A North Vancouver man who was wrongfully convicted and spent 27 years in jail has won the right to have his civil suit against the Crown heard by Canada's top court.
Ivan Henry was convicted in 1983 of 10 sexual offences, declared a dangerous offender and sentenced to an indefinite period behind bars.
Henry, 67, was released from jail in 2009 and the B.C. Court of Appeal acquitted him in 2010 after ruling there were serious errors in the way his original trial was conducted.
After his release from jail, Henry sued the province, Vancouver Police Department and Attorney General of Canada, seeking damages for the time he spent behind bars.
The lawsuit alleges the police and Crown counsel were both negligent in their conduct of the case. Among those claims, Henry said Crown prosecutors failed to disclose evidence to him that they should have, in violation of his rights.
The province argued Crown prosecutors can't be held liable for the conduct of a criminal prosecution and earlier this year, the B.C. Court of Appeal agreed.
But on Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear Henry's case.
Henry's lawyer Cameron Ward said that's welcome news. But he said it's disappointing that none of the governments involved have offered Henry any compensation. That has happened in other similar high-profile cases, said Ward. "They pay because it's the right thing to do."
The lack of compensation has left Henry and his North Vancouver family paying for counselling and living expenses while the case drags through the courts.
"He's been coping," said Ward. "He has good days and bad days."
During the over two decades Henry spent in jail, he filed more than 50 applications for review or appeal of his case, which were all denied. The case was only re-examined after a veteran prosecutor noticed striking similarities between the Henry case and 25 thenunsolved sex crimes between 1983 and 1988.
Henry served more time in jail than any other Canadian later found to be wrongfully convicted.
If Henry wins his civil suit, it could potentially result in a multimilliondollar award or settlement.
