Klein et al. v. Seiferling et al., (1999) 179 Sask.R. 161 (QB)

• Judge: Klebuc, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Saskatchewan (Canada)
• Case Date: May 06, 1999
• Jurisdiction: Saskatchewan
• Citations: (1999), 179 Sask.R. 161 (QB);1999 CanLII 12644 (FCA);1999 CanLII 12644 (SK QB);[1999] 10 WWR 554;[1999] CarswellSask 289;[1999] SJ No 297 (QL);179 Sask R 161

Klein v. Seiferling (1999), 179 Sask.R. 161 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [1999] Sask.R. TBEd. MY.055

David William Klein, Dwayne Martin Ransom, Shawn William Moore and Vincent Stanley Kozar (plaintiffs) v. Ronald Seiferling, Andre Turcotte, Jerry Weist and Darcy Lorie Lawrence and the Office of Attorney General of Saskatchewan (defendants)

(1993 Q.B. No. 3226)

Indexed As: Klein et al. v. Seiferling et al.

Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial Centre of Regina

Klebuc, J.

May 6, 1999.

Summary:

Based on information provided by Weist, police officers charged the plaintiffs with second degree murder. The charges were eventually stayed. The plaintiffs sued Weist, the Attorney General and the police officers for damages for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment.

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the action against the police officers only and assessed damages accordingly.

Crown - Topic 4941

Actions against Attorney General - Malicious prosecution - General - Police officers, relying on potentially unreliable sources, investigated the plaintiffs for murder - They failed to advise the Attor­ney General of the sources' potential unre­liability and the existence of inconsist­encies in the information provided - The Attorney General, relying on the informa­tion provided by police, agreed that there existed reasonable and probable grounds to arrest the plaintiffs - The plaintiffs were arrested and imprisoned - The charges were eventually stayed - The plaintiffs sued the Attorney General for malicious prosecution and false imprisonment - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the action - The Attorney Gen­eral's opinion was founded on the infor­mation provided by police - That the Attorney General may have been delin­quent in making disclosure to the plaintiffs fell far short of establishing malice - The Attorney General had reasonable and probable grounds to imprison the plaintiffs - See paragraphs 70 and 71.

Damage Awards - Topic 630

Torts - Injury to the person - False or unlawful imprisonment - Four plaintiffs were charged with second degree murder - All but one plaintiff were imprisoned for 14 days - The charges were eventually stayed - The plaintiffs successfully sued the police officers for malicious prosecu­tion and false imprisonment - All the plaintiffs had suffered varying degrees of humili­ation, loss of liberty, confinement, mental anguish, stress and a loss of repu­tation which continued to plague them - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench awarded nonpecuniary damages ranging from $25,000 to $50,000 depending on each plaintiff's circumstances - The court held that the officers' conduct was not so harsh, reprehensible and malicious in nature so as to warrant punitive damages - See paragraphs 73 to 78.

Damage Awards - Topic 678

Torts - Abuse of legal procedures - Malicious prosecution - [See Damage Awards - Topic 630 ].

Damage Awards - Topic 2012

Exemplary or punitive damages - False imprisonment - [See Damage Awards - Topic 630 ].

Damage Awards - Topic 2026

Exemplary or punitive damages - Malicious prosecution - [See Damage Awards - Topic 630 ].

Police - Topic 3063

Powers - Arrest and detention - Without warrant - Reasonable and probable grounds - Police officers, relying on potentially unreliable sources, arrested all but one plaintiff without a warrant (Crimi­nal Code, s. 495) and charged them with second degree murder - Three of the plaintiffs were imprisoned - The officers had neither required greater particulars from their sources, sought resolution of incon­sistencies nor asked for corroborative evidence - They failed to advise the Attorney General respecting the sources' reliability/credibility - The charges were subsequently stayed - The plaintiffs sued for malicious prosecution and false impris­onment - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench allowed the action - The officers did not have reasonable and prob­able grounds for arrest under s. 495 - The investigation was so reckless and devoid of reason and respect for the plaintiffs' rights and the administration of justice that it was directly and inferentially malicious - False imprisonment resulted from the arrest - See paragraphs 58 to 69.

Police - Topic 5061

Actions against police - For false impris­onment - General - [See Police - Topic 3063 ].

Police - Topic 5222

Actions against police - For malicious prosecution - What constitutes - [See Police - Topic 3063 ].

Torts - Topic 3252

Trespass - False imprisonment - What constitutes - [See Crown - Topic 4941 and Police - Topic 3063 ].

Torts - Topic 6155

Abuse of legal procedure - Malicious prosecution - Malice - Inference of - [See Police - Topic 3063 ].

Torts - Topic 6156

Abuse of legal procedure - Malicious prosecution - Malice - What constitutes - Lawrence implicated Weist in a murder - Weist was mentally challenged - When questioned by police, Weist stated that the plaintiffs were responsible for the murder -The plaintiffs were charged for murder - The charges were eventually stayed - The plaintiffs sued Weist for malicious pros­ecution - The Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench dismissed the action - The court was not satisfied that Weist acted out of malice or understood what reasonable and probable cause meant - He used frag­ments of information provided by police and perhaps Lawrence to fabricate the response sought by the officers and there­by avoid being charged with manslaughter - See paragraph 72.

Torts - Topic 6156

Abuse of legal procedure - Malicious prosecution - Malice - What constitutes - [See Crown - Topic 4941 and Police - Topic 3063 ].

Torts - Topic 6161

Abuse of legal procedure - Malicious prosecution - Reasonable and probable cause - [See Police - Topic 3063 and first Torts - Topic 6156 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Storrey (1990), 105 N.R. 81; 37 O.A.C. 161; 75 C.R.(3d) 1 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 41].

Meyer v. General Exchange Insurance Corp. et al. (1962), 37 W.W.R.(N.S.) 227 (S.C.C.), refd to. [para. 45].

Nelles v. Ontario et al., [1989] 2 S.C.R. 170; 98 N.R. 321; 35 O.A.C. 161; 60 D.L.R.(4th) 609, refd to. [para. 45].

Glinski v. McIver, [1962] A.C. 726 (H.L.), refd to. [para. 46].

Bradley v. Woodstock (Town) (1978), 22 N.B.R.(2d) 45; 39 A.P.R. 45 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 47].

Kennedy v. Tomlinson et al. (1959), 20 D.L.R.(2d) 273 (Ont. C.A.), refd to. [para. 47].

Roncarelli v. Duplessis, [1959] S.C.R. 121, refd to. [para. 48].

Whitehouse v. Reimer, Calgary Police Commission and Alberta (1979), 21 A.R. 541; 11 Alta. L.R.(2d) 252 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 48].

Critchley et al. v. Hill (1963), 38 D.L.R.(2d) 492 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 48].

Corea v. Peiris, [1909] A.C. 549 (Ceylon P.C.), refd to. [para. 48].

Milgaard v. Kujawa et al. (1994), 123 Sask.R. 164; 74 W.A.C. 164 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 48].

Fancourt v. Heaven (1909), 18 O.L.R. 492 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 48].

Walker v. Ontario (Attorney General) et al. (1997), 32 O.T.C. 19 (Gen. Div.), refd to. [para. 48].

Frey v. Fedoruk, [1950] S.C.R. 517, refd to. [para. 49].

Silver Jack Mines Ltd. v. McCarthy (1983), 51 N.B.R.(2d) 160; 134 A.P.R. 160 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 51].

Roberts v. Buster's Auto Towing Service Ltd., [1977] 4 W.W.R. 428 (B.C.S.C.), refd to. [para. 51].

Melanson v. Lavigne (1906), 37 N.B.R. 539 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 51].

Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto and Manning, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 1130; 184 N.R. 1; 84 O.A.C. 1; 126 D.L.R.(4th) 129; 25 C.C.L.T.(2d) 89; 30 C.R.R.(2d) 189, refd to. [para. 51].

Herniman v. Smith, [1938] 1 All E.R. 1 (H.L.), refd to. [para. 59].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Fleming, John G., The Law of Torts (8th Ed. 1992), pp. 30, 31 [para. 43].

Fridman, Gerald Henry Louis, The Law of Torts in Canada (1989), vol. 1, p. 47 [para. 44].

Halsbury's Laws of England (2nd Ed. 1940), vol. 33, p. 38, para. 67 [para. 49].

Klar, Lewis N., Linden, Allan M., Cherniak, Earl, and Krywocuk, Peter, Remedies in Tort (1987) (Looseleaf), pp. 7-31 to 7-36.1, 15-3.8 to 15-4 [para. 51].

McGregor on Damages (14th Ed. 1980), pp. 922 to 926, 927 to 932 [para. 51].

Sopinka, John, Case Comment on Nelles v. Ontario et al. (1995), 74 Can. Bar Rev. 366, p. 369 [para. 47].

Counsel:

E.F. Anthony Merchant, Q.C., and Miles J. Baumgartner, for the plaintiffs;

Frederick J. Kovach, Q.C., and Linda A. Christensen, for the defendants, Ronald Seiferling and Andre Turcotte;

Donald A. McKillop, Q.C., for the defend­ant, the Office of Attorney General of Saskatchewan;

Jerry Weist, on his own behalf.

This action was heard before Klebuc, J., of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial Centre of Regina, who delivered the following judgment on May 6, 1999.