Case Summary
In 1994, Darcy Bjorge was convicted of fraud and possession of stolen property for selling a used car that was reported stolen. At the time, he had a criminal record for property crimes. He was sentenced to three years in prison. He unsuccessfully appealed to the Alberta Court of Appeal with leave being denied by the Supreme Court of Canada.1 Because he never admitted to his guilt, he was not granted parole.2
With assistance from retired detective Len Svajilenko, who had originally been involved in the case, and law professor Michael Jackson, Bjorge filed an application for a ministerial review in 2000.3 In 2005, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler determined that the possession of stolen property conviction “could not be maintained” on the basis of new evidence that the car that Bjorge sold was not stolen but had been reported stolen by previous owners in an attempt to defraud an insurance company.4 However, Justice Minister Cotler upheld the fraud conviction on the basis of the belief that Bjorge could not have possibly thought he was giving the buyer legal title to the car.5
Bjorge says he wants an apology for his time served and compensation for his wrongful conviction.6 In 2008, Bjorge was represented by the UBC Innocence Project, working on a new application to clear his fraud charge.7 The Innocence Project team focused on the logic used to convict Bjorge of both crimes: the trial court said that the crimes were so entangled that, “if [Bjorge] was convicted of one, he should definitely get convicted of the other.”8 The team believes that the reverse should also be true.9 As of 2022, it is unclear whether Bjorge received any apology or compensation for his wrongful conviction.