Karla Homolka news..

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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=968350116467

 

 

Homolka ruling appalls victims' families

Nov. 30, 2005. 06:35 PM

CANADIAN PRESS

 

 

MONTREAL — The mother of one of Karla Homolka’s teenage victims said she felt “kicked in the stomach” today after a judge ruled the schoolgirl killer can come and go with no restrictions.

The families of slain teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy reacted with horror to news that Homolka no longer has to report to the police and can even contact them and her ex-husband Paul Bernardo.

 

“The shock and disbelief and anguish that they expressed to me on the phone this morning was very painful to hear,” Tim Danson, the families’ lawyer, said in Toronto.

 

Danson said Debbie Mahaffy, Leslie’s mother, told him `I feel that I have been kicked in the stomach.’ ”

 

Justice James Brunton of Quebec Superior Court acknowledged in his ruling the possibility that Homolka, who now goes by the name Karla Leanne Teale, could reoffend one day.

 

“However, her development over the last 12 years demonstrates, on a balance of probabilities, that this is unlikely to occur. She does not represent a real and imminent danger to commit a personal injury offence. . . The appeal should be granted.”

 

Homolka left prison in July after completing a 12-year sentence for manslaughter in the sordid sex slayings of French and Mahaffy in the 1990s.

 

The restrictions under Criminal Code provisions were handed down in June after another judge ruled Homolka still posed a risk to the community.

 

The restrictions included having to report her whereabouts and travel plans to police on a regular basis. She was also to provide a DNA sample when she left prison but it was not clear if that was done.

 

Lawyers for Homolka were not available for comment.

 

Niagara Region police Insp. Brian Eckhardt, who worked to help impose the restrictions, said he feels powerless to protect the community of St. Catharines, where the killings took place.

 

“We have no idea now whether or not she is coming to this area,” Eckhardt told Global TV. “So our ability to protect the citizens of this area are diminished and certainly our ability to protect her has been eliminated.”

 

Danson described Brunton’s decision as “very serious and thoughtful” but said the judge made legal errors.

 

Danson said the families believe the application for the restrictions was bungled and they should have been allowed to intervene.

 

He also suggested the current federal election campaign is a good time to start a public debate about Sec. 810 of the Criminal Code, which grants the restrictions.

 

Joanne Marceau, a spokeswoman for the Quebec Justice Department, said several options are being considered, including an appeal and an attempt to seek another set of conditions.

 

“We will take a decision very, very promptly,” she said, although she did not rule out letting Brunton’s decision stand.

 

“We have to consider that this woman is free since more than six months,” Marceau said.

 

“The information we have since she was released (is) that she has always respected the conditions that were imposed on her. She seems to have been a good citizen for now.”

 

Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant said he hopes the decision will be appealed.

 

“Believe me, this is not over,” he said. “It’s not over in Quebec, it certainly is not over in the province of Ontario,” said Bryant, adding he would contact the Quebec attorney general.

 

Bryant said the Ontario government had been confident the restrictions would be upheld.

 

“To say that I’m disappointed would be an understatement,” Bryant said. “I am urging an appeal of this decision.

 

“And furthermore, we will continue to do everything we can to protect the public under these circumstances.”

 

Under Brunton’s ruling, Homolka can go where she pleases and see anyone she wants.

 

The ruling also means Homolka – if she wants to – can contact Bernardo, who is serving a life sentence for the schoolgirl killings.

 

Brunton suggested the lower court decision granting the restrictions lacked balance in that there was not much favourable to Homolka presented at the hearing.

 

“This was a complex case which called for the analysis of the development, or lack thereof, of Ms. Teale over a period of 12 years. The proof presented was not exclusively negative from Ms. Teale’s point of view.”

 

Homolka and Bernardo took the surname Teale from a movie in the 1990s. The character with the name Teale was a serial killer.

 

Several media initially reported eight of the 14 conditions were struck down but Brunton confirmed he had voided them all.

 

Ontario Conservative justice critic Bob Runciman said he believes the conditions on Homolka were valid.

 

“From our perspective and the perspective of most Ontarians, we felt the conditions, the restrictions placed on her were reasonable and were justified,” he said in Toronto. “I think it’s going to be of great concern to victims’ families for sure.”

 

Runciman criticized the Ontario government for not paying to allow the families of Homolka’s victims to attend the appeal hearing.

 

“If the families were there I think it would’ve elevated the issue with respect to the decision being taken by the judge.”

 

Homolka is believed to be living in the Montreal area.

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Quebec is appealing this decision now.

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