Law Times

October 20, 2008

The premier weekly newspaper for the legal profession in Ontario

Issue link: https://digital.lawtimesnews.com/i/64172

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 1 of 15

PAGE 2 NEWS OctOber 20, 2008 • Law times Justices and the 'wrongfully accused' gather in Windsor BY RON STANG For Law Times WINDSOR — Robert Baltovich remembers that loss of optimism he had one day while working in the library at Warkworth Institution. Baltovich had been found guilty of murdering girlfriend Elizabeth Bain in 1992. His fellow inmate, William Mullins-Johnson also worked in the library. Mullins-Johnson was in prison, convicted of sexually as- saulting and murdering his four- year-old niece after a trial in which pediatric forensic pathologist Dr. Charles Smith gave expert testi- mony, now revealed as flawed. "We discussed our cases pret- have sparked public inquiries. Besides Baltovich — who was released from prison in 2000 pend- ing appeal and who was found not guilty on the first day of his second trial this past April — the panelists were Mullins-Johnson, James Driskell, Abdullah Almalki, and Anthony Hanemaayer. But this wasn't the only ex- traordinary link among the high profile one-time defendants. Baltovich recounted how ty superficially," Baltovich said. "But I knew that he had an ap- peal pending. He knew that I had an appeal pending." Baltovich was optimistic he would win his appeal, "and I guess I was optimistic that he (Mullins- Johnson) would win his." Then one day Mullins-John- son came into the library "and he had heard that he had just lost his appeal. And I just remembered getting this sinking feeling like, 'Oh my God, people actually lose appeals and if he loses his I could lose mine.' And I just remember how he took it with such grace and dignity and I thought, 'Man, I wish that if I'm ever — God for- bid — in that position, I could handle it as well as he did.'" That was the kind of story a few hundred college and high school legal students heard dur- ing a symposium that brought to- gether several people whose cases of being wrongfully convicted have been the subject of often in- tense media coverage over the past decade and which in certain cases the re-opening of his case re- sulted in the eventual freeing of Hanemaayer. After his lawyers presented an evidential link between the "Scarborough rapist" a.k.a. Paul Bernardo — eventually resulting in Baltovich's release from jail after serving eight years — Ber- nardo confessed to a crime that took place a short distance from where Bain had gone missing. "It turned out that he actu- ally confessed to a crime that Anthony himself had been con- victed of," Baltovich said. Hanemaayer served 17 months in jail convicted of break and enter and the knifepoint attempted sex- ual assault of a 15-year-old girl. So it's really through work on Baltovich's case "that we discovered that there are actu- ally two wrongful convictions," Baltovich added. Hanemaayer's conviction was overturned last June by the On- tario Court of Appeal. Two of those on the sympo- sium panel had cases that were the subject of royal commissions. Mullins-Johnson's case received DD LT RXQTA-01 OP ad 10/6/08 12:13 PM Page 1 renewed coverage earlier this month with the release of the rec- ommendations of the royal com- mission investigating Ontario's pediatric forensic pathology sys- tem. The commission was headed in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted. In describing his ordeal Hane- Justice Stephen Goudge recent- ly released his scathing report on Ontario's pediatric forensic pathology system. by Justice Stephen Goudge. Former Manitoba resident Also appearing at the sympo- sium was an individual who had not been convicted of any crime but ended up in jail anyway — in this case in rendition in his native Syria — was Abdullah Almalki. During the royal commission into the more well-known case of the detention and imprison- ment of another Syrian-born Canadian suspected of links to terrorist group Al-Qaeda, Maher Arar, an RCMP officer testified that Almalki was a key target of anti-terrorism investigators. The forum was moderated Driskell's wrongful conviction for the 1991 murder of Perry Harder — after DNA analysis discredited previous key physi- cal evidence — was also subject to an inquiry, headed by former Ontario Superior Court chief justice Patrick LeSage. maayer said Lockyer, who "got me acquitted of these charges," has been "an angel to me." To which Lockyer quipped, "I didn't pay these guys, I promise you." Added Baltovich, "this is more than a mutual admiration society." The panelists recounted poi- gnant moments during their laby- rinthine cases, directly or indirect- ly related to the legalities of each. Driskell remembers his one- and-a-half-year-old daughter falling through a second floor window and he couldn't be there to help. Baltovich recalled the death of his mother and the fact she would no longer be able to support him. "I really wanted her to be there when I walked out." A common theme running Strosberg brought together some of the most famous names in Canada's contemporary judiciary who have overseen investigations into miscarriages of justice. Former Ontario chief justice and attorney general Roy Mc- Murtry never presided over any inquiry but was instrumental in setting several up. He called the commissions — of which there have been some 450 since Con- federation — a way by which "public confidence in public institutions is maintained" af- ter an incident has threatened their integrity. by Toronto lawyer James Lock- yer, a director of the Association through the men's experiences was being innocent, the initial shock when they discovered they could not make the system understand their circumstances, and why they should be freed. Baltovich said he was expect- ing to be arrested and later re- leased. "I just never envisioned it was going to take 18 years." Almalki, detained at the Da- mascus airport, said he thought he could explain to security that a common error had been made and "I could clear the air, I could clear any misunderstanding." In- stead he spent 22 months in jail, many of them in a "broom closet" of an underground cell, and was also subjected to torture includ- ing repeated whippings with an electrical cable. If the Lockyer panel were the human faces of justice gone wrong, a separate panel moder- ated by Windsor litigator Harvey The justices said that com- missions may carry out in-depth investigations and publish com- prehensive recommendations to correct the operation of public institutions whose mandates have been undermined or corrupted, but some of their greatest personal satisfactions came in other ways. Justice Dennis O'Connor, who oversaw both the Maher Arar detention and the Walker- ton tainted water inquiries, said such public investigations can have a cathartic effect. He said that in the case of Walkerton, local residents at- tended not only the daily hear- ings but became absorbed in testimony watching proceed- ings on their local cable TV channel. "The town became to- tally engaged in the process," he said, and that went "a long way to starting the healing process that was necessary." Similarly, Goudge said, in his inquiry, families of children who died were helped to bring emo- tional closure. He said counsel- ling was provided to almost two dozen families and individuals "and at the end they all found it extraordinarily beneficial." LT With over 20,000 Office Supplies finding what you want is easy. The Big Case Finally, a big case ideal for lawyers, accountants, businessmen/women, etc... • Dimensions:19 x 16 x11" • Weight: Approx. 5 Lbs. • 1680D Ballistic Nylon • Padded computer pocket • Telescopic handle • In line skate wheels • Front zippered organizer To order the Big Case please quote code #90036-00 your OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY supplier Office Supplies • Office Furniture Corporate Promotional Products Printing & Graphic Services • Law Office Essentials OFFICE SUPPLIES•FURNITURE•PRINTING dyedurhambasics.ca • 1-888-393-3874 • Fax: 1-800-263-2772 www.lawtimesnews.com ntitled-3 1 10/3/08 9:22:07 AM C W e ' r e a y C a n a p d i m a n o a n

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Law Times - October 20, 2008