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This word documents goes over the specifics of the case, and answers the questions outlined in the rubric.

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Below is a documentary that discusses wrongful convictions and how they can likely happen to anyone.

It is relevant to this case because it shows how wrongful convictions happen.

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Wrongfully Convicted it can happen to anyone   Documentary

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The below video is an animation that depicts the Gregory Parsons case.

It is relevant because it's a quick and concise retelling of all the details involved with the case.

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Below is a CBS special that details the case, with reenactments done by actors.

This video is relevant, because it has interviews with officers involved and journalists who covered the entire case from start to finish.

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Criminal Minds - Gregory Parsons (Killing of parent)

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On New Year's Eve 1991, 45-year-old Catherine Carroll is stabbed 53 times and dies on the bathroom floor. Her 19-year-old son, Greg Parsons, discovers the grizzly scene and charged with murder. Neighbors testify that his mother was terrified of him.

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This is a photo of Brian and a photo his mother, Catherine Carroll.

This photo is relevant, because it shows what she looked like when she was full of life.

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This is a photo of Gregory Parsons outside of the court room, where he was being interviewed by media.

This photo is relevant, because Gregory had to defend himself to the media daily to maintain his innocence.

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How the justice system failed Greg Parsons

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How the justice system failed Greg Parsons

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Below is an article that discusses the details of Gregory Parsons case.

This article is relevant because it discusses the case in a brief and concise manner.

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The presumption of innocence was made for a case like that of Gregory Parsons of Newfoundland. Amazing how easily it was trampled.

A 45-year-old woman, Catherine Carroll, was found dead, stabbed 53 times. Her 19-year-old son, Mr. Parsons, was known to have threatened her life. (At least, that was what her psychiatrist and friends recalled her saying.) And hadn't Mr. Parsons been part of a band that two years earlier sang a little number called "Kill, kill, kill," about children killing their parents? And hadn't the dead woman once sought a restraining order against her son?

A basement window in her home was broken. Might the son have smashed it to make it look as if a break-in had occurred?

That was what the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary concluded on day one of its investigation into the 1991 killing. After all, the break in the window was too small for a grown man to climb through. (Four police officers said so.) The Crown backed the police, laying a charge of murder against Mr. Parsons. Concluding the summation to the jury, a Crown attorney asked, "If Greg Parsons didn't cause his mother's death, who did?" (So much for the presumption that the state has to prove guilt, rather than the accused proving innocence.) The trial judge waved off the defence lawyer's objection. The jury convicted Mr. Parsons. He was sentenced to life in jail with no parole for at least 18 years. (He served just a few months before being granted bail while he appealed.)

He didn't do it. Far from being full of rage toward his mother over the rough childhood in her home -- she was mentally ill, an alcoholic, a drug-abuser -- he felt compassion. His father had invited him and his brother to live with him in Yellowknife, but he stayed to help her through her difficulties. Essentially on his own in the world, he started a carpet-cleaning business at 16, had a steady girlfriend and was respected in the community.

The window was not too small to climb through. None of the police officers had even tried to climb through it. In fact, the killer -- Brian Doyle, a friend of Mr. Parsons -- had broken it, and police who interviewed him failed to examine the laceration on his hand.

The terrible things Ms. Carroll had said about her son were not true. The police concluded that a mother would not make up vicious tales about her own son. But she had various compulsive disorders, and was a manipulator and liar. She had sought restraining orders against several people, including her other son. The song? It was a satire of "trash" music.

This was a classic case of police and prosecutorial tunnel vision. Judges may even fall prey to it, according to the former chief justice of Canada, Antonio Lamer, whose massive investigation into three wrongful murder convictions in Newfoundland was released last month. The three fell within a five-year span. That's an alarming number in a province with just three or four murder convictions a year.

Mr. Parsons was no killer. He was more like Job, being tested by the all-powerful justice system. Mr. Lamer's report is a reminder of why the presumption of innocence is the cornerstone of a justice system that is truly just.

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How the justice system failed Gregory Parsons

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The presumption of innocence was made for a case like that of Gregory Parsons of Newfoundland. Amazing how easily it was trampled. A 45-year-old woman, Catherine Carroll, was found dead, stabbed 53 times. Her 19-year-old son, Mr. Parsons, was known to have threatened her life.

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The article below discusses how DNA testing helped exonerate Gregory Parsons and found the real killer.

This is relevant to the case, because it was a major break in the case and was one of the only reasons he was able to be found innocent.

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Wrongly Convicted Man wins $650,000 Redress. 

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Wrongly Convicted Man wins $650,000 Redress. 

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The article below was published in March 1, 2002. It goes over the compensation that Greg won, due to the 11 year court battle he faced after being wrongfully convicted.

This article is relevant because it discusses what happens after someone is wrongfully convicted.

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After an 11-year legal battle, Greg Parsons, the Newfoundland bodybuilder wrongfully convicted of killing his mother, will receive $650,000 in compensation from the Newfoundland government.

"Another chapter is closed," Mr. Parsons said in an interview yesterday after the announcement. "At least this chapter is closed and I can get on with my life."

Catherine Carroll was killed in her St. John's home in 1991. Mr. Parsons was convicted of her murder in 1994, but four years later was exonerated by DNA evidence. Police later charged a former family friend with the murder. Brian Doyle, a former resident of St. John's, was arrested in Mississauga, Ont., and formally charged with first-degree murder last June.

The exoneration of Mr. Parsons led to an unconditional apology from the Newfoundland government and a legal review. A civil lawsuit seeking compensation also followed.

"D N A are my favorite letters in the alphabet," Mr. Parsons said. "I'm where I am today because of science. Science is what acquitted me."

Although he did not spend as much time in jail, Mr. Parsons has been compared to two other men wrongfully convicted of murder, David Milgaard and Guy Paul Morin.

Newfoundland's Justice Minister said it was regrettable that Mr. Parsons was convicted of a crime he did not commit. "The government has acknowledged this and apologized to Mr. Parsons and his family for the disruption to their lives and the extreme anguish they have endured," said Kelvin Parsons, who isn't related to Greg Parsons.

While the Justice Minister expressed his sympathy for the family, the government did not admit the justice system did anything wrong.

"This compensation is based on humanitarian grounds; it is not an admission of wrongdoing by the Crown," the minister said in a statement.

Mr. Parsons's financial compensation includes a $200,000 cash payment, $450,000 that will be invested to provide him with a monthly income, and an additional $198,000 for legal fees and other costs. The award ends his civil case.

Receiving the compensation after such a long wait comes as a relief, Mr. Parsons said. It will mean being able to put groceries on the table for his two young sons. "We were struggling to make ends meet," he said.

Mr. Parsons, who lives in St. John's, works as a recruit for the fire department.

In 1998, the province appointed a retired Supreme Court justice, Nathaniel Noel, to review the investigation and prosecution of Mr. Parsons and come up with recommendations for compensation in an interim report.

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Wrongly convicted man wins $650,000 redress

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After an 11-year legal battle, Greg Parsons, the Newfoundland bodybuilder wrongfully convicted of killing his mother, will receive $650,000 in compensation from the Newfoundland government. "Another chapter is closed," Mr. Parsons said in an interview yesterday after the announcement. "At least this chapter is closed and I can get on with my life."