 Manitoba judge Lori Douglas stepped down from active duty following revelations her husband posted nude pictures of her on the Internet and tried to lure a client into a sexual relationship with her in 2003. (QMI Agency files)
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WINNIPEG — Alex Chapman has been ordered to surrender his computers to the court after a judge ruled they may still contain sexually explicit pictures of a Winnipeg judge.
Chapman resisted complying with the order until Justice Joan McKelvey convinced him the computers would be held in custody of the Sheriff's department.
Chapman told court Thursday morning he feared the computers would be surrendered to Bill Gange, the lawyer representing Jack King, the man Chapman says tried seven years ago to lure him into a sexual relationship with his wife, Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas.
"There is a lot of injustice being done against me," Chapman said. "I don't trust these guys ... I am a black guy with dirt on big officials. I am just a guy trying to have a normal life."
Chapman also resisted an order to provide the court with his home address, claiming he feared for his safety.
"I have been living in fear for seven years," Chapman told McKelvey, seemingly on the verge of tears. "You don't know what I have been through emotionally and psychologically." Chapman finally relented when he was satisfied his address would not be made public.
Chapman signed a confidentiality agreement in July 2003 requiring he not discuss the case and return all damaging photos and correspondence to King. In return, King paid Chapman $25,000.
"It is clear he has not abided by the agreement," McKelvey said Thursday. "It is apparent Mr. Chapman has no right to retain the material and has breached the privacy of the complainant."
At a hearing last week, McKelvey ordered Chapman to surrender all explicit pictures and documents involving Douglas to Gange.
Chapman was also ordered to request the return of document copies he has distributed to the media and other agencies, including the CBC, Manitoba Law Society and Canadian Judicial Council.
Gange said Chapman had returned none of the documents prior to Thursday's hearing and urged McKelvey to find him in contempt.
McKelvey declined to find Chapman in contempt, ruling he had not been given a deadline to comply with her order.
Chapman accused Gange of slandering him in the press by disclosing his convictions in the early 1990s for arson and uttering threats — charges of which Chapman says he has been pardoned.
"There is no compunction on me not to say what I said," Gange told McKelvey.
McKelvey adjourned the matter to Oct. 12, to give Chapman time to secure a lawyer.
Chapman said he has been trying to find a local lawyer with little success.
"Some of them say 'these people are my friends,' others say 'sorry, I can't help you,'" Chapman said outside court.
Chapman said he will be filing a motion to have the case heard by an out-of-province judge.
"I am not going to get a fair trial here," he said.
Chapman has launched a $67-million lawsuit against King, Douglas, and their former law firm, Thompson Dorfman Sweatman. Chapman alleges King was his divorce lawyer when he started harassing Chapman to have a sexual affair with Douglas, then a partner in TDS, and tried to lure him with naked pictures of Douglas he had posted on the Internet.
