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This picture of a razor represents the evidence that convicted Leighton Hay of first degree-murder on July 6, 2002. Hay was convicted due to the shavings found in his razor. The eye witness identified the suspect as a man with with two inch dreadlocks. Hay advised police that  the hair found in the razer was his facial hair, but the police thought he shaved his two inch dreadlocks and flushed the hair down the toilet.

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I chose this website because it provides a description of Leighton Hay's case as well as other wrongfully convicted people.

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On Friday, July 5, 2002 Leighton Hay was a 19-year-old attending high-school extension courses. Although it was a Friday evening he decided to stay at home where he lived with his mother and older sister, Lisa. He was oblivious to the tragic events that were about to unfold, events which would change his life forever.

At 12:58 a.m. on July 6, 2002, four men and a woman tried to enter the HHMS Nightclub on Victoria Park Avenue in Scarborough, Ontario without paying the cover charge. An altercation broke out. Roger Moore, one of the organizers of the event taking place that evening, hit one of the men over the head with a bottle. The intruders left but at 1:14 a.m. three men with handguns pushed their way into the club and eventually two of them entered the kitchen where brothers Colin and Roger Moore were standing. Colin Moore was shot eight times and died from his wounds. Roger Moore survived the bullet wound that grazed his forehead.

In the kitchen at the time of the shooting were Colin Moore's wife Jennifer Moore and friend Leisa Maillard. Neither was injured.

Jennifer Moore identified Gary Eunick as one of shooters. He was Lisa Hay's boyfriend and was known to Jennifer Moore and other patrons of the night club, including its owner. He was also identified by several of the eyewitnesses as one of the three men who had been involved in the earlier fight as well as being one of the gunmen. Jennifer Moore did not recognize the second gunman who was dressed in a blue plaid shirt. However, Leisa Maillard said that she kept her eyes on the second shooter whom she said she observed for approximately 16 seconds.

Leisa Maillard and other eyewitnesses told the police that the second shooter had two-inch picky dreadlocks.

The owner of the nightclub had written down the license plate number of the car in which the shooters escaped. The police were able to identify the car as belonging to Lydia Hay, Leighton's mother.

The police immediately put the Hay home under surveillance and at around noon on July 6, 2002 they arrested both Gary Eunick and Leighton. However, the police had a problem. At the time of his arrest, Leighton did not have two-inch picky dreadlocks. When questioned by the police, Leighton told them that his hair had been cropped short for the past 18 months.

Upon searching the Hay home, the police found short hairs wrapped in a newspaper in the garbage can in the bathroom, adjacent to Leighton's bedroom. The police also observed hairs in an electric razor on a table next to Leighton's bed. Leighton advised the police that he had shaved his face two days previously.

However, the police were convinced that Leighton must have returned home after the shooting and shaved his head in order to disguise his appearance. No long hairs were found so the police surmised that Leighton had flushed those hairs down the toilet.

The case against Leighton Hay at trial rested on the eyewitness evidence of Leisa Maillard whom the police had shown a photo line-up which included him. She pointed at his photo saying that he looked more like the second gunman than the other 11 photos, giving an 80% estimate of her own accuracy. Leisa Maillard was shown a second line-up three weeks later and did not select Leighton's photo. At court at the preliminary hearing, she identified Gary Eunick as the second gunman.

At his trial, the Crown told the jury that the residue found in the electric razor and the newspaper was what was left after Leighton cut his dreadlocks and flushed the longer hairs down the toilet.

The jury convicted both Leighton and Gary Eunick of first-degree murder.

On May 12, 2009, the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed Leighton's appeal. The Court laid particular emphasis on the supposed haircut which "tipped the scales" in support of the jury's verdict.

After Leighton lost his appeal, the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC), now Innocence Canada, adopted his case as one of likely innocence.

Our lawyers decided to seek scientific testing of the hairs found in the Hay home to see whether they were really facial/beard hairs. Mr. Tony Tessarolo, the Director of the Centre of Forensic Sciences (the Centre) agreed to have the Centre conduct a forensic examination of the hairs to determine their bodily origin. The Crown opposed this testing and refused to release the hairs to the Centre for examination. Innocence Canada asked the Supreme Court of Canada for an order that the exhibits be released to the Centre. On November 18, 2010, the Supreme Court of Canada made this order.

The examination was conducted by Centre scientist, Joanne Almer, and an outside expert, retained by the defence. Microscopic examination showed that the hairs were facial hairs, not head hairs. The prosecution theory that Leighton had shaved his head to disguise his appearance was unsustainable. Leighton could not have been the gunman with the two-inch picky dreads.

On April 23, 2013 Innocence Canada counsel, James Lockyer and Philip Campbell, argued Leighton's case in the Supreme Court of Canada.

On November 8, 2013, in a lengthy judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada admitted the new scientific evidence, quashed Leighton's conviction and ordered a new trial on the charge of first degree murder.

In the judgment, Mr. Justice Rothstein said:

" Given the significance of the haircut to the Crown's case, Mr. Hay's fresh evidence indicating that the hair clippings did not come from a scalp shave could reasonably be expected to have affected the result ".

Following the Supreme Court decision, the Crown continued to act as if it intended to proceed with the new trial. This was painstakingly stressful for Leighton and his family.

On November 28, 2014 the Crown finally withdrew the first-degree murder charge against Leighton. For the first time in 12½ years, he was a free man. Leighton walked out into the sunlight and was reunited with his father and sister.

James Lockyer who championed Leighton's case and fought for his freedom alongside Phil Campbell said:

" Leighton has been through a nightmare for all these years. His walk into freedom today will be momentous for him and for us at AIDWYC. His family will be at court and he will need all their support and AIDWYC's support in the months to come.

This was a miscarriage of justice of the highest order. "

Phil Campbell, one of Leighton's dedicated lawyers, said:

" I will never forget how crushed I was on the day Leighton's conviction was upheld after his first appeal; it was the bleakest day of my career. Today is a better, brighter day, Leighton has faced many challenges during his years in penitentiary and more lie ahead. The consequences of his wrongful conviction will linger long after the courts and lawyer close their files. But for today, his freedom and the righting of a wrong are worth celebrating. "

Since his walk into the sunshine Leighton has proven to be a wise young man of few words who takes one day at a time. He has not allowed the 12 years of his life that he lost to dampen his positive outlook or stop him from pursuing his interests or dreams in his time and in his unique way.

Innocence Canada's Director of Client Services, Win Wahrer, describes him as patient, kind and forgiving as well as resolute, loyal with a deep thirst for knowledge:

" Leighton is a person of high integrity, intuitiveness, hardworking and dependable who deserves the opportunity to realize and achieve all his personal and professional goals and in time despite the challenges that lie ahead, I am sure he will. "

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On Friday, July 5, 2002 Leighton Hay was a 19-year-old attending high-school extension courses. Although it was a Friday evening he decided to stay at home where he lived with his mother and older sister, Lisa. He was oblivious to the tragic events that were about to unfold, events which would change his life forever.

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Wrongfully convicted Leighton Hay is now free 

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Wrongfully convicted Leighton Hay is now free 

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I chose this video because it is the day that Leighton Hay is free, after serving 12 and half years in prison.

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Wrongfully convicted Leighton Hay is now free

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Lawyer for wrongfully convicted Leighton Hay speaks

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Lawyer for wrongfully convicted Leighton Hay speaks

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I chose this video because it provides a detailed description of Leighton Hay's story. The video allows people to watch and listen to the case.

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Lawyer for wrongfully convicted Leighton Hay speaks

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James Lockyer talks about the appeal that freed man after 12 years in prison

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Leighton Hay, wrongfully convicted of murder in 2002, walks free

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Leighton Hay, wrongfully convicted of murder in 2002, walks free

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I chose this website because it described Leighton Hay's final outcome.

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The charges against Leighton Hay, a Toronto man convicted of an execution-style murder in 2002, were withdrawn this morning and he walked out of court a free man after more than 12 years in prison.

The Crown said it is no longer in the public interest to pursue the case.

Hay, 19 at the time, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the July 2002 killing of 51-year-old Colin Moore. But he appealed based on forensic testing on hairs found in his apartment.

Hay's case was taken on by the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted in 2011, which called it "factual innocence."

"Leighton has been through a nightmare for all these years," said James Lockyer, the association's senior counsel, who said before Hay was released that his "walk into freedom today" would be "momentous for him."

"This was a miscarriage of justice of the highest order," Lockyer added.

Hay's lawyers have asked Justice John McMahon to apologize on behalf of the justice system.

Hair evidence key to case

On July 6, 2002, Moore was hosting an event at a nightclub in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. At 1:13 a.m. ET, two men armed with handguns stormed into the nightclub, and shot and killed Moore.

Police identified one of the gunmen as Gary Eunick.

Eunick had borrowed the car of Hay's mother and was driving it the night in question, according to police.

When police found the car at Hay's home, they arrested both Eunick and Hay.

Witnesses from the nightclub described the second gunman as having "two inch picky dreads" - longer hair than what Hay had at the time.

The Crown argued at his original trial in 2004 that Hay returned home after the shooting and had a haircut.

The police searched for evidence of a haircut at Hay's home, and found some very short hairs in a newspaper in a garbage bin and on an electric razor in his bedroom.

Hay's lawyers presented evidence at the appeal - the second appeal on the crime - that questioned whether Hay indeed got a haircut.

Hay's lawyers also highlighted one witness who identified Hay with "80 per cent" certainty as the gunman at the nightclub. Two weeks later, the same witness did not select Hay's photo in a lineup.

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'Walk into freedom': Murder charges withdrawn after Toronto man's 12 years in prison | CBC News

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The charges against Leighton Hay, a Toronto man convicted of an execution-style murder in 2002, were withdrawn this morning and he walked out of court a free man after more than 12 years in prison. The Crown said it is no longer in the public interest to pursue the case.

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This picture represents the day Leighton hay was finally free on On November 28, 2014 after serving 12½ years for a crime he did not commit

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This picture is Leighton Hay and his lawyer named James Lockyer, when he was finally free from prison.

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Murder charge withdrawn against man who spent 12 years in prison

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Murder charge withdrawn against man who spent 12 years in prison

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I chose this website because it explains that charges against Leighton Hay's will be withdrawn and it was easy to follow.

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Leighton Hay languished in custody for 12 years for a murder he maintains he never committed, his mental health seriously deteriorating.

Through questionable eyewitness identification and bad evidence, the justice system failed him. On Friday, it attempted to correct its own mistake, when a Superior Court judge withdrew the murder charges against the 31-year-old at the request of the Crown and apologized.

"I feel obliged, on behalf of the administration of justice, I apologize for the fact that it has taken this long for the justice system to get it right," said Justice John McMahon to applause. "I wish you well. With the support of your family, I hope you have a long and fulfilling life."

Hay, dressed in a white shirt and black leather jacket, was a shell of the 19-year-old man arrested in 2002 for the execution-style shooting of Colin Moore, 51, in a Scarborough nightclub. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2004 along with Gary Eunick, who was Hay's roommate as well as his sister's then boyfriend. The two were also found guilty of the attempted murder of Moore's brother, Roger.

After McMahon made his ruling, Hay, expressionless and his eyes downcast, exited the prisoner's box and shifted to the side as his sister, Lisa, moved to embrace him. The court heard that Hay suffers from schizophrenia, and spent much of his sentence in a prison psychiatric unit.

"My brother has been vindicated," Lisa Hay said outside the courthouse. "He was innocent all along, and I'm glad everyone knows it. His name is now cleared."

Hay spent the first hour of his freedom looking at the ground outside a downtown Toronto courthouse as his family spoke to media. He was clutching a gift from a member of the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted: a clock and a pair of socks, wrapped in Toronto Maple Leafs wrapping paper.

A significant part of the case against Hay hinged on his haircut. While multiple eyewitnesses identified Eunick as one of the shooters, a sole eyewitness at HHMS Bar on Victoria Park Ave. just south of Eglinton Ave. E. picked out Hay from a lineup of 12 pictures shortly after Moore's slaying, said Hay's trial lawyer, Jeffry House.

House said that the photo, taken from police files, was several years old, and showed Hay with "longer, combed hair. I think it was in some sort of a weave." The witness had said the second shooter had two-inch dreadlocks. House said she told police she was "80 per cent sure" it was him.

By 2002, Hay had short hair. When asked to pick out the second shooter again in a larger lineup of photos following Hay's arrest, which included a picture of Hay reflecting his current appearance, the witness was unable to identify him, said House. The Crown proceeded at trial with hair samples found wrapped in a newspaper page at Hay's home, claiming that Hay had shaved his head to fool eyewitnesses. To House, it was obvious the hair was facial stubble.

The jury concluded he was guilty. The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld those convictions in 2009. Hay has always maintained that he was home asleep at the time of the murder.

At trial, neither the defence nor the Crown was aware of forensic testing that could prove the origin of hair samples, said House. The Crown subsequently denied requests by Hay's appeal lawyers to turn over the hair for testing. The evidence was only made available following a Supreme Court of Canada order in 2010, the first time a Canadian court made an order to make exhibits available for testing after a convicted person had exhausted all of their appeals.

The test results, showing that the hair came mostly from the face, led the Supreme Court to order a new trial last November, which ultimately led to Friday's ruling.

"We were always very uncomfortable with (the Crown's position)," said one of Hay's appeal lawyers, James Lockyer. "It just seems to me . . . that if you want justice, then you should leave no stone unturned. And there had been a serious stone that had not been turned over until this point in time."

Lockyer also took aim at the reliance on a single witness placing Hay at the scene.

"It's another case of how mistaken eyewitness identification can lead to a miscarriage of justice," he said. "There's been a lot of those in Canada and other jurisdictions, and I just wish the courts would better recognize the dangers that exist in eyewitness identification."

In general, eyewitness are "surprisingly often mistaken," said Christopher Sherrin, a law professor at Western University who studies wrongful convictions and who was not involved in the Hay case.

Factors that can contribute to misidentification include how long the sighting was, if it was the only time the witness encountered the suspect, the stressful nature of the situation and the way police present the suspect to the witness during an investigation, said Sherrin.

This can be confusing for a jury to assess, as jurors often "do not appreciate the frailty" of this type of evidence, said Sherrin.

House, Hay's original defence lawyer, said he had requested a judge-alone trial because judges tend to be more sensitive to the complexities of eyewitness identification, but he said the Crown did not consent.

Sherrin said that misidentification by eyewitnesses is one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. Mistaken identity contributed to 72 per cent of the 321 cases overturned by DNA evidence in the U.S., according to the Innocence Project , an organization that works to overturn wrongful convictions.

This is why testing Hay's hair samples was the crux of his appeal, and what ultimately prompted the Supreme Court to order a new trial .

"Given the significance of the haircut to the Crown's case, the fresh evidence could reasonably be expected to have affected the result," wrote Supreme Court Justice Marshall Rothstein on behalf of a unanimous court.

Getting this type of evidence from the Crown after a conviction can be incredibly challenging, said lawyer Alan Young, who is head of the Innocence Project at Osgoode Hall Law School. Young said there are "no uniform rules for how evidence should be preserved and for how long" post-conviction.

"We usually have to get this evidence as a result of begging," he said.

Hay being free means there is still an individual out there responsible for killing Moore, a father of two who was shot point-blank at a Guyanese fundraising event when two men crashed through the door and opened fire. Hay's original trial was told the killers had been ejected from the event in a dispute over a cover charge 15 minutes earlier.

Witnesses saw the two shooters bleeding from the earlier brawl. While blood from the front seat of the getaway car matched Eunick, the blood in the back seat did not match Hay or anyone else in the DNA registry in 2002, said House.

Toronto police spokeswoman Meaghan Gray said the head of the homicide squad "indicated that the Cold Case section will be reviewing this case, including all of its evidence, in an effort to identify the second suspect."

As for Hay, his future is uncertain. The severely mentally ill man will be living with his father, Lascelles. "If anyone deserves compensation, it's Leighton," Lockyer said, adding he will work to get it.

"He lose 12 years," said Lascelles Hay. "I hope a lot of good things for him."

As Hay made his way home, Lockyer, who spent the last five years working on Hay's case, gave his client one last piece of advice: "Listen to your father."

With files from Peter Edwards

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Murder charge withdrawn against man who spent 12 years in prison

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Leighton Hay languished in custody for 12 years for a murder he maintains he never committed, his mental health seriously deteriorating. Through questionable eyewitness identification and bad evidence, the justice system failed him. On Friday, it attempted to correct its own mistake, when a Superior Court judge withdrew the murder charges against the 31-year-old at the request of the Crown and apologized.