I have some interesting news. A Quatloos reader and supporter has been tracking our attempts to follow the Clifford action and obtain documents from that.
After my 'recruit a law student' fiasco this [person] has thoughtfully gone to the Manitoba Courts and obtained copies of documents from the Provincial Court and Queen's Bench files. This kind [person] has provided me with scanned copies, which are linked below.
Our Friend asks for no compensation but merely thanks the Quatloosians for their ongoing efforts, analysis, and those occasional moments of levity.
I have reviewed the documents I received, compared them with the online records that are available, the leaked transcripts, and though I am not familiar with Manitoba court materials I see no reason to doubt the authenticity of these items. My commentary will generally be rather cursory - I thought it would be more useful to get these online than anything else.
First, this is the Provincial Court record to date:
There are several sets of offences:
- July 19, 2013 - traffic and assaulting a police officer offences
Aug. 21, 2013 - failure to appear in court
Nov. 5, 2013 - firearms and producing marijuana offences
Nov. 8, 2013 - breach of recognizance (bail release), not living at a Winnipeg address
One item that leapt out at me is that one of the firearms charges is that Dean was in possession of a prohibited handgun, which is a particularly serious offence. Many handguns can be legally owned in Canada as "restricted firearms", but in this case the gun is simply prohibited. Other firearms charges indicate that Dean was under a court order to not have any firearms at this time.
The remaining documents are from Dean's Queen's Bench action "CR13-01-32571 QUEEN vs CLIFFORD, DEAN CHRISTOPHER D." Those wishing to check on the authenticity of those items may review the online court record at this website (
http://www.jus.gov.mb.ca/), just do a name search with "Dean Clifford". The online record indicates a total of 17 documents on file. We have received #1, 2, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 17. Many of the missing documents appear to be affidavits of service, orders to have Dean appear in court - housekeeping type things.
Documents #1 and #2 are from February 2013, and are a
habeas corpus application to pop Dean out of remand:
Curiously, they are not from Dean! Instead, the application was made by a "Martin Neal Sutton" of Toronto. I particularly like paragraph 3 of the Affidavit (Document #2) which reads:
3. THAT I have known Dean Christopher David Clifford for one year and have never known him to present the truth and all relevant facts.
I know it's a typo, but it made me chuckle. This
habeas corpus application was struck off the list on Feb. 28, 2013 because Dean had already been released - it was irrelevant.
The remaining Queen's Bench documents are Dean's attempt to use that court to pop him out of Remand after his Nov. 2013 arrest in Hamilton. In other words, he's using these items to challenge the Provincial Court proceeding documented in the first linked item above.
Document #10 is a collection of faxes sent by Dean to the Court of Queen's Bench that were rejected:
This is the infamous "they are ignoring my documents" package we have heard so much about. The cover letter indicates the rejection is because the court does not accept faxed documents. No mention is made of the demand for typewritten materials, and the sample forms appear to be provided to assist Dean in making his application.
I also must say that Dean's penmanship is excellent - wish I could write that legibly! Unfortunately some pages are difficult to read - no doubt this is a consequence of multiple faxes/reproduction/scanning. Some pages are upside down - no idea why.
Document #11 is Dean's early February 2014 Notice of Motion application for, well, lots of stuff. That led to the February 13, 2014 hearing and Dean's application being adjourned
sine die (Document #13):
Documents #14 and 15 are Dean's next Notice of Motion and a supporting Affidavit, from late February 2014. This is the basis for the March 6, 2014 Queen's Bench hearing, where Justice Keyser ordered: "Motion struck off for MR. Clifford to re-file proper material." (Document #17).
That's the last entry in the Queen's Bench file.
Lots of reading, folks! I'd just like to thank Our Friend for having taken the time and made the expenditures to obtain this material for us. Very much appreciated!
SMS Möwe