Kimberly Rogers Inquest Alerts

Court knew welfare would be cut, probe told


by Keith Lacey
Special to The Globe and Mail

Thursday, October 31, 2002 – Print Edition, Page A9

SUDBURY, ONT. -- The courts were aware that a woman sentenced to house arrest for welfare fraud was pregnant and that her welfare benefits would be suspended for three months after conviction, a coroner's jury heard yesterday.

Assistant Crown attorney Alex Kurke helped read in the entire transcript of court proceedings from April 25, 2001, when Kimberly Rogers pleaded guilty to theft over $5,000.

On that day, Judge Greg Rodgers sentenced Ms. Rogers to six months of house arrest, 18 months of probation and ordered restitution after she admitted to collecting $13,500 in welfare while receiving student loans of $32,000 between 1996 and 1999.

In August, 2001, Ms. Rogers, then eight months pregnant, was found dead in her apartment during a blistering heat wave.

Mr. Kurke testified that he was handed her file the day before the sentencing hearing and he met with defence counsel Andrew Buttazzoni only minutes before the hearing.

He discovered from Mr. Buttazzoni that Ms. Rogers was pregnant and back on welfare, with Sudbury Social Services clawing back 10 per cent of her monthly cheque to repay the money she got illegally, Mr. Kurke said.

He also discovered Ms. Rogers would be cut off welfare benefits for three months once convicted, Mr. Kurke added.

The transcript reveals that the judge accepted a joint submission and lectured Ms. Rogers before imposing sentence.

Judge Rodgers called her "obviously intelligent" for returning to college and graduating. He then criticized her for engaging in fraud.

"You knew you were taking money when you were not entitled, there was four years of deception and disloyalty," he said. "Welfare is not there for people who want it, but for those who need it. You wanted more and you were prepared to cheat and lie. What you did was wrong."

The inquest has heard Ms. Rogers suffered from chronic depression, migraine headaches, panic attacks, insomnia and physical pain after knee surgery.

She died of an overdose of the prescription medication amitriptyline, which was prescribed to battle depression and prevent migraine headaches. Her psychological problems and history of using prescription pills were not mentioned at the sentencing hearing.

Earlier yesterday, assistant Crown attorney Philip Zylberberg told the inquest he screened Ms. Rogers' file days after she was arrested in September 1999.

Given the information at his disposal, his suggestion was for a six-month conditional sentence involving house arrest, a long period of probation and community service hours, he testified. That assessment was based on 25 years of legal experience and knowledge of similar cases, Mr. Zylberberg said.

Every case a Crown attorney receives is "continually screened" and the eventual sentence sought can change depending on any number of factors, he said.

He said he didn't know when he made his original assessment that Ms. Rogers would be subject to a three-month ban on welfare benefits if convicted.

The life circumstances of an accused are made available through meetings with defence counsel, in pretrial hearings before a judge and sometimes through a presentence report prepared by a probation officer, he said.

Ms. Rogers lied on 34 occasions to government and college officials about collecting welfare and student loans and this affected his assessment, he said.

One member of the inquest jury asked Mr. Zylberberg if he would make the same sentencing recommendations today.

He responded that hindsight is a luxury people don't have.

He said at the time he believed the sentencing recommendation was fair "considering everything that was known at the time."