Wrongful Convictions Culminating Activity- Steven Truscott An Overview of the Case On June 9th 1959 near Clinton, Ontario 14-year-old Steven Truscott gave his classmate 12-year-old Lynne Harper a ride on his bike from their school down to Highway 8 (Ontario Justice Education Network Timeline of Events for the Steven Truscott Case). This sole event would be the one to change his life forever. The next day Lynne’s body was discovered near Lawson’s bush (close to the area in which he dropped her off) where she had been strangled, sexually assaulted and subsequently killed. That day Constable Hobbs conducted lengthy seven-hour interview on young Steven Truscott in which he asked him a number He then changed his named and went on to be married and have children. Decades later in 2001 the AIDWYC (Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted) became actively involved in the case and asked for it’s reopening. After the review of the case by retired Justice Fred Kaufman and his submission of a 700-page report, in 2004 then Justice- Irwin Cotler found “that there was a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage to justice likely occurred” (Timeline of the Truscott Case Truscott Timeline). Also, Irwin Cotler made the Ontario court of appeal listen to the Truscott case again like it was new, with fresh evidence. In 2006 the Court of appeal listened to witnesses that claimed to see Truscott with Harper on his bicycle crossing a bridge towards Highway 8, years ago on the day of the murder in 1959. After Truscott’s lawyers argued to prove his innocence at the Ontario Court of Appeal, on August 28th 2007 after approximately 48 years of living as a convicted murderer Steven Truscott was finally acquitted of the murder (Roberts). He received the news from a phone call with his lawyer while he was on Highway 401 in which they told him, “ You are free. No more parole. You’ve been acquitted by the court” (Swan 140). With that being the verdict, they formally apologized and stated that what happened to Truscott was in fact a While researching this case I stumbled upon many others and I became aware of how many people have suffered from the injustice of being found guilty. While reading parts of the book “Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death the Story of Steven Truscott” I learned that the police played a large role in why 14-year-old Truscott was found guilty of murder. The book showed that they forced witnesses to change their story to further “prove” Truscott’s guilt of the crime. This led to the conclusion that in this case (like many others) the police were solely and unjustly targeting one
In June 2014, Justin Bourque was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder after shooting three RCMP officers and wounding two others in Moncton, New Brunswick (Chronicle Herald 2014). He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for seventy-five years (Chronicle Herald 2014). Bourque’s sentencing is unprecedented and is the longest sentence in Canadian history (Chronicle Herald 2014). A Canadian judge has not given a harsh a punishment since the final executions in 1962 (Chronicle Herald 2014).
In 2000, Delwin Foxworth was beaten and set on fire outside of his North Chicago home. Foxworth survived the attack but died two years later in a nursing home. Marvin Williford was arrested and convicted for the murder in 2004 and was given an 80 year life sentence in prison. Williford’s defense attorney David Owens is requesting a retrial for the case because of the absence of Williford’s DNA profile in the DNA samples that were taken from the crime scene. Additionally Owens makes the argument that the eye witness testimony of a woman who was present during the attack was unreliable. The woman states that she clearly saw Williford and two other assailants commit the crime, but Owens and Geoffrey Loftus, a professor of psychology at the University
Convicted for the murders of his wife and two kids, thirty-four years ago, Dr. MacDonald still endures the agony of being accused of killing his family. Even after twenty-four years of imprisonment and several unlawful court hearings, additional documentation continues to up hold Dr. MacDonald’s testimony.
A horrific murder happened in tiny Skidmore on December of 2004. Lisa Montgomery and Bobbi Jo Stinnett met and found out that they had much in common and became good friends (Nunes 85-86). Surprisingly, Bobbi and Lisa met in an internet chat room. Bobbi was into puppy breeding and she occasionally served as a judge. Lisa lived in Kansas where her close friends were shocked about what she was talking about. Of course, Lisa shrugged it off and she sent an email to Bobbi saying that she wanted to see the puppies (Nunes 85-86). When Lisa met Bobbi Jo she had a fake name which was Darlene Fisher because she didn’t want Bobbi to know her real identity. When Lisa sent Bobbi the email she had a criminal intent on her mind. She was planning to choke Bobbi into unconsciousness and then cut open her womb and steal Bobbi’s unborn baby. When Lisa arrived at the house she threw a rope around Bobbi’s neck and choked her until she was unconscious. That is when Lisa took a knife and started to cut open Bobbi’s stomach. Lisa had to cut through skin, fat, and muscle to get to Bobbi’s uterus. Bobbi’s baby was in eight-month gestation; Lisa cut and tied the baby’s cord. Lisa stole the baby and fled to her house in Kansas. Unfort...
...lice or lawyers used their integrity. The police skirted around the law and use evidence that the witnesses said was not correct. They had a description of the suspect that did not match Bloodsworth but, they went after him as well. They also used eyewitness testimony that could have been contaminated.
Robert William “Willie” Pickton is currently serving a life sentence for the second degree murder of six British Columbian women. Although convicted for the murders of six victims, physical and forensic evidence for thirty-three women was uncovered at Pickton’s Port Coquitlam pig farm which served as the crime scene for his murders. Numerous other missing women, mostly marginalized prostitutes with chronic drug addiction, from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside area remain unaccounted for. It is not unreasonable to assume that they too, met the same disturbing fate as the other murder victims. Pickton’s modus operandi for the serial murders was the same; he would prowl the drug and poverty ridden Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver looking for potential victims, take the victims back to his Port Coquitlam pig farm, and then sexually abuse, torture, and murder them before mutilating and disposing their bodies. Most disturbingly, the victim’s remains were allegedly fed to the pigs on his farm, which were then slaughtered with the meat given out to associates of Pickton or to visitors of the farm (The Pickton Trial, CBC.ca/news).
Tyler, Tracey.The Criminal Case You Can’t Know About. TheStar.com News. Accessed January 15, 2012. http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1080416--the-criminal-case-you-can-t-know-about?bn=1
They had an alibi witness, a gas receipt, a ticket on the day of the murder. A police officer who would not come unless the judge subpoena him and the judge of course refused and would not pay the $650 to summon him. There were also two jailhouse snitches who lied about their testimony. The police misconduct was used in how they charged these individuals originally and how they have been accused initially with robbery, which later turned into murder. The police created the story and intimidated an eye witness who refused to testify and threatened to charge her with the murder if she refused. The attorneys told a moving tale and Ron Keine and company ended up being convicted. This case was before DNA testing but what exonerated these individuals was the actual murder confessing to the crimes. The entire case seemed like a fluke and malicious attack on these people. A guy in Carolina, confessed to all charges and had an epiphany and told the police where the weapon was located and how everything happened and how he dragged the body. He had to fight to get the police to accept his confession because the police were acting as if they already had their
Maryclaire Dale’s article “Kindergarten kidnapper tells girl, ‘I’m not a monster’”, appears in the Bucks County Courier Times and it tells the people of Bucks County how a woman kidnapped a kindergartener from school. In Philadelphia during January of 2013, a girl was taken from her kindergarten classroom and “sexually tortured during a bizarre overnight ordeal.” The girl was an 8-year-old and she had been abducted by “former day care worker Christina Regusters”, who was 22 years old. Christina was sentenced to 40 years to life. The judge called the crime, “a horror show” because the 8-year-old girl was found “shivering under playground equipment” half naked. Christina took full responsibility for what happened and as she was charged with “kidnapping, sexual assault and other charges”
This traumatic event caused the mother to investigate in order to find her daughter's attacker. She believed that she vividly recalled the attackers features, these features being “6’0″, 170 lbs., slim build, 19 years of age with sandy brown, wavy hair, wearing a black leather jacket
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
The justice system is put in place to control crimes and impose penalties on those you violate the law; it's suppose to provide citizens with security, however it didn't protect Zachary. There are little things that could have been done over the course of this case that would have saved Zachary. Shirley Turned should have not had custody of her child Zachary, the courts should have focused on Zachary´s rights during his life but weren't and the judge on the case was uninformed and biased;therefore should have been taken off the case. The justice system failed Zachary; if these simple things that any reasonable person can think of doing, Zachary would be alive today. Shirley Turner should have not had custody of her child Zachary; if the court
This trial was not based on facts but based on emotions. “Prosecutors didn't have a murder weapon, cause of death, witness, or a definite motive” (Kristal Hawkins, pg.9). All the evidence pointed to Peterson's innocence and yet the jury decided upon his fate because of his emotions through out the trials. “They cited Peterson's apparent lack of emotion as a factor in their decision” (Hawkins, Pg.10). With lack of evidence against Peterson, the jury should not have convicted an innocent man.
One surprising fact would be that the case would’ve come to a fast conclusion of a guilty verdict had it not been for Juror number eight disagreeing. He had a firm belief that the kid was innocent that he would stop at nothing to convince the other jurors he had a valid point. Yet, society has greatly changed and to come across someone so influential is rare. For starters, a jury trial is meant to represent the community in which the trial is taking place and it should include an equal amount of diversity compared to the community. Since this case took place in New York, it is impractical to have an all-white male jury today.
This was about the case in the Ted talk with Elizabeth Loftus where she was in interested in the case where Steve Tidis was stopped because he was in a similar car as a rape culprit, and he looked similar to the rapist.A photo line up of him, and the rapist was shown to the victim which said his looks were the closest to the rapist. After that he was taken to court where she said yes he was the rapist which was intriguing. She went from maybe to yes really quick. He was put in jail but called a local paper journalist which found the