Bulletin: Ivan Henry: British Columbia; Major development: B.C. judge awards Ivan Henry $8 million for wrongful imprisonment; (A case in which semen collected from several victims was never sent for testing to see if it matched the suspect - and an infamous lineup occurred in which three police officers are seen putting him into a choke-hold to 'encourge' his participation. HL); "In a ruling released Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson concluded that the Crown’s wrongful non-disclosure of relevant information seriously infringed Ivan Henry’s right to a fair trial and demonstrated a “shocking disregard” for his Charter rights. Henry was convicted of serial sex offences in 1983, declared a dangerous offender and ordered jailed indefinitely. “If Mr. Henry had received the disclosure to which he was entitled, the likely result would have been his acquittal at his 1983 trial, and certainly the avoidance of his sentencing as dangerous offender,” said Hinkson in his 130-page ruling. “The Province is therefore liable for Mr. Henry’s wrongful conviction and subsequent lengthy period of incarceration.” Reporter Darryl Dyck; The Canadian Press;

"A B.C. man who spent 27 years behind bars after being wrongfully convicted has been awarded $8 million in damages, much less than Ivan Henry was seeking at trial. In a ruling released Wednesday, B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson concluded that the Crown’s wrongful non-disclosure of relevant information seriously infringed Ivan Henry’s right to a fair trial and demonstrated a “shocking disregard” for his Charter rights. Henry was convicted of serial sex offences in 1983, declared a dangerous offender and ordered jailed indefinitely. “If Mr. Henry had received the disclosure to which he was entitled, the likely result would have been his acquittal at his 1983 trial, and certainly the avoidance of his sentencing as dangerous offender,” said Hinkson in his 130-page ruling. “The Province is therefore liable for Mr. Henry’s wrongful conviction and subsequent lengthy period of incarceration.” The judge awarded a total of $8,086,691, including $7.5 million in damages to “serve the vindication and deterrence functions” of the Charter, $530,000 in compensatory damages and $56,000 in special damages. At trial, Henry had sought an award of more than $30 million in damages.........The judge dismissed a claim on behalf of Henry’s daughters for emotional distress and loss of guidance. Henry was arrested in July 1982 and charged with three counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and five counts of indecent assault, involving eight different women.In March 1983 Henry, representing himself at trial, was convicted of 10 sex offences that occurred in 1981 and 1982.  His initial appeal to the B.C. Court of Appeal was dismissed for want of prosecution after he failed to come up with the $4,000 he needed to pay for trial transcripts.Henry maintained that he was innocent while serving his sentence and filed numerous appeals, motions and applications from prison, all of which were dismissed."
http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-judge-awards-ivan-henry-man-8-million-for-wrongful-imprisonment

See Gary Mason's Globe and Mail  review of writer Joan McEwan's excellent  book on the Henry case  at the link below: "The tale, in all its ugliness, is laid out in a new book, Innocence on Trial: The Framing of Ivan Henry. It’s written by Vancouver lawyer Joan McEwen and is a remarkable undertaking of research. In meticulous detail, Ms. McEwen lays out the grotesquely thin, not to mention corrupt, case that was successful in putting an innocent 35-year-old man behind bars for 27 years. As the book makes clear, spending time in jail as a purported rapist is not a pleasant experience – even prisons have standards. Mr. Henry’s life tale is a pathetic one. Raised in Regina, he quit school in Grade 8 to flee an abusive home. He embarked on a life of crime, first petty and then not so petty. He spent time in prison for robbery and attempted rape. An angel he was not. Out of prison, he settled in Vancouver with a drug-addicted wife and two daughters. In 1982, the city was being terrorized by a serial rapist. Police were under increasing pressure to find who was doing it. One day, Mr. Henry was pulled over at a traffic stop. In quick order, he found himself being interrogated and then charged with assaulting 17 women. Mr. Henry chose to clumsily defend himself when he became convinced his legal aid lawyer was part of a conspiracy to put him behind bars. As was later revealed, Mr. Henry was nowhere near the scene where most of the crimes were committed. Police didn’t check out his rock-solid alibis. Semen collected from several victims was never sent for testing to see if it matched the suspect. Three police officers put him in a choke-hold for the police lineup photo. His prior conviction for attempted rape was erroneously allowed into evidence at the jury trial. And there were other, equally egregious examples of authorities abusing due process to get a conviction under any circumstances. Mr. Henry was ultimately found guilty of 10 sex crimes, declared a dangerous offender and sent off to prison to serve an indefinite sentence. In 1990, his dying wife confessed to a daughter that her husband was innocent. She had fingered him to get a $1,000 reward being offered by police that she used to support her drug habit. But it took 20 more years before an appeal court would recognize the miscarriage of justice and make Mr. Henry a free man. In Canada, the wrongfully convicted are never truly set free. Most are not exonerated by the courts – merely acquitted. Mr. Henry walked out of court with less support for his transition to life on the outside than a paroled murderer would get. And his transition has been difficult – with little financial means, he lives in the basement of his daughter’s home. He faces a fight to get government compensation for the 27 years he lost. Ms. McEwen was shocked when she dove into this case and discovered the extent to which Mr. Henry was railroaded into prison. She is rightfully distressed by the shabby way that people unjustly convicted of a crime, and robbed of a free life, are treated upon their release from prison. Mr. Henry’s tragic story deserves to be included in a gallery of the worst examples of wrongful convictions in our country’s history. Ms. McEwen would like to see him fully absolved of the crimes he didn’t commit, not just cleared. And if there is any justice in our sometimes fallible justice system, he will be."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/the-wrongfully-convicted-are-never-truly-set-free/article21481822/