The following are AIDWYC's current active adopted cases and their status. Check the News and Library pages for recent articles in the media on each of these cases.

Robert Baltovich

In June 1990, Elizabeth Bain, the girlfriend of 24-year old Robert Baltovich, a recent University of Toronto graduate, was murdered in Toronto. Her body has never been found, nor the weapon used to kill her. Two years later, Baltovich was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison. In March 2000, AIDWYC filed a defence brief at a bail hearing and argued that there was new evidence to suggest that Baltovich was innocent and that the real perpetrator was Paul Bernardo. The bail hearing was successful and, after spending eight years in prison, Baltovich was released pending the appeal of his conviction. In September 2004, Baltovich's appeal was heard. In December 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously quashed Robert Baltovich's murder conviction. In 2005 a new trial was ordered. Jury selection proceeded and the trial began in April of 2008. However, on April 22, 2008, the Crown withdrew its case against him and he was acquitted by the jury.

Christopher Bates

Christopher Bates was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993 for the robbery and murder of Remi Lariviére, a Cowansville shopkeeper. Three others were charged in the crime. The evidence to support Bates' conviction was extremely tenuous. Bates was the first to go to trial. Two of the other men were later found not guilty and the fourth person was not prosecuted. On appeal, with AIDWYC's assistance, Bates' conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered. Anxious about his counsel and fearing a second wrongful conviction and lengthy separation from his young family, Bates accepted a last-second Crown offer of a plea to conspiracy to commit the robbery only and a suspended sentence which did not involve any further time in jail. AIDWYC shares the view of many that this plea of convenience was without factual foundation and after consulting with eminent Quebec counsel, has agreed to proceed with a s.696.1 application on Bates' behalf.

Wilbert Coffin

Wilbert Coffin was hanged for murder in Quebec on February 10, 1956. The federal Justice Department is now investigating whether the Gaspé woodsman was actually guilty of the crime. The Criminal Convictions Review Group (CCRG) is studying whether there are grounds to overturn Mr. Coffin's 1954 conviction. This represents the first time the CCRG--whose mandate is to investigate possible miscarriages of justice--has examined a case where the convicted person is deceased. In AIDWYC's review process, lawyer and AIDYWC co-president, Elisabeth Widner, along with AIDWYC's Director of Client Services, Win Wahrer, have visited Gaspé, Quebec in search of evidence that could exonerate Coffin. His case was subsequently formally adopted by AIDWYC in September 2006. The investigation could lead to three possible outcomes: to dismiss the application, to refer the case to a Court of Appeal, or to recommend a new trial. Canada has never overturned a conviction posthumously. It would set an important precedent and argument against the death penalty, and provide some measure of solace to Mr. Coffin's remaining family members.

William Mullins-Johnson

William Mullins-Johnson was convicted in 1994 of first-degree murder in the death of his four-year-old niece in Sault Ste. Marie. During the trial, four pathology specialists, including a Dr. Charles Smith, were asked to review tissue samples and evidence. Dr. Smith was the only specialist of the four to conclude that the child had been sexually assaulted at the time of death, which contradicted defence evidence that the child had died of natural causes. Dr. Smith's opinion was essential to the jury's verdict of first-degree murder. Because of profound doubts about the integrity of the conviction and the results of more recent and potentially exculpatory pathological evaluations, AIDWYC had sought for some time to re-open the case. Reports that Dr. Smith had misplaced crucial evidence frustrated these efforts and prompted an audit of tissue samples from autopsies performed at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto since 1991. The missing exhibits of concern to AIDWYC were suddenly discovered on Dr. Smith's desk in late May.

At the time of the trial, Dr. Smith was frequently called as a prosecution expert in trials involving pediatric forensics. Since then, doubts about his findings in a number of cases have led to charges being withdrawn and some convictions being questioned. In 2002, Dr. Smith was reprimanded by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons. On June 7, 2005, Ontario's Chief Coroner ordered a formal, independent review of Dr. Smith's involvement in over 40 cases in which he performed an autopsy or offered an expert opinion.

Mullins-Johnson was released on bail on September 21, 2005 pending ministerial review of a s. 696.1 application. In July 2007, Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson ordered the Court of Appeal to review the case stating that "a miscarriage of justice may well have occurred." On October 15, 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal acquitted Mullins-Johnson of all charges.

Romeo Phillion

Romeo Phillion was convicted in 1972 of the murder of a firefighter in Ottawa. New evidence was identified, including a police report not shown to the defence at the original trial, that supported Phillion's alibi that he was at a service station 200 kilometres from Ottawa when the crime took place. There was also evidence that four Crown witnesses all changed their testimony about when they saw Philion in Ottawa. After serving 31 years in prison, Philion, as a result of AIDWYC's efforts, was released on bail in July 2003. At the time, Philion was the first person ever granted bail pending a ministerial review of his wrongful conviction. That s.696.1 application was prepared by AIDWYC and the Osgoode Hall Innocence Project.

Steven Truscott

Steven Truscott was sentenced to death in 1959 at the age of 14 for the murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper, on the basis of unreliable police and prosecution evidence. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1960 and his conviction upheld in 1967. In 2001, AIDWYC prepared and submitted an application for ministerial review (s.696.1) on Truscott's behalf. Retired former Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal, Fred Kaufman, was retained to review, re-investigate and submit a report to the Justice Minister outlining his findings and recommendations. In October 2004, the Federal Justice Minister, Irwin Cotler, stated that Steven Truscott had likely suffered a miscarriage of justice and referred his case to the Ontario Court of Appeal. After pressure from the media, portions of the Kaufman Report were released to the public in November 2006. On June 19, 2006, a five-judge panel conducted a three-week fresh evidence hearing. In April 2006, the body of Lynne Harper was exhumed at the instruction of the Attorney General's office in the hopes of finding DNA evidence. Forensic experts were unable to conduct DNA tests due to the poor condition of her remains. The final oral arguments in Steven Truscott's case were heard in the Ontario Court of Appeal in January and February 2007. On August 28, 2007, the Ontario Court of Appeal acquitted Steven Truscott, concluding, "based on evidence that qualifies as fresh evidence in these proceedings, we are satisfied that Mr. Truscott's conviction was a miscarriage of justice and must be quashed." See the LIBRARY for copies of Truscott legal documents.

Kyle Unger

Kyle Unger is currently serving a life sentence for a 1990 murder based in part on a hair found at the feet ofthe victim, 16-year-old Brigitte Grenier. The hair sample was ordered to be re-tested years later by the recently established Manitoba Hair Evidence Review Committee. Contrary to the prosecution evidence led at trial, there was no incriminatory match. The Federal Justice Minister has agreed to review the case. Unger was released on bail on November 24, 2005 pending ministerial review of his s.696.1 application.

Erin Walsh

On October 17 1975 a jury convicted Erin Walsh of the second-degree murder of Melvin Eugene Peters, an African Canadian. The Crown claimed Walsh was racially motivated. The incident occurred when Peters and two other males attempted to rob Walsh of his money and drugs. During a life-and-death struggle with a gun, Peters was shot. The Crown's case centered on Walsh as the shooter and convicted of the crime, he spent the next 10 years in prison. Despite overwhelming odds, Walsh continued to pursue justice with what little resources at his disposal. He continued to write to whoever would listen. He continued even when it was to his detriment - even when the parole board would hold it against him. The problem was Walsh's story was not supported by any other independent evidence (that he was then aware of). After 28 years of perseverance, Walsh's efforts paid off. In 2003, he wrote to the New Brunswick Provincial Archives and was given a package containing the complete Crown file, a file that had been collecting dust for almost three decades. In this file Walsh found a treasure trove of exculpatory evidence never before disclosed. Most significantly, he read for the first time that the Crown's star witness (and only eye witness to the shooting), David Walton (one of the robbers), was overheard by a St. John police officer less than an hour after the fatal shooting, asking his friend (the other robber) and co-crown witness MacMillan, why he shot Peters. With amazement, Walsh read for the first time that there was a police report that was never disclosed to him or his lawyers that supported his story. In addition, Walsh read that there was a statement recorded by St. John Police in which the proprietor of a local hardware store said that the shells were purchased for the gun one day before Crown witness Macmillan said they were purchased, when Walsh was literally a thousand miles away from St. John. There were also seven signed statements by witnesses who could attest to the fact that Walsh ran away from Crown witnesses MacMillan, Walton and Peters after they had attempted to rob him at gunpoint just prior to forcing him into the car. These witnesses supported the fact that Walsh in fact asked for the police to be called just 10 minutes before the shot was fired that killed Peters. Finally, on February 22, 2008 Federal Justice Minister R. Nicholson issued a Ministerial Remedy acknowledging that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred. Then, within hours of the Minister's decision, the New Brunswick Attorney General took the honourable position before the New Brunswick Court of Appeal that not only was a miscarriage "likely", but that it in fact occurred. The Attorney General agreed that the conviction should be quashed. On March 14th, 2008, after 33 years of proclaiming his innocence, Erin Walsh was vindicated. The New Brunswick Court of Appeal reviewed his case and overturned his conviction of second degree murder.

INQUIRIES:

Lamer Inquiry (Dalton, Druken, Parsons)

The Lamer Inquiry was a public inquiry into alleged miscarriages of justice in the cases of Gregory Parsons, Randy Druken, and Ronald Dalton. The Inquiry began in September 2003 and included a mandate to review the arrests and prosecutions of Parsons and Druken, which raised a number of questions related to the administration of criminal justice in Newfoundland and Labrador. Specifically, a review of the investigations and circumstances surrounding the resulting criminal proceedings commenced against Parsons and Druken. The Inquiry was also asked to review Ronald Dalton's appeal of his murder conviction and why he remained in prison for eight years before his appeal was heard by the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal. AIDWYC, represented by Melvyn Green and James Lockyer, was invited to participate in two days of hearings devoted to the Inquiry's terms of reference. The Inquiry concluded in June 2005, and the final report was released and made public in June 2006. In the report, Justice Lamer accused the Newfoundland and Labrador government and its police services of fostering a culture of "tunnel vision" in investigations. Shortly thereafter, the provincial government announced plans to conduct an independent review of the public prosecutions office.

Milgaard Inquiry

The Inquiry into David Milgaard's wrongful conviction began on January 17, 2005 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 35 years after his conviction. Milgaard's case is considered one of the worst miscarriages of justice in modern Canadian history. AIDWYC was granted standing at the Inquiry which concluded in December 2006. Justice Edward MacCallum is expected to release his report sometime in 2007.

David Milgaard was convicted of killing 22-year old nursing assistant, Gail Miller, in 1969 when he was 16. In 1979, his application for parole was denied because of his continued stance of innocence. At that point, Milgaard's mother, Joyce Milgaard, began to uncover substantial evidence of false testimony and police malpractice, as well as information that, Larry Fisher, who had been convicted of a series of similar sexual assaults, might be the real perpetrator. She conveyed this information to Kim Campbell, then Federal Justice Minister. Through the intervention of then Prime Minister Mulroney, Campbell referred the matter to the Supreme Court of Canada where David's conviction was set aside.David Milgaard was released on April 17, 1992 and finally exonerated in 1997 as a result of DNA testing arranged through AIDWYC. That same testing confirmed that the real assailant was Larry Fisher, who was subsequently convicted of the offence.

Driskell Inquiry

Jim Driskell spent 13 years in prison after being convicted in 1991 for the first-degree murder of Perry Dean Harder, whose remains were found in September 1990. Harder had been shot several times in the chest. Driskell has consistently protested his innocence. Recent DNA results eliminated critical hair matches the Crown introduced at Driskell's trial. A fresh investigation also uncovered a number of new facts, including confirmation that a key witness tried to recant his evidence and the revelation that witnesses were paid tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for their testimony. Additional new evidence in the form of a 1993 police internal review was ordered to be made public. That review, which AIDWYC had long sought to have produced, roused the interest of the media and public in the case. With AIDWYC's assistance, Driskell was released on bail in November 2003, pending the application of a ministerial review of his s.696.1 application. AIDWYC worked in conjunction with its Manitoba branch on Jim Driskell's case. On March 3, 2005, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler quashed James Driskell's first degree murder conviction and ordered a new trial. Manitoba Justice officials immediately announced they would not re-try Driskell and instead filed a stay of proceedings and announced they would hold an Inquiry. The Inquiry in Manitoba began in April 2006, led by Commissioner Patrick LeSage, a former Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court. AIDWYC was granted standing at the Inquiry which concluded in November 2006. The Driskell Report was released in February 2007 and concluded that police and prosecutors, through collusion or "careless indifference," made James Driskell a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The recommendations mage by Mr. LeSage in the report have been accepted by Manitoba Justice Minister, David Chomiak, including a review of Driskell's prosecutor, George Dangerfield's cases, where there is a claim of wrongful conviction. James Driskell was given a formal apology and will be compensated financially. The Driskell Report is available HERE.