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(
) continuing as an ordinary procedure.
Bringing a claim
The
plaintiff prepares a statement of claim, which contains a concise statement
of material facts on which the plaintiff relies. The court issues the
statement of claim after the court fees are paid.
The
plaintiff serves the statement of claim on all defendants and files an
affidavit of service with the court.
If
the defendant does not defend the action, this affidavit of service is
necessary for the plaintiff to obtain default judgment.
Form 14A
Courts of Justice
Act
statement of
claim (general)
(General heading)
(Court seal)
statement of claim
TO THE DEFENDANT
A LEGAL PROCEEDING HAS BEEN COMMENCED
AGAINST YOU by the plaintiff. The
claim made against you is set out in the following pages.
IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING,
you or an Ontario lawyer acting for you must prepare a statement of defence
in Form 18A prescribed by the Rules of Civil Procedure, serve it on the
plaintiff’s lawyer or, where the plaintiff does not have a lawyer, serve it
on the plaintiff, and file it, with proof of service in this court office,
WITHIN TWENTY DAYS after this statement of claim is served on you, if you are
served in Ontario.
If you are served in another province or
territory of Canada or in the United States of America, the period for
serving and filing your statement of defence is forty days. If you are served outside Canada and the
United States of America, the period is sixty days.
Instead of serving and filing a
statement of defence, you may serve and file a notice of intent to defend in
Form 18B prescribed by the Rules of Civil Procedure. This will entitle you to ten more days
within which to serve and file your statement of defence.
IF YOU FAIL TO DEFEND THIS PROCEEDING,
JUDGMENT MAY BE GIVEN AGAINST YOU IN YOUR ABSENCE AND WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE
TO YOU. IF YOU WISH TO DEFEND THIS
PROCEEDING BUT ARE UNABLE TO PAY LEGAL FEES, LEGAL AID MAY BE AVAILABLE TO
YOU BY CONTACTING A LOCAL LEGAL AID OFFICE.
(Where the claim made is for money only, include the
following:)
IF YOU PAY THE
PLAINTIFF’S CLAIM, and $......................
for costs, within the time for serving and filing your statement of defence
you may move to have this proceeding dismissed by the court. If you believe the amount claimed for costs
is excessive, you may pay the plaintiff’s claim and $400 for costs and have
the costs assessed by the court.
Date
........................................................................... Issued by
...........................................................................
Local
registrar
Address
of
court
office
.........................................................................
.........................................................................
TO (Name and address of
each defendant)
(In an action under the
simplified procedure provided in Rule 76, add:)
THIS ACTION IS BROUGHT AGAINST YOU
UNDER THE SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE PROVIDED IN RULE 76 OF THE RULES OF CIVIL
PROCEDURE.
claim
1. The plaintiff claims: (State here the precise relief claimed.)
(Then set out in separate, consecutively numbered
paragraphs each allegation of material fact relied on to substantiate the
claim.)
(Where the statement of claim is to be served
outside Ontario without a court order, set out the facts and the specific
provisions of Rule 17 relied on in support of such service.)
(Date of issue) (Name, address and
telephone number of solicitor or plaintiff)
Defending a claim
Steven
Truscott is certainly not the first convicted killer to try and clear his
name, and some of those who’ve come before him have been successful.
Truscott
decided to emerge from the shadows of anonymity in 2000 to prove his
innocence and the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted, which
helped exonerate Guy Paul Morin and David Milgaard, took up his case.
Here’s
a look at some cases of wrongful convictions in Canada:
David Milgaard
This
is probably one of the most famous cases in Canadian history. David Milgaard
was convicted of murdering 22-year-old nursing assistant Gail Miller in 1969
in Saskatoon.
Miller
was raped and stabbed to death.
Milgaard
was released from prison in 1992 and due to evidence obtained from DNA
testing arranged by the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted,
he was exonerated in 1997.
Milgaard’s
mother played a big role in this case. After he was denied parole in 1979 she
began to uncover evidence of false testimony and police malpractice,
according to AIDWYC. She also came across information that suggested that
Larry Fisher, who’d been convicted for a series of sex assaults, could be
responsible for the crime.
The
DNA testing that proved Milgaard’s innocence also convicted Fisher. Milgaard
spent 23 years in prison for the crime.
Guy Paul Morin
Morin
was given a life sentence in 1992 for the murder of nine-year-old Christine
Jessop, who disappeared from her home in Queensville, Ont. home in 1984. She
was sexually assaulted and murdered.
DNA
testing proved Morin’s innocence and he was exonerated in 1995.
Thomas Sophonow
Sophonow
was convicted of the 1983 murder of Barbara Stoppel. He was convicted in
1985. The Manitoba Court of Appeal acquitted him in 1985 and in 2000 Winnipeg
police announced that DNA had exonerated him. He received $2.6 million in
compensation.
Donald Marshall Jr.
At
the age of 17 Marshall was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of
Sandy Seale.
The
Nova Scotia Court of Appeal acquitted him in 1983 and a Royal Commission was
established to question the prosecution of the case. A 1990 inquiry was also
held to investigate the judges that heard the case.
Marshall
received $250,000 in compensation from the government of Nova Scotia as
compensation for his wrongful conviction. He spent 11 years in jail.
For
a look at other cases in which convicted criminals are fighting to clear
their names,
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