A criminal with a long criminal record is demanding $1.5 million from the police and the Crown for accusing him of a sordid attempted murder for which he was ultimately acquitted.
“[Kevin White] went through hell, both on a personal and professional level, as well as on a moral level,” we can read in the lawsuit filed in recent days at the Montreal courthouse.
However, the 42-year-old criminal was not his first stay in detention.
He also began this procedure from prison in Rivière-des-Prairies, where he is awaiting a preliminary investigation for another case of attempted murder, unrelated to the civil prosecution.
Reasonable doubt
The event for which White is claiming this colossal sum dates back to 2011. That evening, the victim, who was the accused's partner, was at home watching a movie when a masked man broke into her home. .
The man then walked towards her and without warning, he pulled out a gun and shot her in the face. Luckily, the woman survived.
“The bloodied, shocked victim is in deep distress and takes refuge in the toilet where she communicates with the 911 emergency service,” we read in the judgment acquitting White.
At trial, White presented an alibi defense claiming that at the time of the crime he was at his mother's house. Neither the accused nor his mother had testified, but taking into account all the evidence, the judge concluded that there was reasonable doubt.
Detention
Between his arrest and his acquittal, however, White spent 21 months in pretrial detention.
And he now blames the Montreal police and the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) for “a multitude of harms and inconveniences.”
“[This includes] suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and deprivation of liberty,” we can read in the court document filed by Me Melissa Podilchuk.
White, who had already been in prison for drug cases and who was guilty of numerous breaches of conditions, therefore wants to force taxpayers to loosen the purse strings in his favor.
His request will soon be examined by a judge of the Superior Court.
Neither the Montreal police nor the DPCP were able to comment on the file, given that it is in the hands of the court.
