AIDWYC Exonerations: Individual Cases

Guy Paul Morin

Guy Paul Morin was a 25-year-old finishing sander and musician, living in Queensville, Ontario, when he was arrested and charged with the murder of his nine-year-old neighbour, Christine Jessup, in 1984. From the start, police focused their investigation squarely on Mr. Morin, despite his lack of a criminal record and his solid alibi.

Mr. Morin was tried and, in 1987, acquitted. The Ontario Crown, however, appealed the acquittal, alleging technical errors at trial. At his second trial, Mr. Morin was found guilty, based primarily on the testimony of two jailhouse informants, unreliable hair and fibre evidence, and evidence ostensibly related to Mr. Morin's 'consciousness of guilt.'

With the assistance of the Justice for Guy Paul Morin Committee, a direct predecessor to AIDWYC, Mr. Morin was exonerated in 1995, when DNA evidence unequivocally established his innocence. He was acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

The 1998 report of the commission of inquiry into Mr. Morin's conviction found that a voluminous number of errors in both the investigation and the trial had conspired against Mr. Morin.