Last week, the BC Court of Appeals awarded eight million dollars to Ivan Henry, wrongly convicted of a string of rapes committed in the mid 1980’s, in recognition of 27 years of incarceration, suffering and the destruction of his life (including the overdose death of his daughter, Kari). I don’t need to go into the details of a case that is readily available on Google. What is of interest to me now is that this settlement comes after the City of Vancouver and the federal government conceded that Henry was wrongly convicted while the province of British Columbia insisted on forcing Henry and his legal team to go through another costly judicial charade. Judge Christopher Hinckson ruled that prosecutors in this case were liable for the suppression of exculpatory evidence. (Many jurisdictions in the United States afford complete immunity to prosecutors. New York State is only on the verge of passing a bill that would allow for oversight in questionable cases.) In addition, the police themselves were guilty of creating a fraudulent ‘lineup’ where a recalcitrant Henry was held in a headlock by a police officer.
Prosecutor immunity amounts to prosecutor impunity. No public servant should be allowed to avoid scrutiny of their work. The protection of prosecutors is one of the main indirect causes of wrongful convictions. The reason for this is obvious: if the prosecutors have nothing to lose, they will put together dubious and crooked cases because they have everything to gain in prestige and advancement by a conviction. No risk is involved.
I met Ivan Henry, in 2011, when Rubin Carter joined me for a book launch of Eye of the Hurricane at Capilano University in North Vancouver. He and his large family wanted to meet Rubin who was only too happy to oblige. The Henrys must still have that group photo that was taken at the event. I knew that Ivan was still carrying a great weight and continued to do so when I met him two years later at UBC Law School with David Milgaard. One of the heaviest weights–and David McCallum is dealing with this right now–is the time it takes for a wrongly convicted person to receive compensation. The exonerated, many of them in their sixties like Mr. Henry, need to get on with their lives and not spend years uselessly reliving the trauma. The parsimonious justice ministers and district attorneys string these people out for unconscionable periods of time. There is simply no excuse for this behaviour; if the shoe were on the other foot, say a justice minister’s son or daughter was wrongly convicted, I wonder how long the settlement would take?
After this recent decision, Susan Anton, the BC Attorney General, said she would study the case. Does this mean she might appeal it again? Will this serve justice in any way? I say get on with compensating Ivan Henry (now 69 years old) and recognize the full extent of the tragedy that has been visited on an innocent man. Congratulations, Ivan. May you find some comfort in the remaining years of your life!