Lawyer defends use of informant in Sophonow inquiry

A lawyer who prosecuted Thomas Sophonow defended his use of a jail informant even though he knew the witness couldn't be trusted.

George Dangerfield testified Monday at the inquiry into Sophonow's wrongful conviction. The inquiry was ordered by Attorney General Gord Mackintosh in June, 2000, after police in Winnipeg exonerated Sophonow of murdering Barbara Stoppel.

Sophonow was tried three times for the 1981 murder of the Winnipeg teenager and spent four years in prison.

• INDEPTH: Wrongfully convicted

• RELATED LINKS: Province calls for inquiry into Sophonow case: Manitoba government news release

Dangerfield told the inquiry that although he knew the informant was fundamentally dishonest, what mattered more was proving Sophonow was also a liar.

• June 9, 2000Sophonow case raises concern over prison informants

In Sophonow's second trial, Thomas Cheng testified that Sophonow confessed that he'd killed a girl during a robbery. Cheng was in the same prison as Sophonow.

At the time of the trial, Cheng was facing deportation to China and 26 charges of fraud. The Crown stayed the charges in exchange for his testimony.

Dangerfield was the Crown attorney who made that bargain. Dangerfield testified at the inquiry that while Cheng's evidence was questionable, it didn't matter. Sophonow had denied knowing Cheng, but prison guards testified the two played shuffleboard together.

"At the end when I summed up, I said to the jury, 'Whatever you think of Mr. Cheng's evidence of this so-called confession, he's demonstrated that Mr. Sophonow is a liar,'" Dangerfield told the inquiry.

The jury was aware of Cheng's deal with the Crown. They didn't know, however, that Dangerfield had a report on a polygraph test taken by Cheng. The report said that Cheng admitted the single most important reason for testifying was to have his charges stayed.

Dangerfield also didn't share the report with Sophonow's lawyer at the time, Greg Brodsky.

In defence of the deal with Cheng, Dangerfield noted that staying the charges cleared the way for Cheng's deportation, although Cheng was allowed to leave Canada voluntarily.

Dangerfield testified that he had nothing to do with Cheng's leaving. His only interest was in making sure Cheng remained in Canada long enough to testify.