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Romeo Phillion, a man who spent 3 decades in prison for a murder he did not commit.

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Romeo Phillion, a man who spent 3 decades in prison for a murder he did not commit.

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Romeo Phillion was convicted for the murder of an Ottawa firefighter, Leopold Roy in late summer 1967

Spent a total of 31 years imprisoned, therefore becoming the longest serving prisoner in Canadian History to have a murder conviction overturned

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Roy was stabbed to death in an apartment building where he was the super intendent

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Roy's wife, Mildred, supplied a description to the police in which they assembled a composite sketch of the killer
This sketch appears to look like Romeo Phillion, in which after seeing him in a police lineup, she pointed him out as the killer. This would later be a mistaken eyewitness testimony
Romeo Phillion's girlfriend at the time, Gail Brazeau , told the police that he resembled the composite sketch

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The Police came to the conclusion that the lineup evidence from Mildred was insufficient t sustain a criminal charge on Phillion and realized Gail's confession was too simple-minded
They later relesed Romeo

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Trial started before a jury on October 16th 1972
-Revolved around Phillion's Confession, Mildred's testimony, and Neil Miller's claim
-Romeo's defense lawyer attempted to contradict the Crown in defense to Romeo's mental health. He stated that Phillion was willing to say anything to make himself seem important, especially to his significant others
On November 7th 1972, Romeo Phillion was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for 10 years

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Romoe's boyfriend at the time
Tells Police that Phillion confessed to the murder of Leopold Roy to him privately

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On January 11th 1972, Phillion was selected for questioning about an armed robbery, which then he later admitted to the murder of Leopold Roy, a case he was involved in 4 years prior
He stated he was willing to supply a full confession

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In 1998 a parole officer brought attention to a report that written by an Ottawa detective John McCombie that ruled him out of the murder case.
The report described that investigators went to a service station near Trenton, ON to see if Phillion was telling the truth about being on his way home to Ottawa the night of the murder.
-The Police Report quoted the service station owner saying that Romeo Phillion left his car radio instead of paying for a tank of gas and minor repairs, "Therefore making it impossible for him to return to Ottawa by 2:45p.m. at the time the murder was committed"

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Once Romeo was eligible for parole, he refused to apply because he would not admit to killing Roy. He also believed that it was highly unlikely authorities would grant him parole

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This Website details specific information about the McCombie Report and expresses ways in which the Canadian Legal System failed. It describes how the system and police of Ottawa failed to use the McCombie report in the initial Trial and that if only Romeo Phillion's defense lawyer knew about it he could cross examine the Crown Procecuter. This source relates heavily to the case details and also primary proof of the wrong doing on behalf o the Legal Justice System.

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Finally, Romeo had compelling evidence with which he could get his case reopened. He sent Detective McCombie's report to the Innocence Project at Osgoode Hall Law School. On May 15, 2003, the Innocence Project and Innocence Canada (formerly AIDWYC) submitted a s.

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Shows his past legal record and practical information about the missed evidence in the initial trial.

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When a police officer heading a murder investigation decides it is impossible that a particular suspect was responsible, and states so in writing, you might believe the suspect is well in the clear.

Not in the case of onetime Ottawa drifter Romeo Phillion, still behind bars after serving almost 30 years for a killing he has long denied. As in other Western jurisdictions, the phenomenon of long-time penitentiary inmates being vindicated by new evidence has become increasingly familiar in Canada. But that does not make this set of events any less shocking.

As is often the case with suspects who are wrongly accused, Mr. Phillion's lifestyle set off alarm bells when he first came under scrutiny back in 1967. Police investigating the robbery-murder of Ottawa-area fireman Leopold Roy were quickly alerted to Mr. Phillion by Mr. Phillion's prostitute girlfriend, who said she saw a resemblance to a police composite sketch of the fleeing killer. With a criminal record encompassing theft, assault and living off the avails of prostitution, Mr. Phillion was no model citizen. But he denied all knowledge of Mr. Roy's murder, no charges were laid and the investigation remained open.

The next year, powerful evidence surfaced to buttress Mr. Phillion's claim of innocence. Lead detective John McCombie interviewed a gas-station operator near Trenton, Ont., 240 kilometres from the crime scene, who recounted meeting Mr. Phillion on the day of the homicide, within a time frame so narrow it appeared to rule him out as the killer. Certainly that's what Mr. McCombie believed. "We do not believe that Romeo Phillion is responsible for this murder," he concluded in his subsequent report.

End of story? Unfortunately not. Fast-forward three years.

In 1971, Mr. Phillion was arrested for holding up an Ottawa cab driver at gunpoint. In the course of that investigation, the bisexual Mr. Phillion's drag-queen boyfriend claimed Mr. Phillion had once admitted to the Roy killing. Anxious, he says, to spare his boyfriend further police interrogation, Mr. Phillion then signed a confession, which he almost immediately tried to retract. Too late. He was charged with murder, and largely because of that damning confession he was convicted. No physical evidence linked him to the crime.

But what of Mr. McCombie's gas-station report? It vanished, as did much other evidence, including Mr. McCombie's notebooks, a knife that may have been the murder weapon, and some hair and tissue found under the victim's fingernails. No one in the defence camp, least of all Mr. Phillion's trial lawyer, was even aware of Mr. McCombie's exculpatory report until it mysteriously surfaced in Mr. Phillion's prison files a couple of years ago. Nor, it seems, was the Crown. As for the now-retired Mr. McCombie, today he says he can't remember what he wrote but remains certain of Mr. Phillion's guilt.

An evidentiary gap on this scale goes far beyond the routine wrangling about disclosure. It cuts to the very heart of our justice system. There is a wealth of conflicting circumstantial evidence in this case, and Mr. Phillion may or may not be guilty. The Innocence Project, a group within York University's law school that has doggedly pursued the case, firmly believes he is not.

Beyond dispute, however, is that reasonable doubt is sufficient grounds for an acquittal, and that had the trial jury been apprised of Mr. McCombie's 1968 report, obtaining a conviction would have been extremely difficult. Did police deliberately bury the report? It certainly looks that way.

Mr. Phillion, meanwhile, remains in prison because he refuses to apply for parole. Remorse -- a willingness to acknowledge guilt -- is a bedrock tenet of the parole system, and Mr. Phillion will have none of it, because he insists he is innocent. David Milgaard's infamous penitentiary sentence ran a full 23 years for much the same reason.

Now the federal Justice Department is being asked to re-examine this mess under Section 690 of the Criminal Code, which allows convictions to be reviewed in the event of fresh evidence. Mr. McCombie's 1968 report amounts to precisely that. The department should reopen the case with all possible speed.

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When a police officer heading a murder investigation decides it is impossible that a particular suspect was responsible, and states so in writing, you might believe the suspect is well in the clear. Not in the case of onetime Ottawa drifter Romeo Phillion, still behind bars after serving almost 30 years for a killing he has long denied.

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Romeo began to raise attention to his case in interviews with the media that he stated he would one day prove his innocence.
-"I'm going to fight on. I'm innocent and they have no choice. I'll take any test they throw at me because I'm innocent"
Phillion stated that his immediate motivation for making a false confession was to protect Miller from getting into trouble.

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Recent news video of Romeo Phillion going to court to clear up the case. This videos recaps a quick highlight of proving his innocence.

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The Innocence Project and the Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted (AIDWYC) adopted Romeo's case in the early 2000's and submitted a joint application to the Federal Minister of Justice for a review of Phillion's case. Using a Criminal Code provision, the Associated requested for the case to be reopened due to fresh evidence which was the McCombie Report.

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Minister decided that fresh evidence raised serious questions about whether Phillion was wrongfully convicted and ordered a special hearing by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
During the hearing, McCombie testified to a panel of three judges, and the majority concluded that Phillion had not received a fair trial.
Crown withdrew the charge against Phillion on April 29th, 2010.

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Crown formally withdraws Phillion murder charge

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Phillion launched a lawsuit agaisnt Ottawa Police in 2013 which got dismissed by an Ontario Superior Court Judge. This was then overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada which allowed Romeo to pursue with the lawsuit. He requested approximately $14 Million but after his death in 2015 it left his lawsuit in legal uncertainty.

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The longest-serving inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction quashed can sue those involved in his prosecution after Canada's top court declined to hear an appeal that sought to block his lawsuit.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed with costs the appeal on Thursday, but did not give reasons for the decision.

In doing so the top court upheld an earlier Ontario Court of Appeal decision from July that said it would be wrong to deny Romeo Phillion a chance at a civil lawsuit against Ottawa police and the Crown.

Phillion was convicted in 1972 and spent more than 31 years behind bars for the murder of an Ottawa firefighter.

In 2009, the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial because police and the Crown failed to disclose an important piece of evidence.

Phillion then sued, but an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled too much time had passed and the prosecution had not acted with malice. That decision was overturned by the appeal court.

The Supreme Court's decision means there are no other ways to challenge Phillion's desire to sue the police and Crown.

With files from Canadian Press

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Supreme Court rules man can sue Ottawa police, Crown for quashed conviction | CBC News

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The longest-serving inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction quashed can sue those involved in his prosecution after Canada's top court declined to hear an appeal that sought to block his lawsuit. The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed with costs the appeal on Thursday, but did not give reasons for the decision.

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The attached video recaps the entire Romeo Phillion's case using pictures and Newspaper Articles.

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Wrongfully Convicted of Murder Romeo Phillion spent 31 years in prison before being fully exhonerated. He sued the Ontario government, the Ottawa police force and two detectives that worked his case for $14 million. However He died before receiving any compensation

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http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/romeo-phillion-case/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/romeo-phillion-can-sue-for-wrongful-conviction-top-court-says-1.2963676
http://www.innocencecanada.com/exonerations/romeo-phillion/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ReGtExNbps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWYtbWSvylQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYtDlJ5jvW0