HMP riot lawsuit settled for $45,000
Convicted killer Kenny Green was suing province for negligence
Kenny Green’s $45,000 payment from the province for the prison chapel beating that left him with permanent injuries was an out-of-court settlement, The Telegram has learned.
Green, who was convicted of manslaughter for the 2013 beating death of 47-year-old Joey Whalen, had been suing the province for negligence in connection with a riot in the chapel at Her Majesty’s Penitentiary four years ago. Green was the target of the planned attack, which saw him beaten, stabbed with homemade knives and struck in the head with a broken pew.
Green argued the province was negligent toward him because correctional officers allowed the riot to happen. The province said officers had warned Green, based on information they had received about the planned attack, but he nevertheless chose to attend the chapel service that day.
The last time the case was before the court was in September 2017, when a judge shut down Green’s request to
have the province banned from operating HMP on the grounds it is “filthy and decrepit,” lacks proper space, air conditioning and officer numbers, and is in “such a deplorable condition as to constitute inhumane, cruel and unusual punishment.”
Green’s lawyer, Lynn Moore, told the court her client’s risk would have been minimized by
a properly functioning institution.
Justice Carl Thompson rejected the request, saying it went “far beyond” any personal relief Green was seeking, and could overstep the court’s boundaries.
The provincial government recently posted a notice online showing it had approved on
Feb. 19 the transfer of $45,000 from its contingency reserve to the Department of Justice and Public Safety to settle Green’s civil suit.
Moore told The Telegram Thursday morning a discontinuation notice for the suit will be filed with the court shortly.
Neither she nor Green wanted to comment on the case, she said.
Moore has previously said Green suffers from musculoskeletal problems and memory issues because of the prison attack, for which a number of inmates were convicted. Part of the chapel brawl was caught by a surveillance camera, and footage shows dozens of inmates filing into the room and a clergyman beginning a service before one inmate rushes at the camera and slaps a wet paper towel on the lens.
When the towel falls, there’s a violent free-for-all happening, with Green at the centre, being attacked by several others.
The attack is said to have been organized as retaliation for Whalen’s death. Green was convicted in 2014 of manslaughter for the beating of Whalen on Tessier Place in St. John’s. Whalen died of his injuries in hospital a few days later. Green was sentenced to six years in prison, minus 19 months’ time served, based upon a joint recommendation by Crown and defence lawyers.