America
Indian-origin man sues Canadian government over wrongful conviction
Ottawa, Feb 28
An Indo-Canadian man has sued
the Canadian federal government over his wrongful conviction in a sexual
assault case, a media report said.
Gurdev Singh Dhillon, a
former Surrey resident who spent three years in jail for a rape he did
not commit and who was subsequently deported, is now suing the
provincial and federal governments, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP), Crown prosecutor Don Wilson and his former defence lawyer
Sukhjinder Grewal, Canada's South Asian Observer reported Friday.
Dhillon was found guilty of sexual assault in 2005, and extradited to India after his release from prison in 2008.
However,
in 2013, a British Columbia (BC) Criminal Justice Branch investigation
concluded there had been a "miscarriage of justice" in Dhillon's case
after it was determined DNA evidence was withheld that exonerated him.
The
defendants named in Dhillon's civil claim filed in BC Supreme Court Feb
16 include RCMP investigator Ryan Roth, an unknown RCMP member or
civilian employee listed only as John Doe, Crown prosecutor Don Wilson
and Dhillon's former defence lawyer Sukhjinder Grewal.
The sexual assault took place in July 2004.
At the trial, the victim testified that she was driven to a Surrey basement suite by two males she described as "East Indian".
A third man was already in the suite, she said, identifying Dhillon as the owner.
Dhillon was the only man to stand trial in the case.
After the DNA evidence came to light, two other men were charged.
Dhillon's
lawsuit alleges Roth and John Doe unduly influenced the victim to
change her statement to identify Dhillon as her attacker, and also
failed to forward DNA analysis to lawyers.
Dhillon lost everything as a result of the wrongful conviction.
As
well as losing his freedom while serving his prison sentence, his wife
of three years left him, his daughter became estranged and alienated, he
lost his job as a millworker and was deported to India and stripped of
his permanent Canadian residency.