Homolka appeals conditions as unconstitutional restrictions on her freedom
at 18:50 on July 5, 2005, EST.
ROSS MAROWITS
JOLIETTE, Que. (CP) - Less than a day after their notorious client was released from prison, Karla Homolka's lawyers appeared in court Tuesday to appeal the conditions that are meant to shackle the killer for at least one year.
They contend the strict conditions, which include that she check in regularly with police, provide notice for trips outside Quebec, and have no contact with violent criminals, are excessive, unfair and unconstitutional.
A Quebec court judge ordered the conditions last month under Sec. 810 of the Criminal Code. Homolka's lawyers argue the section violates several provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It is a violation of the fundamental principles of justice for a citizen's freedom to be restricted based on fears about future conduct without sufficient proof to lay criminal charges, says a portion of the five-page notice of appeal.
"Article 810.2 of the Criminal Code allowing a person to be punished even when the state is incapable of proving that she has committed a crime, is a violation of the fundamental principles of justice."
Homolka's lawyers said Judge Jean Beaulieu committed several errors in handing down the conditions without first examining proof of the threat she currently poses, while ignoring any evidence in her favour.
The lone condition the appeal singles out is the one forcing Homolka to follow psychological therapy.
The appeal said it was an "illegal delegation of power" to force Homolka to undergo therapy with one particular psychologist or someone designated by her.
Lawyers for Homolka and the Canadian government declined to comment after the brief hearing in Joliette, northeast of Montreal.
Homolka was not in court, while City of Montreal officials confirmed later she is somewhere on the Island of Montreal, which includes Montreal and its 27 boroughs, which are composed of former suburbs.
Mario Lavigne, who is assisting in Homolka's appeal, said the Ontario government's request for 810 conditions was politically motivated and a way around what angry critics called the "deal with the devil" that limited Homolka's sentence to 12 years for her crimes.
Homolka's controversial plea bargain with the Crown came when she agreed to testify against ex-husband Paul Bernardo.
It was made before authorities learned of the horrific images of torture and rape, including an attack on her own sister, caught on videotape and hidden in the couple's southern Ontario home - tapes that also cast a different light on the woman who had portrayed herself as a battered wife acting under duress.
"I think it's important that people are aware that 810 is dangerous," Lavigne told reporters outside the courthouse.
"The question is do we apply 810 when and wherever we want."
Homolka, 35, served her full sentence for her role in the deaths of Ontario schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, as well as the drug-rape death in 1990 of her 15-year-old sister Tammy.
Quebec Superior Court Justice James Brunton ordered Homolka's lawyers to submit written arguments on Aug. 15.
A one-day hearing will take place in Montreal on Sept. 22.
During the June hearing, psychiatrists portrayed Homolka as a victim who was under the control of her violent and psychopathic husband during the abductions and sex slayings of French and Mahaffy.
The Crown argued that Homolka remains a serious public danger who should be kept under close surveillance when she is released.
But a psychiatrist who evaluated Homolka said she is neither a psychopath nor a serious threat to reoffend.
Louis Morissette portrayed Homolka as a woman with low self-esteem who participated in violent sexual crimes because she was afraid of losing Bernardo.
"The experts mostly agree, if she hadn't met Bernardo, it would never have happened," Morissette told the hearing.
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