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'New beginning' for Unger

Manitoba won't compensate him for 14 years spent in prison

By: Bruce Owen and Gabrielle Giroday

24/10/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 12

Kyle Unger, with lawyer Hersh Wolch, says he waited nearly 20 years to get his life back.

KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image

Kyle Unger, with lawyer Hersh Wolch, says he waited nearly 20 years to get his life back.

Kyle Unger will have to sue the Manitoba government and RCMP if he wants to see any compensation for the 14 years he spent in prison for the June 1990 slaying of 16-year-old Brigitte Grenier.

Unger, 38, walked out of Winnipeg's Law Courts Building Friday a free man after the Crown said it had no evidence to use against him for Grenier's slaying.

An RCMP officer shows reporters in 1990 where popular teenager Brigitte Grenier was slain near Roseisle, Man.

Enlarge Image

An RCMP officer shows reporters in 1990 where popular teenager Brigitte Grenier was slain near Roseisle, Man. (WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)

"It's the first day of my rest of my life, a new beginning," a smiling Unger said.

Assistant deputy attorney general Don Slough said in court moments earlier that Crown prosecutors had no evidence to retry Unger.

While his confession to undercover Mounties was admissible in court at the time Unger was originally tried, the confession cannot be used under current rules.

DNA testing of hair linked to the crime scene had eventually proved not to be a match.

"He is entitled to an acquittal," Slough said. "In the eyes of the law, he's an innocent man."

But less than two hours later, Attorney General Dave Chomiak snuffed out any chance of ending the Unger saga quickly. Chomiak said the province will not pay a dime in compensation to Unger for his time behind bars because under standards back then, police and the Crown did nothing wrong in investigating and prosecuting the case.

"In this case, the 12 men and women who convicted him did so on the basis of a confession that nowadays would not be entered into court," Chomiak said.

"So we're left with a conclusion that is not clean or clean-cut. We're left with a conclusion that Mr. Unger cannot and will not be prosecuted and nobody knows to this day who tragically murdered Brigitte Grenier."

Unger said his confession to police was coerced. He believed at the time officers were recruiting him to join a criminal gang.

"I found it was a very unfair strategy," he said. "You take an innocent man of any culture, any walk of life, who's destitute... and you offer him more than what he needs, you'd be surprised what you can get from that person."

Chomiak also said Unger was not entitled to compensation because he was not proven innocent of the crime; he was only found not guilty because no evidence was called.

"I don't want to tell (his) legal counsel what to do," Chomiak added. "I suspect they'll launch some sort of action."

Unger's lawyer, Hersh Wolch, said his client will consider suing.

"It's so disappointing," Wolch said. "This is his day to enjoy the moment. Why do they have to rain on the parade?"

Wolch, who helped negotiate a $10-million settlement for wrongfully convicted client David Milgaard, said he would like an independent review of the province's position on compensation.

Unger said he was revelling in his acquittal and not immediately focused on compensation. He walked into court Friday in jeans and an old ski jacket.

He wants to extend his stay in Manitoba instead of immediately returning to his home in Merritt, B.C., where he has lived since he was freed on bail five years ago.

"I spent 20 years wanting my life back. I got it today, and like I said, I'm trying to absorb the fact that I got what was most important to me: my freedom, my exoneration, my innocence proven," he said. "It's going to take some time to really figure it out."

In Canada, there is no legal entitlement to compensation for a wrongful conviction, although such a provision is under review, Chomiak said.

Right now, the only financial remedy for the wrongly convicted -- unless found factually innocent -- is to launch a claim for malicious prosecution, negligent investigation, prosecutorial misconduct, false imprisonment or even perhaps a claim for a breach under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Factual innocence can be established if someone else is convicted of the crime or if evidence arises that proves the accused could not have been involved.

How the wrongfully convicted are compensated now was demonstrated in New Brunswick earlier this week.

The New Brunswick government and the City of Saint John agreed to pay compensation to Erin Walsh, who was wrongfully convicted of a slaying 34 years ago. Details of the compensation deal are confidential.

Walsh spent 10 years in prison before he was paroled.

He was acquitted in March 2008 after he uncovered documents that were not presented to the jury, including evidence suggesting another person had killed the victim.

The New Brunswick settlement came as the case was about to go to trial, something sources here have said will likely be duplicated if Unger sues.

A Manitoba RCMP spokeswoman said there are no plans to reopen the investigation into the Grenier case.

Chomiak said he will not call a public inquiry into Unger's prosecution.

The province has had two recent, and costly, inquiries into wrongful convictions. Both led to changes in how evidence is collected by police and disclosed by the Crown at trial.

Chomiak said Thomas Sophonow was awarded compensation because factual evidence was presented by then-police chief Jack Ewatski that exonerated him of the 1981 slaying of waitress Barbara Stoppel. Another man was identified as a suspect, but he killed himself before he could be charged.

Chomiak said in the James Driskell case, there was clear evidence some information was not properly disclosed by the Crown to Driskell's lawyer at trial. That included evidence of more than $100,000 in payments to witnesses, witness perjury and secret immunity deals.

Chomiak said his officials have spoken to the Grenier family about Unger's acquittal.

Slough told reporters outside the court the family was "devastated" by the news. "They've suffered this horrible loss," he said.

The Greniers could not be reached.

 

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca gabrielle.giroday@freepress.mb.ca

 

 

 

'The sad reality of this entire tragedy is that had it not been told to an undercover police officer that he killed Brigette Grenier, even all the other available evidence would not have sent him to jail. Without his confession he would not have been charged. Without the confession he would not have been convicted'

-- Manitoba Justice Minister Dave Chomiak

 

 

'In the eyes of the law, he's an innocent man'

-- Don Slough, Manitoba's deputy attorney general, after Unger's acquittal. Slough was one of the prosecutors who worked with Dangerfield on Unger's trial.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 24, 2009 A3

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12 Commentscomment icon

plw.wpg, perhaps you should read the article by Gabrielle Giroday that was in the Sept 19 edition of the Free Press before saying that Unger hasn't made mention of compensation. Here's a quote from the article:

"Unger thinks the province will give up. He's a man on the brink of middle age, but with the mind of a frustrated teenager. And, he hopes and believes, he'll be rich.

He's seen the $10 million David Milgaard got for his years in prison after an unjust conviction.

That's the future Unger envisions for himself.

The past -- the two charges for the murder of 16-year-old Brigitte Grenier, the 13-plus years in prison -- is a closed book.

And the legal questions of liberty lost and life forever altered aren't the first things on Unger's mind.

'Back the bus up for half a million dollars a year and I'll go back and do another 10 years. In a heartbeat,' he told me."

He may be considered not guilty in the eyes of the court but he isn't acting innocent in my opinion.

Kyle Unger confessed to a murder to gain acceptance into a Criminal Gang. He has learnt a harsh lesson. But he made his choice. He was convicted by jury based on the fact that he said he did it.

Taxpayers shouldn't have to compensate him for his own mistake.

@worldwide, Or the other charged, who committed suicide really was the guilty party.

I myself have always felt he was guilty. The verdict is now out and I really hope it is right. Right or wrong I feel compensation is due. Unlike some posts I have read I don't feel that big numbers are right. At that time, I was employed, working my butt off, supporting a wife and son, and making it all work on around $20,000 annual. If a number is chosen it shouldn't be more than that, adjusted for inflation. There were no costs of living for Mr. Unger and if he was truly innocent he will now have a pretty substantial nest egg that he can build on to create the life he would most likely have had. No reason for it to become a "best case" scenario. Life isn't that easy for the rest of us either. Hope you can go on to have a fulfilling life Mr. Unger.

"A Manitoba RCMP spokeswoman said there are no plans to reopen the investigation into the Grenier case."

"Chomiak said he will not call a public inquiry into Unger's prosecution. The province has had two recent, and costly, inquiries into wrongful convictions."

Somewhere out there, a guilty party is breathing a sigh of relief.

The system is failing Brigitte Grenier.

DNA testing of the hair found linked to the crime scene had been proven to be not a match and the 12 men and women convicted him only did so on a confession alone, that in today's standards would not be acceptable in court's today, and he was also offered more of what he needed and on that note: he was destitute.. If anything they should reinvestigate.

Why should he receive compensation?? Who's to say he didn't do it. [Edited: unproven allegation]

I agree with powerplay's comments. If anything, he should be locked up much longer. I feel bad for grenier's family, as they now have deal with seeing this man free, while their loved one is gone.

if he did not kill her why did he confess seems to me if he did not confess he would not have gone to prison in the first place [edited]

seems like $100,000 to get him a fresh start wouldnt be out of line

always thought the $5 and $10 mil was too much ( not that i would have traded my 20 best years for ANY amount}

i hope he does sue them!!!!!!

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