Kevin Rollason, Winnipeg Free Press Published: Saturday, January 24, 2009
WINNIPEG - The family of a woman killed in a crash caused by an off-duty Winnipeg police officer four years ago has launched a lawsuit over the botched investigation and the prosecution of the officer.
The lawsuit by the family of Crystal Taman marks the latest chapter in a case that saw the Manitoba government dismantle the police force outside Winnipeg that handled the investigation.
None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been proven in court and no statements of defence have been filed.
Derek Harvey-Zenk Taman was charged with several crimes, including impaired driving causing death, after his pick up truck slammed into the back of Crystal Taman's car in 2005, killing her. All charges, except for dangerous driving causing death, were later stayed in a controversial plea bargain that outraged the public.
Further fuelling(sic) the controversy Friday, the lawyer for one of the people named in the suit suggested Taman's family was more interested in money than closure.
Taman, a 40-year-old mother of three, was killed when, while she was stopped at a red light, Winnipeg police Const. Derek Harvey-Zenk's pickup truck slammed into the back of her convertible on Feb. 25, 2005.
Harvey-Zenk was later charged with several crimes, including impaired driving causing death, but all charges except for dangerous driving causing death were later stayed in a controversial plea bargain that outraged the public.
Just two days after Harvey-Zenk was sentenced to two years less a day to be served at home, the provincial government called an inquiry into the investigation and prosecution.
The inquiry's report accused the St. Paul police of botching the scene investigation of the crash.
It found that Harvey-Zenk received favourable treatment from the St. Paul police, which was the first force to investigate the incident.
In a statement of claim filed in Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench earlier this week, Taman's husband, Robert, and her three children, Tara, Kristin and Jordan, are seeking general and aggravated damages for emotional and mental distress, as well as depression and anxiety.
The family is suing the Rural Municipality of East St. Paul, where the crash took place, and its former police chief, Harry Bakema.
The family is also suing the Winnipeg Police Service, including five officers who investigated the matter, and the provincial government, including special prosecutor Marty Minuk.
"The investigators well knew, or ought to have known, that if they conducted a substandard investigation the prosecution of Derek Harvey-Zenk might be jeopardized," the lawsuit states.
"The investigators also knew or ought to have known that if the prosecution of Harvey-Zenk was jeopardized and he did not receive an appropriate sentence, the plaintiffs would suffer emotional and mental distress, mental trauma, anger, depression and anxiety."
The only person the family is not suing is Harvey-Zenk, the driver of the vehicle that killed Taman.
Lawyer Hymie Weinstein, who represented Bakema at last year's inquiry into the matter, said: "I thought the Taman family wanted closure.
"It appears what they actually want is money."Winnipeg Free Press 2009
Last edited by grumpy old man on Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:16 am; edited 1 time in total
