Discussions

The mother of 40-year-old Crystal Taman, who was killed when Derek Harvey-Zenk slammed his car into her while she was waiting at a red light in 2005, has written Justice Minister Dave Chomiak demanding to know why charges against Harvey-Zenk were stayed and why her family has been left in the dark during all stages of the case.  
 
"Any information we requested was denied," wrote Taman's mother Victoria Sveinson in her letter to Chomiak, obtained by Sun Media.  
 
"We could barely find out when the court date was."  
 
Sveinson said her family received no explanation from the Crown on why several charges against Harvey-Zenk, including refusing a breathalyser test, were stayed.  
 
She said her family was not consulted on any decisions related to the case.  
 
 
"We were left in the dark," she said yesterday.  
 
It's a far cry from what the Doer government promised victims and their families when they passed their Victims' Bill of Rights in 2000.  
 
Then-justice minister Gord Mackintosh promised Manitobans would have sweeping new powers during the court process, including full disclosure from the Crown on the status of their case and the right to be consulted before charges are stayed.  
 
But that hasn't been happening, at least not in some cases.  
 
"Most of our inquiries were treated with disdain and arrogant superiority," Sveinson wrote in her letter.  
 
Chomiak announced last week his department will be probing the conduct of the East St. Paul Police Service to investigate allegations they botched the Harvey-Zenk case.  
 
While he's at it, he should also review how the Victims' Bill of Rights is working and whether police and the prosecutions branch are actually following it.  
 
Sveinson also wants to know why she was not allowed to read certain sections of her victim impact statement in court.  
 
The Victims' Bill of Rights guarantees victims can read their statements in court.  
 
But apparently there are certain things they can't include in their statements, like criticism of the court process.  
 
Here's one segment Sveinson was told she had to delete from her statement:  
 
"The drawn-out lengths of time it takes for many of these cases to get to court prevents the healing process from even beginning."  
 
She also had to take out the following:  
 
"The crime that destroyed their loved one was treated like a misdemeanour and their precious deceased relative was made totally inconsequential."  
 
Apparently you can't say that, which is ludicrous.  
 
I suggest Chomiak also review what criteria justice officials are using to edit people's victim impact statements.  
 
Obviously there are some things you can't allow people to say, like making defamatory statements.  
 
But these guys are going overboard in censoring victims and their families.  
 
The whole point of victim impact statements is to let victims and their families express their loss and sorrow in court.  
 
And if part of their distress lies in the shortcomings of the justice system, they should be allowed to express that, too.  
 
It's time we started giving victims and their families the same rights criminals have.