Steven Truscott Acquitted

[fredr123]

CBC
Globe and Mail

Ontario Court of Appeal decision (300 pages)
Ontario Court of Appeal decision (Cliff's notes)

As many had predicted, the Ontario Court of Appeal acquitted Steven Truscott today of the murder of Lynne Harper. Has justice finally been served? Maybe not. Truscott was seeking a declaration of innocence, something far stronger than an acquittal. And after all these years, can the family of Lynne Harper find peace?

From the Globe and Mail story:

Steven Truscott has been acquitted of murdering a 12-year-old friend 48 years ago, ending a legal who-done-it that captured public interest like no other in modern Canadian history. In a 300 page decision released Tuesday today by a five-judge panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal concluded that Mr. Truscott's conviction and death sentence amounts to an unsustainable “miscarriage of justice.”

“I never in my wildest dreams expected that in my lifetime this would come true,” said Mr. Truscott at a press conference held after the acquittal was announced.

“The appellant in this case served 10 years in the penitentiary and has lived his entire adult life in the shadow of a conviction that we have concluded must be quashed as a miscarriage of justice,” it said.

[jolinar of malkshor]

They go so far as saying it was a miscarriage of justice and the title of the verdict (from what I understand) was labled vindication....why could they not proclaim him inoccent? I guess maybe there wasn't enough evidence to clear him completely?

[fredr123]

A depository of all the relevant documentation from the reference case: http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/court...cott/index.htm

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

They go so far as saying it was a miscarriage of justice and the title of the verdict (from what I understand) was labled vindication....why could they not proclaim him inoccent? I guess maybe there wasn't enough evidence to clear him completely?

From the decision:

Originally Posted by Court of Appeal Justice

we have concluded that, while it cannot be said that no jury acting judicially could reasonably convict, we are satisfied that if a new trial were possible, an acquittal would clearly be the more likely result. Having regard to the highly unusual circumstances of this Reference, we have determined that the most appropriate remedy is to enter an acquittal.

Saying someone is not guilty is a far cry from calling someone innocent. Guess the facts just weren't there for the Court of Appeal to say "this guy didn't do it." There really is no precedent for this. A court in Canada has never found someone innocent.

I recall watching the proceedings on CSPAN and the panel asked Truscott's attorney Hersh Wolch (Calgary guy, btw) what the test is to find someone innocent. Mr. Wolch did the best he could, given that there is no previous judicial ruling on the point, and said something to the effect that you know in your heart/head that this person is innocent.

Interesting case, however tragic it may be. Check out the book "Until You Are Dead" for a bit of insight into the case. Surely there will be dozens (or half dozens) of other books about this case set to hit the market soon.

[MolsonInBothHands]

I look forward to seeing the recap on Canadian Case Files.

I know David Milgard got something like 4 million, will this guy have the same avenues available to him?

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands

I look forward to seeing the recap on Canadian Case Files.

I know David Milgard got something like 4 million, will this guy have the same avenues available to him?

Heheh. Canadian Case Files. Just this Sunday they had a profile on the Pincher Creek RCMP officer. Ferguson I think was his name.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Hersh Wolch was involved with Milgaard too.

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by MolsonInBothHands

I look forward to seeing the recap on Canadian Case Files.

I know David Milgard got something like 4 million, will this guy have the same avenues available to him?

Latest news report I heard today, and Ontario Judge says Truscott may not be eligible for any financial compensation, because he wasn't declared "innocent". This would be a travesty if it turns out to be the case.

[ken0042]

The thing that gets me, how did he manage to spend 48 years in jail? For example, isn't it a fact that even Clifford Olson elligible for parole after 25 years?

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by bigtmac19

[/b]

Latest news report I heard today, and Ontario Judge says Truscott may not be eligible for any financial compensation, because he wasn't declared "innocent". This would be a travesty if it turns out to be the case.

While declaring him "innocent" probably would have made obtaining huge compensation much easier, it's not going to prevent it. To my knowledge, no one has ever been declared innocent in Canada. Here is a breakdown of previous compensation packages given to Canadians wrongly convicted (from ctv.ca):

Truscott's age is one of the factors that make the case so unique. But Canada has had several other cases to consider as precedent, where convictions have been overturned with hefty compensations.

• David Milgaard spent 23 years in prison after being wrongly convicted for the rape and stabbing death of Gail Miller. He was awarded $10 million.
• Donald Marshall spent 11 years in prison after being wrongly convicted in the murder of Sandy Seale. He was acquitted in 1983 and received $1.5 million.
• Guy Paul Morin was tried twice for the murder of 9-year-old Christine Jessop. He was convicted in 1992 and spent 18 months in jail before being exonerated through DNA. He received $1.2 million in damages
• James Driskell spent 12 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murdering his business partner. Manitoba granted him $250,000 as an act of goodwill as discussions around compensation continue.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The thing that gets me, how did he manage to spend 48 years in jail? For example, isn't it a fact that even Clifford Olson elligible for parole after 25 years?

Didn't I read he was sentenced to death? Did Canada abolish the death penalty in that time?

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The thing that gets me, how did he manage to spend 48 years in jail? For example, isn't it a fact that even Clifford Olson elligible for parole after 25 years?

His death sentence (hanging) was commuted to a life sentence. He ended up spending about 10 years in jail before being paroled. From the time of his parole until about 1997 when he started making noise and demanding DNA testing to prove his innocence, he lived under an assumed name. He also got married and had three children.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/tr.../timeline.html

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Didn't I read he was sentenced to death? Did Canada abolish the death penalty in that time?

Yes, death by hanging.


From Amnesty International Canada:

Between 1892 and 1961, the penalty for all murders in Canada was death by hanging. In 1961, an act of Parliament divided murder into capital and non-capital categories.
The first private bill calling for abolition of the death penalty was introduced in 1914. In 1954, rape was removed from capital offenses. In 1956, a parliamentary committee recommended exempting juvenile offenders from the death penalty, providing expert counsel at all stages of the proceedings and the institution of mandatory appeals in capital cases.


Between 1954 and 1963, a private member's bill was introduced in each parliamentary session calling for abolition of the death penalty. The first major debate on the issue took place in the House of Commons in 1966. Following a lengthy and emotional debate, the government introduced and passed Bill C-168, which limited capital murder to the killing of on-duty police officers and prison guards.
On July 14, 1976 the House of Commons passed Bill C-84 on a free vote, abolishing capital punishment from the Canadian Criminal Code and replacing it with a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole for 25 years for all first-degree murders.

Canada retained the death penalty for a number of military offenses, including treason and mutiny. No Canadian soldier has been charged with or executed for a capital crime in over 50 years. On 10 December, 1998, the last vestiges of the death penalty in Canada were abolished with the passage of legislation removing all references to capital punishment from the National Defence Act.

There were 710 executions in Canada between 1867 and 1962. The last execution was carried out on December 11, 1962 when 2 men were hanged in Toronto, Ontario. Between 1879 and 1960, there were 438 commutations of death sentences.

[ken0042]

Ok, so he was paroled in 1969? There was no mention of that on the news.

[fredr123]

The Ontario Courts website has all the facta and other materials from the reference available for viewing. This is Volume 1 parts 1 & 2 of the Appellant's Factum.

Starting at about page 7 of the pdf, Truscott's counsel set out some of the background facts in a brief format. Of note:

September 30, 1959 - convicted by jury after 15 day trial, sentenced to death

January 21, 1960 - sentenced commuted to life in prison

October 21, 1969 - paroled, assumed the name Rusty Shackleford

October 30, 1970 - married

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by fredr123

The Ontario Courts website has all the facta and other materials from the reference available for viewing. This is Volume 1 parts 1 & 2 of the Appellant's Factum.

Starting at about page 7 of the pdf, Truscott's counsel set out some of the background facts in a brief format. Of note:

September 30, 1959 - convicted by jury after 15 day trial, sentenced to death

January 21, 1960 - sentenced commuted to life in prison

October 21, 1969 - paroled, assumed the name Rusty Shackleford

October 30, 1970 - married

Really? He used the same name that Dale Gribble from King of the Hill uses as his fake name... any connection there? I'm a big King of the Hill found... this seems like a pretty wierd coincidence...

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by Agamemnon

Really? He used the same name that Dale Gribble from King of the Hill uses as his fake name... any connection there? I'm a big King of the Hill found... this seems like a pretty wierd coincidence...

Just seeing if anyone bothers to read my posts

He actually went by Steven Bowers.

[Agamemnon]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Just seeing if anyone bothers to read my posts

He actually went by Steven Bowers.

Phew, you threw my world into a spin for a second there! Not to mention the fact that Dale meets Rusty in an episode and he turns out to be a gradeschool chum who moved away (Dale thought he had died).

You certainly got me...

[Reggie Dunlop]

Lynne Harper's family still think he's the culprit

Sad. I really don't know what to say about this.

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by Reggie Dunlop

Lynne Harper's family still think he's the culprit

Sad. I really don't know what to say about this.

Yes, it's heartbreaking for the Harper family indeed, sad story all the way around. I don't believe that Steven Truscott was guilty, but if I was in their shoes, I may feel differently. Their search for justice will never be over I'm afraid.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Heheh. Canadian Case Files. Just this Sunday they had a profile on the Pincher Creek RCMP officer. Ferguson I think was his name.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Hersh Wolch was involved with Milgaard too.

Yep, Mike Ferguson. Beauty of the Canadian Justice system, where when someone isn't happy with the outcome, they can take the same case to another trial, and another court over and over and over again.

Poor guy is never going to get his life back. And all because some bitch couldn't accept that her brother was a drunken idiot who shouldn't have tried to attack a police officer in a prison cell.

Just reading about that case pisses me off....again.