William M. Leahey - Province Retreats from Blaming Boy

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William M. Leahey
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Lawyers Refuse to Sign Group Greeted with
Restrictive Release Forms

• Disappointed lawyers marched out the Nova Scotia
  Public Archives yesterday refusing to sign a
  restrictive release from to examine a secret
  government file they believe contain proof
  politicians and bureaucrats ignored or covered up
  beating molestations and raps at provisional
  youth facilities. Dartmouth lawyer Brian Smith
  and his associates Anthony Brunt were first to
  storm out of the archives objecting to a release
  form specifying that any information they uncover
  in file RG-72 will be used only for the lawsuit
  of Martin Douglas Smith.
• Brian Smith and Brunt abandoned efforts to
  negotiate with William Wilson and Alexander
  Shaw within 15 minutes. Lawyer Anne Derrick,
  John McKiggan and Tanya Nicholson huge in before
  leaving Bill Leahey and his associate, Chris
  Berryman to begin wading through RG-72 alone.

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Province Retreats from Blaming Boy
William M. Wilson went on to write that the
province does not intend to argue Martin Smith
was partly responsible for any damages but rather
that Patrick MacDougall and Paul Aucoin are.
He filed an amended defence stating that the
province relies on the Contributory Negligence
Act against Patrick MacDougall and Paul Aucoin
and not as against the Plaintiff. Bill Leahey
said the province cant legally plead
contributory negligence against MacDougall and
Aucoin because they are not parties to the suit.
Its a bit of a face saving gesture, Leahey said
but hes happy about the provinces change of
heart.
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• The province agreed on April 15 to let Leahey
  examine RG-72 a massive 182 box repository for
  documents generated by the Department of
  Community Services and its predecessor department
  as far back as the 1940s. The next day a
  Community Services spoke-person said the
  department consented to demands for equal access
  to RG-72 made by other lawyers representing
  victim.

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