Edmonton Journal from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 11

B5S7 COPY AVAILABLE The Edmonton Journal, Tuesday, March 15, 1994 B3 Police used unfair tricks to get killer's ion, says lawyer KATHLEEN ENGMAN Legal Affairs Writer while he was drinking with an undercover police officer. "He (Det Bill Johnson) tells the accused he is a big-time drug trafficker and he can get him in on the ground floor but he has to trust him and tell him all his secrets," defence lawyer Rick Strop-pel said. Sobotiak was convicted by a jury in 1991 of second-degree murder in the Kaminsky slaying SLroppel said the trial judge erred in allowing Sobotiak's comments to Johnson to go before the jury. The trial judge said the right to remain silent goes to accused people when they are under police detention. But Sobotiak wasn't under detention when he confessed to Johnson, who brought a bottle of whisky and a porn video to their first meeting.

The killer told about strangling Kaminsky, having sex with the body, then cutting it up and putting the body parts in two dumpsters. Stroppel argued the right to remain silent goes further than just when a person is under detention. "The physical compulsion isn't the be-all and end-all and that's what the trial judge seems to think." People have the right to remain silent and not have confessions extracted from them after police get them drunk and ask probing questions, he said. Without the admission to Johnson the Crown's case against Sobotiak was little more than a "tissue of circumstantial evidence," Strop-pel said in urging the three appeal court justices to acquit, or order a new trial. Sobotiak was detained by police in February 1987 after Kaminsky disappeared.

He was questioned, then released. the accused being subject to the coercive pow ers of the state." Appeal court justice Roger Kerens commented there was no doubt that trickery was involved. But he questioned how the state could coerce Sobotiak when the killer had no inkling that Johnson was a police officer. "How can trickery be part of the coercive state power, how if he doesnt know the state is bearing down upon him?" Prosecutor Bart Rosborough said unless there is detention, the state doesnt have coercive power and there is no right to silence. "Detention is legally impossible in this situation." Stroppel also argued that police didn't honor Sobotiak's right to retain counsel.

The justices reserved a decision. Edmonton Was it a dirty trick for police to use liquor to loosen Roy Sobotiak's lips so he'd admit to killing Susie Kaminsky? Roy Sobotiak was convicted by a Jury in 1991 of the murder of Susie Kaminsky. She was strangled and dismembered. Kaminsky! body was never found but a year-long under-cover police operation eventually obtained a confession from Sobotiak. Kaminsky, a 34-year-old mother of two, disappeared In February 1 987.

She had last been seen with Sobotiak. Sentenced to life Imprisonment Sobotiak later appealed his conviction and a ruling that he could not seek probation for 16 years. It was in September 1939 that Johnson struck up the bogus relationship and got the killer to talk. And it wasnt just a casual chat Johnson "peppered" Sobotiak with leading questions, Stroppel said. "Had there His defence lawyer thinks so, and he tried Monday to convince the Alberta Court of Appeal the tactic violated Sobotiak's charter right to keep his mouth shut Sobotiak admitted to the grisly killing Sobotiak been no elicitation we would have nothing to complain about," he said.

"We have a classic case here of Kaminsky FN HI- A 4 It's smelly water time sSasdeonts weir safety fears But many call to support teacher 1 11111 ni i 1P i lllll Jl llll.ll Ji mm. III1I.JJU I I 5 Peter Taylor rie Journal CHRIS ZDEB MONTGOMERY Journal Staff Writer Morinville Two parents are looking into home schooling after removing their children from a special needs class because of their concerns over classroom safety. Terry Ross and Kelly Klause pulled their children out of Notre Dame school after deciding principal Tom Turner ignored their complaints of alleged abuse by a teacher. The other nine students continue to attend. "I wont let my daughter go back until I feel she'll be emotionally safe," mother Terry Ross said Monday.

"Changes have to be made in the classroom." The superintendent of the Thi-bault Roman Catholic Public School District will investigate reports of a suicide pact made by six students in the class because of their frustrations with the teacher. Lee Lucente met with the parents of seven special needs students during the weekend. Lucente said he originally promised an internal investigation but has since thought it best to call on people outside the school district. "We want to ensure we are viewed as unbiased," Lucente said. "This has dragged down the reputation of the school and the district," Ross plans to attend the regular meeting of the school board tonight Tuesday where the allegations and investigation will be discussed.

"There's some thought that we might get the department of education to carry out an investigation if that's possible," chairperson Roger Blackburn said. Lucente hopes the investigation will be completed as soon as possible, a concern shared by Turner, the school's principal for six years. Four hundred students in Grades 2 to 8 attend the school, and the overwhelming majority are being hurt by negative publicity which is "making the school seem like a bad place. "I'm angry because we have a great school and because we could have resolved this issue another way." Turner said he believes the children are safe in the special needs program and has no plans to remove the present teacher, who has the help of a teaching aide in the classroom. However, counselling is being provided students in the class who may have concerns, he said.

Dozens of parents, including some with children in the special needs class, have called the school to express their support, said the principal There have been no negative calls. Turner said it's the first year the school has offered a program for special needs students, 12 to 15 year olds with learning disabilities and behavioral problems. Inspects a sample of Rossdale water the city's ability to get the rural aroma out of the water are already signing up to take bottled water. Sheryl Evans, manager of Sierra Spring Water said her sales have risen in the past couple of weeks. And while some of them are seasonal customers, she said the company wants them to become permanent because Edmonton's water is "a year-round issue." MIKE SADAVA Civic Affairs Writer Edmonton Smell your tap water it's that time of year agaia The city water branch is girding for the annual spring run-ofT, which could be the worst in several years because of the heavy winter snowfall Les Gammie, director of the city's water laboratory, said Monday that run-ofT from city streets has created some problems at the Rossdale water treatment plant The intake at the Rossdale plant was closed for a few hours on two occasions over the past two weeks because so many pollutants, including road salt and various oil products, were being washed into the river, Gammie said.

"It will be a week or two before we see some of that upstream stuff," he said. He thought that the weekend warm spell could have created the big melt, bringing with it the odor unique to Edmonton's drinking water. But it wasn't as warm as expected. The water branch is hoping for a a gradual melt, with night-time temperatures below freezing, so that there isn't a real peak, he said. If it gets very warm, then all runoff goes into the river at the same time, and it's much harder to deal with, he said.

Curt Dixon, weather service specialist at the Edmonton weather office, said the rest of the week should be fairly mild, with daytime highs ranging from five to eight degrees, while the nights are forecast to be several degrees below freezing. Gammie said his branch will be ready for the big onslaught if it happens. During the last big stink 1989 Edmontonians were asked to ration water after the plant shut AWARDS Continued from B1 When he left, the two Jasons chased him. At one point they knocked him to the ground but backed off when he claimed to be armed and threatened to shoot them. Later they cornered him until police arrived, made an arrest and recovered the loot.

ERNEST KEMICK happened on an armed robbery as he was making a milk delivery at the 7-11 store at 8933 118th Ave. April 16. 1993. Kemick chased the knife-wielding robber until he jumped into a cab and got away. But Kemick recorded the cab number and called police.

The robber was unlawfully at large and responsible for at least five other armed robberies. BRUCE LOFSTRAND, ROBBIE WASELEXKO and DANIEL RAM nabbed and held a purse snatcher who had robbed a 79-year-old woman and her four-year-old grandson Oct. 2, 1992, at Kingsway Garden Mall. Lofstrand was the first to take up the chase and was joined by Waselenko and Ram. They held the man until police arrived despite Lofstrand getting punched in the head.

DENNIS DOUCET and JACQUES BOl LET chased a man who had accosted a woman in a parking lot March 30, 1992. The man took out a knife and threatened to kill her. He fled when her daughter began screaming for help. Doucet and Boulet, who had just driven into the lot, stopped and chased the man for several blocks, nabbed him and turned him over to police. EUGEN PATRICIA and MARY HORZ were heading west Special-needs kids fall into four separate categories.

They are; the physically disabled, which include children who are deaf, blind, unable to walk or have other such impairments. They're usually integrated in the regular classrooms with other childrea the mentally disabled, who may not be able to comprehend and think at an abstract level Some, for example, are unable to count The school system continues to train them, and many can take their own bus to school and may work at jobs in the community. the classically learning disabled. They're of average intelligence but for some reason may not be able to read or may see letters or numbers backwards. The Roman Catholic school system provides instruction in learning centres or classrooms, with each centre limited to 10 learning-disabled children, says John Acheson, area superienten-dent The youngsters also get a chance to interact with other children in the schools.

the behaviorally handicapped. Acheson considers them the most problematic. Some are classed as psychotic, while others include victims of fetal alcohol syndrome and children who have had extremely disruptive backgrounds and have never been taught to behave. "Some are very angry. I've seen a boy in Grade 4 who lived in two or three homes.

They act out in class. They strike at their classmates on the playground." Special-needs students make up about 15 per cent of the 30,000 students in the Edmonton Catholic School District Sherril Rankin, vice-president of the parent advisory council which acts as a liaison between school administration and parents, said the first she learned of the allegations against the teacher "was when I read about them in Saturday's paper. It was a surprise." Meanwhile, Morinville RCMP are investigating a complaint made by Klause last Thursday. Sgt David Davies said Klause was told that any other parents with children in the special needs class with similar concerns about the teacher should contact the RCMP, but no other complaints had been made as of Monday afternoon. "There are difficulties that occur in a classroom," he said, noting such complaints against a teacher are rare.

"It's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last" discussions" with the Edmonton Public School Board to examine possibilities of taking the school into its hands, he said. That's hat has parents of deaf children worried. "Edmonton public is heavily into mainstreaming. That's our biggest fear," said Joe Rizzuto from the parents' coalition at the school for the deaf. "But we don't want that The deaf community agrees that having their own school gives the kids a chance to be equal" he said, adding some parents are scared the school could be closed if government gives up its control.

Jonson also said he wants to get kids out of the institutional residential setting Jonson said there would have to be support services made available to those kids so they can function in the community. Within the last few months, Ri-zutto said, government has privatized the school's dorms. Government employees there have been replaced by workers from Edmon- ton's non-profit Connect Society. Another town hall meeting will be held on March 21. mask Technician Christine Stephenson down for several hours because the raw river water was so bad.

But the branch has since refined its techniques of removing the bad odor using activated charcoal, he said. It is also cooperating with the provincial river forecasting centre, getting data from upstream of Edmonton to be prepared for the runoff when it hits the city. People who are skeptical about on the Yellowhead Trail July 17, 1993, when a woman suddenly jumped out of a truck ahead of them. When they stopped and picked her up, the driver of the truck began chasing them. Their car was rammed several times before they made it to RCMP in Spruce Grove.

The suspect was arrested several days later. CHRISTOPHER SMITH was working at the Smitty's Restaurant at 14915 Stony Plain Rd. on July 17, 1993, when a man came in and cleaned out the till. Smith and another unidentified man chased him until the robber was cornered. The robber had a record of 36 thefts and tried to attack Smith during the chase.

DENNIS ARONYK and DANIEL POWER were working in a bicycle shop at 15109 Stony Plain Rd. May 10, 1993, when a man came in and stole the cash. Aronyk and Power chased him for 20 minutes. At one point the robber slashed at Aronyk with a knife but Aronyk shielded himself with a garbage can lid. JEFF KAPTEYN, TREVOR KEELING and DARRELL KOWALYK accosted three men who'd been acting suspiciously behind Reeling's home.

Police were called and nabbed two of the men but the third fled with Kapteyn in pursuit Keeling and Kowalyk joined in the chase and were able to catch and hold the violent man, who was unlawfully at large. CALVIN DAVEY and ANGEL ESCOBAR happened on a purse-snatching at 1 16th Street and 107th Avenue on Oct 18, 1993. Davey was driving by and saw the thief dragging a 62-year-old woman along the ground. He chased him on foot but the thief suddenly heeled and 131 When the snow melts upstream from Edmonton, the runoff carries all kinds of organic matter into the North Saskatchewan River. Edmonton's drinking water takes on its distinctive aroma when the flow combines with chlorine used during the treatment process.

head. Glesby jumped the man, put a headlock on him and wrestled him to the ground with help from Reid. KENNETH REAUME, TOM GRAY and GEORGE GRAY were waiting in line at a CIBC bank branch Nov. 23, a woman demanded cash, claiming she had a gun. Reaume followed her out of the bank to a waiting cab and made a citizen's arrest.

Tom and George Gray followed Reaume and helped hold the woman. ii Parents of deaf kids fear for school's future 'imm Wf) hi Jim Cochrane re Journal Edmonton's local heroes were recognized by the Edmonton Police Commission Monday; Chief Doug McNally is at the centre, back CORINNA SCHULER Provincial Affairs Writer Edmonton Parents of deaf children worry their kids will be pushed into mainstream classrooms as the province surrenders control over the Alberta School for the Deaf. The school is now controlled directly by government but Education Minister Halvar Jonson told The Journal Monday he wants to hand the operation off either to a neighboring school board or a new charter school. Furthermore, he is looking at proposals to have the children residing in school dorms moved out of the institution and billeted into homes or "other suitable placements." "Yes, we are looking at alternatives for the governance and running of the school for the deaf. And discussions are on-going." It's not a plan to simply save money, the minister said.

"The school is isolated from the total education system. They are a civil-service run operation. It would just make more sense." There have been some "serious threatened him with a knife and baseball bat. Escobar saw the confrontation and came to Davey's help. The man escaped, but Davey and Escobar were able to put police on his tail.

JASON REID and HAROLD GLESBY came to the aid of a police officer attempting to arrest a violent, mentally disturbed man Sept, 23, 1993, on Jasper Avenue. The man hit the officer so hard his head bounced off a wall. Ten stitches were required to close a cut on his.