~ Wrongfully Convicted ~ Causes & Consequences

Twelve years in jail for murder that may not have happened 'hell,' man says

2005-09-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

COLIN PERKEL
Wed Sep 21, 5:43 PM ET

TORONTO (CP) - A man who spent more than a third of his life in prison for a rape and murder that may have never taken place stepped into the sunshine Wednesday, freed on bail from a 12-year "hell" while Ottawa decides whether he fell victim to another Canadian miscarriage of justice.

William Mullins-Johnson fought back tears as he emerged from a Toronto courthouse just minutes after an Ontario Superior Court judge set him free on $125,000 bail pending the results of a federal review of his case.

"The last 12 years has been nothing but hell for me - and my family," Mullins-Johnson said, his voice catching.

See "COMMENTS" to this post to read the entire article...

~ Milgaard Wrongful Conviction ~ Commission of Inquiry ~

2005-09-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Longest Imprisonment of a Exonerated Man...

LARRY FISHER, the real killer for whom Milgaard served time,
will be on GLOBAL TV news on September 19th...
More as it happens...

The official inquiry is taking place right now...
with over 200 witnesses:
Check out the official Inquiry website at:
Link to the Official site of the ongoing Government Inquiry into the Wrongful Conviction and prolonged imprisonment of INNOCENT man, David Milgaard... http://www.milgaardinquiry.ca/ ~ Milgaard was awarded some $10 MILLION in restitution! What do the family of the falsely avenged victim get in compensation? How about the further victims of the real criminal?

This letter by David Milgaard himself appeared
in our Vancouver Province, in Feb, 2005.
(Click on it to enlarge and read)

Roundup of Canadian Wrongful Convictions...

2005-09-18T10:19:00.000-07:00

For up to date and thorough research on hundreds of stunningly cases of bad justice, Please visit the comprehensive site InjusticeBusters, that was "created June, 1998 to make public a story which was under publication ban", and has been working tirelessly and fearlessly ever since to expose corruption beneath the facade...

From their shockingly huge databse, just a sample:

Canadians who have been wrongfully convicted...
A round-up of wrongful convictions in Canada

Robert BaltovichRobert Baltovich: Toronto man convicted in 1992 of murdering girlfriend Elizabeth Bain even though her body was never found. After appeal hearing in September 2004, Ontario Court of Appeal ordered new trial, citing unfair and unbalanced charge to jury during first trial. Baltovich's lawyers argued that notorious serial killer Paul Bernardo is stronger suspect in Bain's murder.
Michael Burns
Sebastian Burns
Rodney Cain
Wilbert Coffin (hanged, 1953)
Jason Dix
Jim DriskellJames Driskell: Winnipeg man spent more than 12 years behind bars after being convicted in June 1991 of killing friend Perry Harder. Was released on bail in November 2003 after new evidence showed key witnesses were paid for testimony and given immunity from prosecution for other crimes. Convicted without confession, witness or murder weapon.
Jody Druken
Randy Druken
Hugues Duguay

Michel Dumont

Peter Frumusa

Walter Gillespie and Robert Mailman

Kulaveeringsam
"Kulam" Karthiresu

Stephen Leadbeater

Donald Marshall Donald Marshall: Nova Scotia man convicted in 1971 of murdering Sandy Seale. Spent nearly 19 years in prison before being exonerated by royal commission report in 1990. Compensated with lifetime pension of $1.5 million. Returned to public eye in 1999, when legal challenge he launched produced landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling on native fishing rights.

Chris McCullough

Michael McTaggart

Felix Michaud

David Milgaard David Milgaard: Sixteen years old when convicted in 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller. Spent 23 years in prison before being exonerated by DNA evidence in 1997. DNA evidence also helped catch Miller's real killer, Larry Fisher, who was convicted in 1999. Milgaard awarded $10 million in compensation.

Guy Paul Morin Guy Paul Morin: Tried twice for 1984 killing of nine-year-old Christine Jessop in rural southwestern Ontario. Acquitted in 1986; convicted at retrial in 1992 and imprisoned. Exonerated in 1995 on strength of DNA evidence and awarded $1.2 million in compensation.

Steven Truscott Steven Truscott: Fourteen years old in 1959 when sentenced to hang for murder of 12-year-old Ontario schoolgirl Lynne Harper. Sentence later commuted to life in prison; paroled in 1969. Has lived in Guelph, Ont., since 1970. Federal justice minister has asked Ontario Court of Appeal to review case.

Joe Warren

Leon Walchuk

Rodney Cain: Nova Scotia man spent nearly two decades behind bars after being convicted in 1986 of murdering a man outside after-hours club in Toronto. Justice minister ordered conviction overturned in May 2004, citing new evidence that strongly suggested Cain was acting in self-defence. Currently free on bail while Ontario court decides whether to order new trial or exonerate him.

Romeo Phillion: Granted bail in July 2003 after spending more than 30 years in prison for 1967 murder of Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy. Phillion confessed to killing while in custody for robbery charge, but later claimed confession was ill-advised joke. Case being reviewed by Justice Department.

Kyle Unger: Conviction in 1990 murder of 16-year-old Manitoba girl Brigitte Grenier called into question in September after DNA testing found that hair samples tendered at his trial didn't belong to him. Currently serving life sentence in B.C.

Hair evidence in Manitoba murder trials under scrutiny again

2005-09-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

CBC News
WINNIPEG - New DNA tests have revealed that hair strands used to convict two Manitoba men in separate murders didn't belong to them.

In light of the new evidence, lawyers for Kyle Unger and Robert Sanderson will ask the federal Justice Department to reopen the cases.

Kyle Unger (file photo)

Manitoba Justice officials said they will support Unger's request, but are still reviewing Sanderson's case.

James Lockyer, who is with the Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted, said they will apply to the Court of Queen's Bench to have Unger released while his request to have the case reopened is pending. He said Manitoba Justice has indicated it will "look favourably" on the bail application.

See COMMENTS to read full article...

Breaking news ~ Misconduct of Head Pathologist ~ 1000 cases need review?!

2005-09-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Pathologist's work under review -
Innocent parents charged in deaths
Toronto Star, Sept. 12, 2005
HAROLD LEVY, STAFF REPORTER,

Dr. Charles Smith, a controversial pathologist
involved in several prominent cases
where innocent parents were charged
with killing their children,
has left the Hospital for Sick Children,
the Star has learned.
(See COMMENTS to this post for the rest of this article...)

Many innocent parents now being exonerated through the reviews of Dr. Smith's over zealous testimonies... it's not like he was incompetant - he was the HEAD of Pathology of Toronto's Sick Children's Hospital for years!!

Dr. Smith is not the only one...
it was the overly exuberant false evidence of a 'senior' pathologist that led to the wrongful charging and conviction of Darren Koehn.

To many 'experienced' pathologists, trained many decades ago, success means gaining convictions - not discovering the 'truth'... this is not CSI.

JUNE, 2005 ~ Chief Coroner orders review of a decade of cases...
~ Two minute feature CBC VIDEO of "Dr. Smith's false autopsies leading to false convictions..."
(the video is Well Worth the minute or two it will take to load up for Quicktime, and it will open in a separate window, so you can keep reading here) Audio introduction to above CBC newstory video clip: "As pediatric pathologists go, Dr. Charles Smith was considered among the best, helping prosecute and jail alleged killers of children... but now Ontario's Chief Coroner says 'he can't be sure Smith was right', so today he reopened more than a decades' worth of Smith's old cases..."

The CBC news story print version about Dr. Smith is available at the CBC website...

The Internet THOUGHT POLICE are Coming...

2005-08-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

Law lets police monitor Internet
Court approval may not be needed for police to obtain information

Tim Naumetz, CanWest News Service, Friday, August 19, 2005

OTTAWA -- The federal cabinet will review new legislation this fall that would give police and security agencies vast powers to begin surveillance of the Internet without court authority.

The new measures would allow law-enforcement agents to intercept personal e-mails, text messages and possibly password- secure websites used for purchasing and financial transactions.

A law professor and privacy expert involved in consultations over the bill said a draft version of the legislation circulated earlier this year did not require court authority for police to intercept communications or demand information from Internet servers.

"I think it's the kind of legislation that is literally going to shock millions of Canadians," said University of Ottawa Prof. Michael Geist.

(continued in COMMENTS)

Accessing Your Federal Files... Privacy Act

2005-07-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

~ Privacy Act ~
The Privacy Act gives Canadian citizens and people present in Canada the right to have access to information that is held about them by the federal government. Most information is available when you ask

~ How to apply ~
1 - Look up the appropriate federal Institution that has the files you want to see (for instance, Correctional Services Canada): http://www.infosource.gc.ca/fed/fed01_e.asp

2 - Look up the Privacy Coordinator of that institution: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/gos-sog/atip-aiprp/apps/coords/index_e.asp

3 - Obtain a Personal Information Request Form : www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/tbsf-fsct_e.html

Fill out the form and send it to the Privacy Coordinator of the appropriate department or agency. For instance, you can ask the CSC Coordinator for "all records in all information banks held within Correctional Services Canada systems". There is no charge to apply for information under the Privacy Act. There is a 30 day time limit for them to respond.

To change the information
If you believe the information that a federal institution has on file about you is untrue or misleading, you can ask to have it corrected. Even if the department or agency does not agree to change this information, it must make a note that you have asked for the change and attach it to the file. (Check website for more info...)

We have just applied for copies of all Darren's prison files from Ottawa, in order to dispute some incorrect information. I tried the telephone # listed on the site for the CSC Coordinator, and they called me back right away with generous detailed assistance in how to fill out the form most effectively... !

Cot Death 'Murder' Acquittals... from Scotland

2005-05-31T23:28:00.000-07:00

More pathologists at the head of their fields that have been found guilty of malicious overprosecution...

Please visit this outstanding newsite for numerous shocking stories of medical misdiagnosis leading to miscarriages of justice for HUNDREDS of grieving Scottish parents... (note, there are THREE pages of news articles there...)

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=892

The Royal Prerogative of Mercy

2005-05-19T18:28:00.000-07:00

The Royal Prerogative of Mercy originates in the ancient power vested in the British monarch who had the absolute right to exercise mercy on any subject.

In Canada, similar powers of executive clemency have been given to the Governor General who, as the Queen's representative, may exercise the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

It is largely an unfettered discretionary power to apply exceptional remedies, under exceptional circumstances, to deserving cases.

The power to exercise the Royal Prerogative of Mercy for federal offenses is vested in the Governor General of Canada by virtue of the Letters Patent, constituting that office. In practice, the Governor General will grant an act of clemency only after receiving the advice of the Solicitor General of Canada, or that of at least one other minister.

The Governor General may grant two types of pardons, free pardons and conditional pardons, and may also grant respites from the execution of a sentence.

In addition, sentences, as well as fines, penalties or forfeitures "due and payable to the Queen in right of Canada", may be remitted by the Governor General.

See COMMENTS to read more...

Another Innocent Man Executed

2005-05-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

Canadian Coalition against the Death Penalty
http://www.ccadp.org/richardcartwright.htm
Thank you.

To Richard and his Family - our thoughts and prayers are with you always... " I love you very much, and when I die, I will always watch over you and your mother, I promise you this. I love you forever - Daddy". "They killed a good man, an excellent man," his mother... "Thank you God for taking him away from all this.

AIDWYC - Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted

2005-04-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

The leading organization fo assisting high profile innocent inmates is the Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted... For info click on the Title, or here to go to their website http://www.aidwyc.org/

ME fakes own abduction to incriminate innocent man?

2005-03-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

After a month of testimony and witnesses, the trial of former Medical Examiner, O.C Smith, ended in a mistrial.
His credibility took a giant blow when a federal grand jury indicted him for staging a bizarre abduction outside his Memphis office in 2002...
...(pretending an attacker) sprayed a caustic substance in [his] face, tied him with barbed wire and strapped a bomb around his neck...~
He did all this to further incriminate a man he had falsely convicted to death row!

Read more about this bizarre case of at the awesome resource site - Truth in Justice:
http://www.truthinjustice.org/workman-review.htm

~ Wrongful Convictions ~ The Circle of Destruction

2005-02-24T12:24:00.000-08:00

Do you have a story of wrongful conviction?

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ADD your Case &
See the list of other
Cases and Comments...!

Scars of Wrongful Conviction... services for exonerees?

2004-10-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

Wrongly convicted walk away with scars ~ Stephanie Armour & John Zich, USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2004-10-13-dna-exonerated-jobs_x.htm

The pace of exonerations has jumped sharply, from about 12 a year through the early 1990s to an average of 43 a year since 2000, according to a study by the University of Michigan.
There have been at least 328 exonerations since 1989, and about half of those since 1999 were based on DNA evidence. There are at least 41 Innocence Projects in 31 states providing legal assistance to inmates.
...
A large number of these men — more than 95% are men, according to the Michigan study — grapple with emotional problems. Some have narrowly escaped execution on death row. Others have been assaulted by other inmates or kept in isolation. Many are angry. Some resort to crime after their release.

"Innocent people do some of the hardest time. They never reconcile themselves to why they're in prison. They feel their lives have been taken away," says Justin Brooks, executive director of the Innocence Project chapter at California Western School of Law in San Diego. "We expect them to just start functioning in the workforce. But there's a stigma to having been incarcerated."

See the rest of the article for more about: A project, Life After Exoneration, formed last year to provide support services to the wrongly convicted after they're freed...
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2004-10-13-dna-exonerated-jobs_x.htm

~ Welcome ~ Koehn Case Discussion

2004-07-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome everyone!

Thanks for participating and visiting the Koehn Conviction Petition, at:
http://www.FreeDarrenKoehn.com

~ Please post your reactions to the Koehn case at the link below...
Post your comments by clicking here...