Governments accused of stalling on compensation demand
Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Mar 19/01) - Stripped of his rights and dignity, assaulted by inmates and abused by guards, Wilfred Bealieu endured four years of prison for crimes he didn't commit. Now he wants authorities to pay him for the time he spent behind bars.
Wilfred Beaulieu lived four years "in hell" and wants those responsible to admit the mistake and compensate him for time taken from his life.
The 41-year-old Fort Resolution man was imprisoned in Alberta on sexual assault charges before he found a seldom-used section of the Criminal Code that forced a new trial.
Sitting by the window of the Red Apple restaurant in Yellowknife, he said that he wants "whoever is responsible, whoever made the mistake to admit it. Prison was hell, every second of every day."
Beaulieu is suing Alberta and the federal government for physical, emotional and material damages.
In prison, a guard assaulted him, inmates attacked him, he said. Prison officials denied him visits from family and friends and classified him as a dangerous offender because he refused to admit guilt.
Beaulieu spent more than a year in solitary confinement, living in a six by 10, two bunk concrete room with a steel door, a desk and a toilet. Once a day for 30 minutes he went to exercise and shower.
"I was stripped of my dignity," Beaulieu said, staring out the window at noon hour crowds passing by.
He doesn't smoke and he's fighting to stay dry, but the burden of carrying the stigma of an ex-con and the snail pace of litigation is wearing him thin.
Part of him wants to leave it all behind him, forget about the case and move on with his life.
"It's not about the money; I just want the government to apologize for what they did to me," he said.
"But the case is driving me nuts. It's been so long."
Officials with Alberta Justice and the federal Department of Justice did not reply to requests for comment on the case.
In 1992 two women accused Beaulieu of sexual assault. He was sentenced to three and a half years on one count and six months on the other.
He appealed the conviction, lost, and spent the next four years pouring over law books to find away to prove his innocence.
Beaulieu found Section 690 of the Criminal Code, which allows the federal justice minister to order a new trial, around the same time one of the women recanted her testimony and the other was found to have a multiple personality disorder.
Beaulieu's brother Tommy mortgaged his house to pay for a lawyer and they launched a request for a new trial. Then Justice Minister Alan Rock took a year to order a new trial.
"What's unique about this case is that it was such an obvious miscarriage of justice a rarely used section of the Criminal code was called in getting the justice minister involved," Steven Cooper, Beaulieu's lawyer said from his Edmonton office.
Cooper filed a statement of claim last May and he says the justice department's lawyers are trying to stymie litigation.
"They wanted more details on the case so we had to file Access to Information to retrieve documents which took six months," says Cooper.
"I've been told the department already has all or some of the documents."
Cooper expects the department to file a statement of defence once he submits the extra information.
Cooper said Beaulieu is a victim of a system that needs to revamping.
"There should be something in place akin to Workers Compensation for people who go through this," Cooper said.
He said the government either drags its feet or offers quick compensation on similar cases because there's a fear of setting precedence.
"We need a proper system in place to deal with this," said Cooper.
