canadianinjustice.com/
I remember the day we learned about the events of October 5/6, 1990. On Sunday, October 7, 1990, Derik was getting ready for work at the local Kmart when a friend of his from school called him with a very strange request. Jack wanted to know if we had a subscription to the Times Colonist newspaper. We did not. Jack then explained that he had received a wierd call from Darren Huenemann telling him that he would not be at school on Tuesday, and that his family had made the front page.
Derik and Darren had known each other at school for a year or so, and had visited occasionally at each other's homes. I knew Darren somewhat. A very nice, usually well dressed young man, always polite to adults, crazy sense of humour. The boys shared an interest in games and music, so they would hang around together at school, sometimes.
My husband went down to the local 7/11 to get a copy of the paper. There it was on the front page. Two gastly murders. Derik was very upset. He told me that Darren must be devastated because he and his mom had a relationship like ours. She wanted to know where he was going, and kept an eye on his activities. He described the relationship between Darren and his mother as close, like ours. Then he cried.
Darren was not available when Derik called him to express his feelings, because he was in Tsawwassen with his step-father, Ralph.
I had met Darren's mother, Sharon, we got along well, but had only met a couple of times. I had never met his grandmother, Doris Leatherbarrow, although Darren had spoken often about her. Seems she had his life and education planned out for him.
All moot now of course! They seemed to be close, too, from what Darren said.
We wondered how it had all come about, but just wanted to try and help Darren if we could. The next couple of months were pretty awful!
This was the beginning of the rest of our lives, never to be the same again.
Checkout the website for more details, and I will be back!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
What's up Now?
A friend sent this video to me and it made me think about the fight we have been having with Canada's prison system.
http://www.canadianinjustice.com/
Just took another look at the site and realized it has not been updated for a while. It is time to get back to the truth of the matter. It is time to bring the truth out again to the public eye. I am getting tired after seventeen years of arguing and going to court after court to try to gain his release. I need some help.
You could be a prisoner in Canada.
1 to 11/2 percent of prisoners in Canada are innocent.
Check out the American Justice Institute web page on wrongful convictions in Canada and around the world.
That headline is still as true as it was 17 years ago when the whole thing started.
Let's go back and revisit it in the cold light of a new day. Stay wih me for a while and go over it all again. Maybe something will come to you that we can do to get further along with this.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
The Trouble with Snow
I should have known it was going to be a bad day when I left the house I had spent the night at, late for meeting up with prison staff, and with a new route to follow that I had not tried before, and discovered it was snowing!!
So far, every time it has snowed this winter, something has gone awry. This time I was concerned about my son’s parole hearing. That is where I was headed. Following the new route Steven had given me, I actually made it to the appointment with 30 seconds to spare. Despite the blowing snow and the winding twisty road I drove.
Made it safely, so now we wait. The prison staff put us upstairs in the main office building, in the board room, to wait. About a half hour later, Derik's IPO (internal parole officer) Marion Higgins, brought him upstairs to sit with us. We just had a general conversation in which Marion told us a bit of the history behind the place. William Head Institution had first been built as a quarantine area for new immigrants from the Orient. Many Chinese and Japanese immigrants did not make it out of there. Those who were or became ill and died are buried in a corner of the property that is maintained as a Canadian Heritage site by the Federal Government. I felt it would be very interesting to take a walk around there, but this was not the day.
The prison began as a minimum security camp with no fences, then became medium security wit a three roll barbed wire fence cutting it off from the rest of the penninsula. Now, it is a minimum again, but the fence is still there. Parole hearings are a regular occurrence as prisoners serving long sentences, like Derik, has the right to have one every 2 years once they reach a minimum length of time served. For Derik, that time was 10 years. He has now been in prison for 17 years, but has not gained any release yet. We were hoping for something this time, but not really expecting anything like full parole.
Because the prison is located on the tip of a penninsula, we walked down to the visiting room, where the hearing was being held, in the rain, not snow. The 3 members of the board were already seated. The assistant got the IPO from Derik's previous institution on the phone and then the members of the press (6) and the relatives of the victims (8) were brought in and seated behind us. We had to face the board, his current IPO sitting with us, and were not permitted to turn around to see the people being seated behind us. There was a significant distance between the groups to prevent any possibility of interaction. Derik had pointed out to the prison staff that one of the relatives had physically assaulted me at one of our many court appearances, so that was one reason for the caution, and the larger room than was normally used.
The hearing started as it usually did with the board members wanting to discuss his crime. That part was naturally short as Derik still maintains that he is innocent. Even after such a long time in prison, he will not make up a confession. He is maintaining his innocence while assuring his continued incarceration. The next part was longer. Going back to his childhood, they wanted to know if his father was controlling. One statement they questioned is that I have to call him before I leave the house. I explained later, when I had a chance to speak, that we both did that. In our opinion, it made sense that someone know where you are in case something happened. At the very least, it gives a starting point for a search should someone not make it home. We kept in close touch with each other and with our children for that reason. I am sure some people might call us controlling, but we always knew where our children were and when to expect them home.
The chairperson also appeared to fixate on the fact that, as a boy, he carried a pocket knife. Derik explained that based on his rural upbringing for the first 13 years of his life. Nearly every boy carried a pocket knife in a rural area. You never knew when you might want to whittle a sling shot fork, or cut some binder twine to save an animal's life, or any other emergency fix. I don't think that the city people really understood that.
Once they were done questioning Derik, then it was my turn to speak on his behalf. I tried to give an eloquent testimonial on his progress since going to prison, expecially in the past few years. Derik had ended the questioning telling them about the programs he took, the effort he made to understand his behaviour, the self help books he read and worked through, the issues he had identified on his own and worked through, and the relationship he had been building with his fiancee over the past 9 years. I did an overview of the incarceration as a ping pong type of relationship building. They would tease him with a program and then say he did not fit the profile and yank it away. This happened 14 times. Most times he was screened out because he already had the skills they were trying to teach. For a couple of them, he was screened out as not being violent enough, and not willing to confess to the crime for which he is innocent. Finally, they had to give him one. Ottawa had to override the requirements to get him in there, but Derik worked very hard at getting the most benefit from the program as he could. However, the Parole Board did not believe that it was enough. Following my input, 2 of the relatives read impact statements. One was a very emotional short statement about the love lost when one sister died. The other one was a rant. He told the board that Derik should get out only after he received training to get a job and had the conditions put on him to repay the costs of his imprisonment.
Then Derik had the last word.
We were all ushered out in the reverse order than being ushered in, once again to avoid any contact between the 2 groups of people. The waiting began again. Suddenly, the phone rang and we were once again being summoned to the meeting room. There we got the decision. Day parole denied. Full parole denied.
I requested direction from the board members, and the only response was to continue with making improvements like he had been most recently. Once again, we left, ushered out in groups. We had another half hour visit with Derik and his IPO while the relatives were leaving the grounds. It was a good unwinding session. Both of us were on the verge of tears, relief that it was over and release of the tension.
Stopping just past the prison property, we gane an interview to CBC and GlobalTV news, once again standing in the rain as it changed back into snow. Arriving at the climic where my daughter works, it was now hailing ferociously. And again, following a great dinner with my daughter and granddaughter, I was driving in a near blinding snow storm.
A 30 minute drive, a 60 minute wait, an hour and a half ferry ride, and I was on the highway home. Surprise! Another snow storm on this side too! Two hours of that messy highway driving and I was finally back home. Snow and ice the entire way!
It is now April 2. No longer April Fools Day. At 2 am the snow is stopping and turning again to rain. Thank God that Day is over!
Elouise Lord,
mother, teacher, paralegal, writer, speaker, driver, facilitator, etc.
PS, next time it snows, I am not going anywhere!
http://tinyurl.com/b5op9q
So far, every time it has snowed this winter, something has gone awry. This time I was concerned about my son’s parole hearing. That is where I was headed. Following the new route Steven had given me, I actually made it to the appointment with 30 seconds to spare. Despite the blowing snow and the winding twisty road I drove.
Made it safely, so now we wait. The prison staff put us upstairs in the main office building, in the board room, to wait. About a half hour later, Derik's IPO (internal parole officer) Marion Higgins, brought him upstairs to sit with us. We just had a general conversation in which Marion told us a bit of the history behind the place. William Head Institution had first been built as a quarantine area for new immigrants from the Orient. Many Chinese and Japanese immigrants did not make it out of there. Those who were or became ill and died are buried in a corner of the property that is maintained as a Canadian Heritage site by the Federal Government. I felt it would be very interesting to take a walk around there, but this was not the day.
The prison began as a minimum security camp with no fences, then became medium security wit a three roll barbed wire fence cutting it off from the rest of the penninsula. Now, it is a minimum again, but the fence is still there. Parole hearings are a regular occurrence as prisoners serving long sentences, like Derik, has the right to have one every 2 years once they reach a minimum length of time served. For Derik, that time was 10 years. He has now been in prison for 17 years, but has not gained any release yet. We were hoping for something this time, but not really expecting anything like full parole.
Because the prison is located on the tip of a penninsula, we walked down to the visiting room, where the hearing was being held, in the rain, not snow. The 3 members of the board were already seated. The assistant got the IPO from Derik's previous institution on the phone and then the members of the press (6) and the relatives of the victims (8) were brought in and seated behind us. We had to face the board, his current IPO sitting with us, and were not permitted to turn around to see the people being seated behind us. There was a significant distance between the groups to prevent any possibility of interaction. Derik had pointed out to the prison staff that one of the relatives had physically assaulted me at one of our many court appearances, so that was one reason for the caution, and the larger room than was normally used.
The hearing started as it usually did with the board members wanting to discuss his crime. That part was naturally short as Derik still maintains that he is innocent. Even after such a long time in prison, he will not make up a confession. He is maintaining his innocence while assuring his continued incarceration. The next part was longer. Going back to his childhood, they wanted to know if his father was controlling. One statement they questioned is that I have to call him before I leave the house. I explained later, when I had a chance to speak, that we both did that. In our opinion, it made sense that someone know where you are in case something happened. At the very least, it gives a starting point for a search should someone not make it home. We kept in close touch with each other and with our children for that reason. I am sure some people might call us controlling, but we always knew where our children were and when to expect them home.
The chairperson also appeared to fixate on the fact that, as a boy, he carried a pocket knife. Derik explained that based on his rural upbringing for the first 13 years of his life. Nearly every boy carried a pocket knife in a rural area. You never knew when you might want to whittle a sling shot fork, or cut some binder twine to save an animal's life, or any other emergency fix. I don't think that the city people really understood that.
Once they were done questioning Derik, then it was my turn to speak on his behalf. I tried to give an eloquent testimonial on his progress since going to prison, expecially in the past few years. Derik had ended the questioning telling them about the programs he took, the effort he made to understand his behaviour, the self help books he read and worked through, the issues he had identified on his own and worked through, and the relationship he had been building with his fiancee over the past 9 years. I did an overview of the incarceration as a ping pong type of relationship building. They would tease him with a program and then say he did not fit the profile and yank it away. This happened 14 times. Most times he was screened out because he already had the skills they were trying to teach. For a couple of them, he was screened out as not being violent enough, and not willing to confess to the crime for which he is innocent. Finally, they had to give him one. Ottawa had to override the requirements to get him in there, but Derik worked very hard at getting the most benefit from the program as he could. However, the Parole Board did not believe that it was enough. Following my input, 2 of the relatives read impact statements. One was a very emotional short statement about the love lost when one sister died. The other one was a rant. He told the board that Derik should get out only after he received training to get a job and had the conditions put on him to repay the costs of his imprisonment.
Then Derik had the last word.
We were all ushered out in the reverse order than being ushered in, once again to avoid any contact between the 2 groups of people. The waiting began again. Suddenly, the phone rang and we were once again being summoned to the meeting room. There we got the decision. Day parole denied. Full parole denied.
I requested direction from the board members, and the only response was to continue with making improvements like he had been most recently. Once again, we left, ushered out in groups. We had another half hour visit with Derik and his IPO while the relatives were leaving the grounds. It was a good unwinding session. Both of us were on the verge of tears, relief that it was over and release of the tension.
Stopping just past the prison property, we gane an interview to CBC and GlobalTV news, once again standing in the rain as it changed back into snow. Arriving at the climic where my daughter works, it was now hailing ferociously. And again, following a great dinner with my daughter and granddaughter, I was driving in a near blinding snow storm.
A 30 minute drive, a 60 minute wait, an hour and a half ferry ride, and I was on the highway home. Surprise! Another snow storm on this side too! Two hours of that messy highway driving and I was finally back home. Snow and ice the entire way!
It is now April 2. No longer April Fools Day. At 2 am the snow is stopping and turning again to rain. Thank God that Day is over!
Elouise Lord,
mother, teacher, paralegal, writer, speaker, driver, facilitator, etc.
PS, next time it snows, I am not going anywhere!
http://tinyurl.com/b5op9q
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