Two men launch lawsuits for wrongful convictions in 1973 slaying

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This article was published 05/04/2024 (544 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two men wrongfully convicted of killing a Winnipeg restaurant worker five decades ago have filed lawsuits over the miscarriage of justice that cost them years of freedom.

Allan Woodhouse, 68, and Brian Anderson, 69, members of Pinaymootang First Nation in the Interlake, were formally acquitted of the 1973 slaying of Ting Fong Chan in Court of King’s Bench last July.

The federal justice minister at the time, David Lametti, had quashed their convictions one month earlier.

The court ruled the investigation, prosecution and verdict were dominated by individual and systemic racism.

Woodhouse and Anderson, who have the same lawyers, including James Lockyer of Innocence Canada, filed separate lawsuits in the Court of King’s Bench Tuesday.

Court documents name the Manitoba government and attorney general, the federal attorney general and the City of Winnipeg as defendants.

Statements of defence haven’t been filed.

The men claim Winnipeg police officers and George Dangerfield, the Crown attorney who prosecuted the case, colluded to give false evidence during the men’s trial.

Four murder cases prosecuted by Dangerfield were later struck down as wrongful convictions.

Woodhouse and Anderson ask for damages to compensate for the pain they suffered, loss of their reputations and enjoyment of their lives. They allege their Charter rights were violated. No dollar figure was cited in the court papers.

“The conduct of the defendants was high-handed, outrageous, scandalous, reckless, entirely without care or consideration, intentional or in disregard” of the men’s rights, the statements of claim say.

It alleges the defendants exploited the plaintiffs’ vulnerability as young Indigenous men.

The two men, then 18 and 17, were part of a group of four First Nations men who police decided had committed the killing. Anderson and Woodhouse were sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 10 years.

The claims allege detectives coerced the group into signing false confessions — in English, a language they had limited fluency in — after two groups of officers violently and threateningly interrogated them using racial slurs and abuse.

The claims say police had said they had witnesses who had accused the men of being involved and that officers showed Woodhouse and Anderson false confessions of the other wrongful suspects.

The lawsuits allege Winnipeg police were negligent and breached their duty by not fairly and thoroughly investigating Woodhouse and Anderson, instead relying on racist attitudes toward Indigenous people and using violence to elicit the false confessions.

Police also failed to look into their alibis — both were at home asleep — or independently review the case.

The City of Winnipeg, the court papers claim, failed to properly train and supervise the police.

The false confessions were the only evidence Dangerfield put before the jury that convicted them. He’s accused of deliberate improper conduct in his presentation of false evidence and misleading comments in court.

It’s alleged Dangerfield neglected other witness statements and evidence.

The lawsuits say the Manitoba government and attorney general are liable for the prosecutor’s actions; the federal government failed to ensure Woodhouse and Anderson were treated fairly as First Nations men in the justice system and to protect their charter rights.

Woodhouse was granted full parole in 1990 while Anderson was granted full parole in 1983. They always maintained their innocence.

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An appeal launched by Anderson and Woodhouse to the Manitoba Court of Appeal was dismissed in November 1974.

In 1975, Anderson was denied leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Anderson and Woodhouse submitted applications for a criminal conviction review in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Clarence Woodhouse, who was also convicted in the slaying, was granted bail in a Manitoba court last October. His conviction is still being reviewed. Russell Woodhouse was found guilty of manslaughter and served 10 years. He later died.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.