It is the highest compensation ever awarded in Quebec for a miscarriage of justice.
According to Mr. Marshall's lawyer, Jean-Paul Michaud, no amount of money could erase the horrible ordeal his client suffered while in prison and the human tragedy and humiliation his parents experienced throughout his incarceration.
Mr. Marshall, 24, spent more than five years in jail for crimes he did not commit. While in prison he was beaten, routinely sodomized, scalded with boiling water by other prisoners, leaving permanent mental and physical scars that at one point left him catatonic with fear.
Is $2.3-million enough to compensate all the years of prison, Mr. Michaud asked, where Mr. Marshall "had to swim with the sharks and walk among the tigers" all those years?
"All we wanted is that our son Simon to get enough compensation to ensure his financial security for the rest of his life," Mr. Marshall's father Réal said during a news conference yesterday. "It reassures us."
When she broke the news to her son on Wednesday, Manon Beaudoin explained that Simon didn't seem to realize the importance of what had taken place.
"Up to what point he understood when we told him last night, I'm not sure that he fully understood that this whole saga was now over," Ms. Beaudoin said.
In pleading with the public to understand the gravity of what had unfolded over the past few years, lawyer Jean-Paul Michaud insisted that "Mr. Marshall's parents want that all those who will look at their son will do so from now on with compassion and respect."
Last year the Quebec Justice Ministry admitted that the legal system had failed Mr. Marshall and asked retired judge Michel Proulx to set the terms for compensation. Former Judge Proulx fell ill and the work was completed by lawyer Pierre Simon.
In his report released yesterday, Mr. Simon concluded that Mr. Marshall's case was unique not only because of the extent of the violence the mentally handicapped individual had suffered while in detention but also for the serious violation of his fundamental rights.
"There is no doubt that the violation of Simon Marshall's fundamental rights are among the most serious if not the most serious ever reported," Mr. Simon concluded in his 42-page report, underscoring the mental handicap that had been overlooked throughout his prosecution.
The report added that despite being released, Mr. Marshall continued to live in a state of "semi-detention" because he remains hospitalized due to the psychological damage caused during his incarceration.
In 1997, Mr. Marshall pleaded guilty to 13 charges of sexual assault. A psychiatrist declared he was fit to stand trial. But only after he was convicted that it became clear that the mentally troubled man had a tendency to confess to acts he didn't commit. He was cleared of two other charges by DNA tests, which prompted a review of the 1997 convictions where police finally concluded he was innocent.
The Quebec City police officers who handled the case and wrongly proved Mr. Marshall was a sex predator faced disciplinary hearings and were cited with 11 breaches of the police code of conduct.
Mr. Marshall's lawyer explained the importance the case represented for all mentally handicapped persons in a society where they still remain vulnerable to all types of abuse.
"This is an extremely important case in Quebec," lawyer Jean-Paul Michaud said. "It should make authorities and all those responsible examine the means that should be taken to make that the fundamental rights, the freedom and the reputation of all individuals be respected."
