Four years after Sobotiak, now 62, applied for a review of his conviction under s. 696.1 of the Criminal Code — and after what Virani described as an “extensive investigation” by the criminal conviction review group (CCRG) within the Department of Justice — the justice minister announced that he has quashed Sobotiak’s conviction and ordered a new trial because there are “reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred and that a new trial should be ordered.”
Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani
(Section 696.1 of the Criminal Code provides that a person who has been convicted of an offence and who has exhausted all rights of appeal may apply to the minister of Justice for a review of their conviction.)
Sobotiak, who maintains his innocence, has been imprisoned for more than 35 years. He remains in a federal penitentiary in Alberta and has never been paroled.
He was 26 years old in 1989, when he was charged with first-degree murder in Kaminsky’s presumed death, more than two and a half years after her disappearance. Following his 1991 second-degree murder conviction by a jury, the Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in 1994, and the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Sobotiak’s leave to appeal application in 2004.
He was sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 16 and a half years.
According to the Alberta Court of Appeal, Kaminsky, whose car was abandoned, was last seen in Sobotiak’s company. The appeal court said the “principal evidence” against him comprised taped statements he made to a friend, who turned out to be an undercover police officer who spent nearly a year gaining Sobotiak’s confidence. Following Sobotiak’s arrest, he “made a full confession,” according to the appeal court’s judgment: R. v. Sobotiak, 1994 ABCA 177.
Innocence Canada, the organization which works to identify, advocate for, and exonerate individuals who have been convicted of a crime that they did not commit, said in a press release that its lawyers have has contacted Alberta’s Crown Prosecution Service to ascertain the Crown’s next steps.
Sobotiak was unrepresented when he applied for ministerial review of his conviction in 2021, but Innocence Canada got involved after DOJ officials in the criminal conviction review group completed their in-depth investigation into Sobotiak’s case and asked Innocence Canada to assist Sobotiak with his application.
Four lawyers with Innocence Canada — James Lockyer, Jerome Kennedy, Joanne McLean and Pamela Zbarsky — worked on his case and made representations to the justice minister, as did the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.
Sobotiak “expresses his gratitude to the minister for his decision and hopes that he will be a free man soon,” Innocence Canada said in a Feb. 26 statement.
“We are grateful to the minister and the CCRG for the work they put into Mr. Sobotiak’s case,” Innocence Canada said. “It is a testament to their dedication to justice in all cases. We are pleased to have assisted Mr. Sobotiak and will continue to do so in the next days and weeks.”
The process of ministerial review for alleged miscarriages of justice is slated to be replaced by a newly created Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission.
The independent commission (which is in the process of being established) will review, investigate, and decide which criminal cases should be returned to the justice system due to a potential miscarriage of justice. The enabling Liberal government legislation (Bill C-40) amended the Criminal Code and received royal assent Dec. 17, 2024: Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission Act (David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law.
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