Hathway: Police State?

In the case of Michael Bridges the RCMP had evidence before the sting that he was involved in the murder of his girl friend. There was no evidence that Wilfred Hathway was involved in the murder of his landlord. He confessed because he believed he would have ended up dead at the hands of a criminal gang if he did not confess. Mr Hathway had no way of knowing that the criminal gang members were RCMP officers.

After two years in jail Richard Klassen filed a motion on behalf of Mr Hathway asking for a full disclosure. Mr Hathway received the disclosure in his cell. The disclosure was smuggled out of the correction centre and Richard Klassen filed a further motion asking for a Judicial Interim Release Hearing.

From injusticebusters;

The brief with its 54 tabs is comprehensive and clear. When Judge Rothery reads it, she will not be misled; she will be led through a maze which anyone can see is deliberate obfuscation by the Crown. It is rare that the details of a wrongful conviction have been put in place so clearly before the conviction has occurred. The judge is placed in the unprecedented position of having the opportunity to stop this one from happening.

The hearing was heard on April 21 by Judge Rothery and she reserved her decision. The one sided reporting by the StarPhoenix is understandable as the bans prevented the media from reporting on anything but the two year on going banter between the Crown and defence team. When serious accusations were made about a Saskatoon Police Officer and a Crown prosecutor the StarPhoenix stopped reporting on the Hathway case. There was not one word about the April 21st hearing in the StarPhoenix.

This is not about the guilt or innocence of Wilfred Hathway. It is about a fair trial for Mr Hathway. He is entitled to a full disclosure from the Crown. If this disclosure shows the police to have manufactured evidence and the Crown prosecutor knowingly withheld this disclosure then the new terrorism laws are being used to maliciously prosecute Mr Hathway. If the publication ban on the evidence extends to anything related to the police including their method of operation then we have a police state.