'It's finally over': Frank Ostrowski elated to have murder conviction quashed
Winnipegger found guilty of 1st-degree murder in 1987 has maintained his innocence for more than 30 years
Frank Ostrowski is relieved to finally have his first-degree murder conviction off his back, allowing him to travel outside Manitoba and enjoy his freedom after decades of maintaining his innocence.
"It's finally over," he told CBC News Wednesday morning.
The Manitoba Court of Appeal released its decision Tuesday on Ostrowski's case, saying the 1987 conviction for the killing of Robert Nieman in 1986 should be quashed.
The decision goes on to say that given the amount of time that has passed, and the years Ostrowski has already spent behind bars, no new trial should be called at this time. The decision instead calls for a judicial stay of proceedings.
However, the court did not go so far as to acquit him.
Justice system 'not ready to be accountable': lawyer
Ostrowski was fighting for an acquittal and said the court was "on the wrong track."
"It is disappointing — of course it is," said James Lockyer, Ostrowski's lawyer, on Wednesday.
"For someone to have to go through something like this for 32 years, what is undoubtedly a wrongful conviction — I think it's a shame that our justice system is not more ready to be accountable for its mistakes."
Still, Ostrowski said he's just happy to have a new start at life.
Ostrowski was released on bail in 2009 following 23 years behind bars, after the federal Justice Department began reviewing Ostrowski's case as a possible wrongful conviction.
His freedom has been hindered by the conviction, he said, and he lived under a number of conditions.
"The murder's off my back. I can now take my passport and go to Cuba and enjoy myself, without asking the Crown and my lawyers if I can go," he said.
"I can go to Kenora fishing, which I couldn't do for nine years. I couldn't go out there because it's outside of Manitoba. I have to ask permission every time I go. 'Where are you going? What are you doing?' The strings are cut."
Still, with only his pension for income, life has not been easy for Ostrowski.
"It doesn't go far," he said.
"You have to have money to do things. I have creditors after me. Four credit cards maxed out. I just told them, 'Look, that's the way it is.'"
His lawyer said he believes Ostrowski is entitled to financial compensation, but whether he will seek it remains to be seen.
"It's probably a bit early to think about it," Lockyer said. "At the moment, we're just dealing with the fact that he's finally a free man."
Failure to disclose evidence
At the crux of Ostrowski's appeal was whether key evidence was disclosed to his defence lawyers. That included a deal the Crown struck with its key witness to stay his drug charges if he testified against Ostrowski, and a report from an officer that contradicted the witness's testimony.
The report said Winnipeg police received a suggestion a "hit" had been ordered. However, the officer wrote that the hit wasn't against Nieman, the man Ostrowski was convicted of killing.
This evidence was exposed in hearings held in late 2016 and early 2017 in front of the Manitoba Court of Appeal.
In its decision, the Appeal Court found that the Crown's failure to disclose this evidence impaired Ostrowski's defence, because his lawyer could have used it to challenge the credibility of important details in the case against him.
However, the decision goes on to say that this does not render the witness's testimony totally unreliable, and that a jury could still reasonably find Ostrowski guilty if a new trial were ordered.
3 men convicted, 'no accountability'
Ostrowski was one of three men convicted in Nieman's murder.
Robert Dunkley was convicted of pulling the trigger and sentenced to life in prison. Jose Luis Correia was sentenced to life in prison but was granted early release and deported to his home country, Portugal.
The Crown prosecutor in Ostrowski's case was George Dangerfield, who also prosecuted three high-profile cases where the accused was wrongfully convicted: James Driskell, Kyle Unger and Thomas Sophonow. He has since retired.
"It's very concerning, but it would seem there'll be no accountability," Lockyer said of Dangerfield's role in the convictions.
"There very rarely is in these cases. And that's one of the downsides of working in the field of wrongful convictions, is we never seem to get any accountability."
The three cases bear similarities to Ostrowski's:
- Driskell was convicted of murder in Winnipeg in 1990 based in part on testimony from a witness who was given tens of thousands of dollars in expense payments as well as immunity on an arson charge. The verdict against Driskell was overturned in 2006.
- Sophonow was was exonerated in 2000, after his wrongful conviction for the 1981 death of Barbara Stoppel, a 16-year-old waitress. Sophonow was convicted of strangling her, based in part on a confession Sophonow allegedly gave to a man in jail. The Crown never revealed that the informant bargained for charges against him to be dropped in exchange for testifying.
- Unger was convicted of killing a teenage girl at a music festival in 1990, based partly on hair samples found at the scene. DNA tests years later showed the hairs did not belong to him, and he was acquitted in 2009.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Manitoba Justice said neither an inquiry into Ostrowski's case nor any criminal charges related to his prosecution are being considered.
A publication ban remains in place on some fresh evidence presented during the appeal process that concerned whether there was "Crown misbehaviour."
