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Steven Truscott to get $6.5M for wrongful conviction

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Steven Truscott to get $6.5M for wrongful conviction

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This article discusses  that

"No amount of money could ever truly compensate Steven."

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The Ontario government will pay Steven Truscott $6.5 million for suffering a "miscarriage of justice" and living 48 years with the stigma of being wrongfully convicted of a rape and murder he did not commit.

"We are doing what we can to bring to the conclusion this remarkable aspect of Mr. Truscott's life's journey," Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley said Monday in Toronto.

"We are doing what we can to conclude this journey, and it is my hope that Mr. Truscott and his family will now be able to spend all their time on the rest of life's journey."

He added that Truscott's wife, Marlene, will get $100,000 in compensation for the time she spent working to clear Truscott's name.

The announcement comes almost a year after the Ontario Court of Appeal acquitted Truscott of murder in the death of his friend, 12-year-old Lynne Harper, in the southwestern Ontario town of Clinton in June 1959. The court said his conviction was a "miscarriage of justice."

Truscott was just 14 years old when he was convicted in September 1959 after a 15-day trial. He was initially sentenced to hang, making him Canada's youngest death-row inmate, but after four months on death row, the sentence was commuted to life in prison.

He was granted parole at age 24 in 1969, after serving 10 years in jail.

Bentley said the government's decision to compensate was based on the advice of retired judge Sydney Robins, who was asked to study whether compensation would be appropriate, and if so, how much should he get?

'No amount of money could ever truly compensate Steven'

In a written statement, Truscott and his wife called the compensation a "final and long-awaited step in recognizing Steve's innocence." Still, the couple said the money is bittersweet.

"Although we are grateful for the freedom and stability this award will provide, we are also painfully aware that no amount of money could ever truly compensate Steven for the terror of being sentenced to hang at the age of 14, the loss of his youth or the stigma of living for almost 50 years as a convicted murderer," the Truscotts said.

Robins, in a written report outlining how he decided how much Truscott should be paid, noted there is no legal obligation to compensate Truscott, Still, he said not compensating Truscott would leave him with a stigma, a suggestion of guilt.

"The total amount paid to Mr. Truscott should be enough to ensure that he can live the remainder of his life with financial security, and in comfort and dignity, able to assist his family as he sees fit," Robins wrote.

"It should also be enough to send a clear signal to the public that the government recognizes the enormity of the suffering that this miscarriage of justice has caused."

The Harper family has yet to comment publicly on the compensation package. Harper's father, Leslie Harper, has said he was stunned by Truscott's acquittal and fears Truscott only sought to clear his name for financial reasons.

Since the acquittal, no one else has been charged with Harper's slaying. Over the years, other people have been named in the media as potential suspects. They include Alexander Kalichuk, an air force sergeant with a history of sexual offences who lived near the military base where Truscott and Harper grew up. Kalichuk, a heavy drinker, died in 1975.

Suffering considered in compensation decision

In awarding Truscott $6.5 million, Robins said he considered the emotional turmoil he has endured.

"There is no question but that Mr. Truscott's conviction, incarceration and parole forever altered his life," Robins wrote.

He noted that Truscott, who now lives in Guelph, Ont., suffered from loneliness, isolation and a loss of privacy while spending his teenage years and early adulthood in prison. Robins talked of the terror Truscott felt knowing when he thought he was going to die, including the day Truscott heard hammering outside his prison cell and was certain it was prison guards building the scaffolding where he would be hanged.

Once released from prison, Robins noted that life wasn't easy for Truscott. Under the conditions of his parole, which lasted until last year's acquittal, he couldn't leave the country or move without informing authorities. He was told to change his name to avoid attention.

Truscott and his wife married in secret in 1970 to avoid publicity and moved nine times to protect the safety of their three children, Robins said. He said Truscott suffered from nightmares and social anxieties, and has become extremely shy and hesitant.

But despite all the hardship, Robins said Truscott has been "an exemplary citizen," working steadily as a machinist and millwright, providing a stable life for his family and always abiding by the law.

Lack of DNA evidence in Truscott case

Robins noted that the Ontario Court of Appeal did not declare Truscott factually innocent, but Robins said it would be impossible to ever do so since DNA evidence has been lost and destroyed, and witnesses have died. Robins said it would be unfair to punish Truscott because of this.

Marlys Edwardh, one of Truscott's lawyers, said Truscott's case could give hope to others who are wrongfully accused but have no DNA evidence to clear their name.

"There are many wrongful convictions that can't be unwound by DNA," she said. "I think the model [Robins has] adopted is both useful and insightful, and will be of [precedent-setting] value."

But Alan Young, a professor at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, said the government is not bound to follow the same guidelines when dealing with other cases.

"It may be that the Steven Truscott case had such notoriety that they felt that they had to make the payment because the whole world was watching," he said.

"I like the development, but I wouldn't start celebrating a huge change in the approach, because it will still be a case-by-case determination."

Robins considered other cases

Robins said he considered other wrongful conviction cases in Canada, including the $10 million awarded to Winnipeg native David Milgaard after DNA cleared him of the 1969 rape and murder of a Saskatoon nursing aide. Robins noted that Milgaard, who was 16 at the time of his conviction, spent a total of 23 years in jail, 13 more than Truscott, and suffered a violent sexual assault while in prison.

Robins said the case of Maher Arar wasn't relevant to his decision, because the $12.5 million in compensation Arar received from the federal government was not for a wrongful conviction, but for damages resulting from his deportation to Syria, where he was jailed and tortured.

The Ontario Court of Appeal finished its eight-month review of Truscott's case in February 2007, and announced its decision to acquit last Aug. 28. At the time, then Attorney General Michael Bryant apologized to Truscott and said the Crown has no plans to appeal.

Provincial legislators have been calling for Truscott to receive payment. In April, Guelph's Liz Sandals of the ruling Liberal party tabled a private member's motion seeking support for compensation for Truscott, and all parties approved it.

Robins recommended that the federal government pay 50 per cent of the compensation. Bentley said Ontario is paying it in full for now, to ensure Truscott gets his compensation quickly, but that negotiations with the federal government are ongoing.

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Steven Truscott to get $6.5M for wrongful conviction | CBC News

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The Ontario government will pay Steven Truscott $6.5 million for suffering a "miscarriage of justice" and living 48 years with the stigma of being wrongfully convicted of a rape and murder he did not commit. "We are doing what we can to bring to the conclusion this remarkable aspect of Mr. Truscott's life's journey," Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley said Monday in Toronto.

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Lawyers begin final battle to clear Truscott

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Lawyers begin final battle to clear Truscott

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This article discusses the last legal battle to clear Steven Truscott’s name. James Lockyer, Steven Truscott’s lawyer asked the judge to look at the case from a fresh point of view even if it requires the judge to bend the rules of admissibility because if the evidence that was presented in 2007 was presented in 1959, Steven Truscott would have not been sentence to death and he would have been seen as innocent from the beginning.

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Lawyers for Steven Truscott began the latest skirmish in a nearly half-century-old legal battle to clear him of the murder of Lynne Harper.

A five-member Ontario Court of Appeal heard defence arguments on Wednesday as to why Truscott should be exonerated in a case that saw him sentenced to death in 1959 at the age of 14.

James Lockyer, one of Canada's most prominent advocates for the wrongfully convicted, asked the judges to "look at the case anew,'' even if it means bending the rules of admissibility.

"If all that material had been before the court in 1959 ... rather than being sentenced to death (Steven Truscott) would have more likely been set free," Lockyer told the court.

"The fact remains that all previous court hearings, in our submission, have been conducted behind a veil."

Truscott's case first made it to the Supreme Court of Canada, which upheld the conviction in a 1966 decision.

Lockyer said previous proceedings were "based on fallacies -- fallacies that have only now come to light."

Much of the current case revolves around the legal concept of "disclosure," which means the Crown must make its evidence available to the defence.

The Crown's argument that Truscott's lawyers should have asked for it back during the original trial and chose not to, Lockyer said that argument didn't make sense.

"How could they decide in a vacuum that they didn't want to see something they had never seen?" Lockyer said.

"It's contrary to common sense that they would have made such a decision if they believed an option of full disclosure was open to them."

Lockyer said Truscott's fortunes didn't start to improve until 1998, when he came across archived evidence.

Truscott was only 14 when he was convicted of the rape and murder of 12-year-old schoolmate Lynne Harper.

The jury heard that Lynne finished her meal at 5:45 p.m. on June 9. She was last seen riding with Truscott, then 14, on his bicycle along a country road outside Clinton, Ont.

Truscott said he dropped Lynne off at Highway 8, where she hitched a ride in what appeared to be a '59 Chevy.

Two days later, on June 11, 1959, a search party discovered her decomposing remains in a wooded area off the county road on June 11, 1959.
Fresh evidence
Forensic evidence that brings a fresh perspective to the girl's time of death could loosen the figurative noose around Truscott's neck.

The evidence largely pertains to Lynne's stomach contents and the insect activity on her decomposing body. The oral hearings are expected to focus on what the evidence means in relation to the young girl's time of death.

In Truscott's trial, a regional pathologist testified that most of Lynne's last meal had been in her stomach, therefore time of death was likely between 7:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.

The timeframe pointed the finger at Truscott.

But Truscott's lawyers say evidence on the contents of Lynne's stomach, and the decomposition and larvae deposits on her body could be significant in his quest to be acquitted.

When the case returned to the appeal court last June, the judges heard a Toronto Western Hospital gastroenterologist, who has been studying the subject for more than 45 years, explain that the stomach nearly never empties within two hours after eating.

Dr. Nicholas Diamant told the court that in a normal person, it can take up to six hours for food to leave the stomach, but emotional stress can stop digestion for several hours.

Truscott's lawyers say this backs the theory that Lynne was abducted and killed by a stranger.

Oral submissions and closing arguments are expected to last about two-and-a-half weeks.

After the Appeal Court panel hears oral submissions and closing arguments, they have several options.

Ontario's highest court can:

decide to acquit Truscott;

order a new trial;

enter a stay of proceedings; or,

dismiss the appeal and let the conviction stand.

Truscott's journey
Truscott was convicted of first-degree murder on Sept. 30, 1959.

His sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1960, the same year his first appeal was denied.

In 1966, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 8-1 to uphold the verdict. Truscott served 10 years in prison before he was released on parole in 1969.

He married, raised a family and settled down in Guelph, Ont., in anonymity under an assumed name.

Truscott, however, went public with his story in 2000 in a bid to clear his name. He applied to then-justice minister Irwin Cotler for a full exoneration.

Cotler defined the terms of reference for the appeal to be based on so-called fresh evidence, saying there was a "moral obligation" to assess whether new evidence would have affected the original verdict.

"If the exoneration is there, it's all been worth it,'' Truscott told a crush of media as he made his way into court Wednesday morning. "We're quite confident.''

A new twist in this case is television cameras are broadcasting the appeal court's proceedings for the first time ever.

Truscott welcomed the cameras, saying anything that made the process more transparent is "excellent."

"As taxpayers, everybody should be glad to have it open," he said.

Asked what had kept him going all these years, Truscott said: "Right here, my wife and my family and all of the supporters all over the country."
With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme and files from The Canadian Press

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truscott wrongfully accused conviction murder appeal camera

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Lawyers begin final battle to clear Truscott

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Lawyers for Steven Truscott began the latest skirmish in a nearly half-century-old legal battle to clear him of the murder of Lynne Harper. A five-member Ontario Court of Appeal heard defence arguments on Wednesday as to why Truscott should be exonerated in a case that saw him sentenced to death in 1959 at the age of 14.

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Lynne Harper's family speaks out on Truscott. 

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Lynne Harper's family speaks out on Truscott. 

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This article addresses how Lynne Harper’s family reacts after they find out that Steven Truscott, the man they thought was guilty the entire time is in fact innocent. Although, the court never actually said that Steven Truscott was innocent the court implied that he was. Lynne Harper’s family says that they have been haunted by Lynne’s death since they found her body.

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The family of Lynne Harper finally broke their silence Wednesday to talk about the "mental distress" they have suffered while watching the acquittal of the man they have always believed to be her killer.

Steven Truscott, who was convicted as a teen of raping and murdering 12-year-old Lynne in 1959, was cleared of the charges Tuesday in a unanimous judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

The court stopped short of declaring Mr. Truscott innocent, but nevertheless gave him reason to declare victory in his long-fought legal battle.

While Mr. Truscott and his supporters celebrated in Toronto, on the other side of the continent, Lynne's 90-year-old father, Leslie, had to take the news sitting down in his private room at a nursing home in the western United States. When he heard the verdict, he said, his legs went numb.

"All I can think about is the cruel 50 years of mental distress," Mr. Harper said, hoarse-voiced in a telephone interview Wednesday. "The joy, the jumping up and down on the streets where he [Mr. Truscott]was yesterday, it doesn't sit too well.

"I'm numb, as a matter of fact. I'm to the point where I don't feel as if I can even stand up or walk."

Mr. Harper, whose wife Shirley died several years ago of a heart attack, stayed up all night before the 300-page judgment was released.

When his eldest son, Barry, called him about it, Mr. Harper was stunned.

Mr. Harper passed up the opportunity to speak directly to Attorney-General Michael Bryant because he prefers to hear news about Lynne's case from Barry.

While he still possesses all of the faculties required to digest the thick document that contains the court's rationale for acquitting Mr. Truscott, the elder Mr. Harper says he doesn't have the stomach for it.

"A little girl was never given an opportunity to live," he said.

He and the rest of his family have believed that Mr. Truscott was guilty since he was first convicted as a teen in 1959. Even after all these years, Mr. Harper cannot force himself to say Mr. Truscott's name.

The Harpers have been haunted by Lynne's murder since the day her body was found. "He still has things that belong to my sister that he picks up on a daily basis," Barry said of his father. "He's never gotten over his sorrow."

At the time of Lynne's killing, the Harpers had only been living at RCAF Clinton, a base in southwestern Ontario, for about two years. Mr. Harper was a flight lieutenant. His wife, Shirley, stayed home to care for their three children, Lynne, 12, Barry, who was in Grade 10, and Jeffrey, who was only four years old when Lynne's body was found in Lawson's Bush.

"I think my sister was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Barry, whose recollection of the days before and after Lynne's killing are pristine. Still, he's shied away from speaking publicly about them - aside from a deposition he gave during a two-year review of the case in 2002 - because the courts, until now, have upheld Mr. Truscott's guilt.

"Years ago, when the Supreme Court threw the appeal out, I thought that was the end of it," Barry said. "The thing has got a life of its own."

Now, Lynne's funeral still runs like a movie reel through Barry's mind.

"The funeral procession went from Clinton all the way to St. Thomas. That's got to be about 60 or 65 miles," he said. "There were Brownies and Girl Guides standing on the sides of the street as the [hearse]went by. It was something that kinds of sticks in your mind."

Six months later, when Mr. Truscott was convicted, he was only 14. Still, he had already earned a reputation among the youngsters at RCAF Clinton as being more interested in schoolgirls than books, Barry said. Although he was closer to Steven Truscott's older brother, Ken, Barry remembers being paired as a defensive line mate with Steven. "I grew up with that guy," he said.

Now an engineer for an auto-parts manufacturer in the United States, Barry still keeps a cache of newspaper and magazine clippings documenting his sister's case, which has been immortalized in several movies and books, although he rarely needs to refer to them. He's carried with him for nearly 50 years the memories of his family's destruction.

"My dad wouldn't talk to anybody. He'd go to work and come back and sit in the chair and think about what happened, I guess."

Barry said that after the killing, the muted family remained on the base, but their only outings were for Sunday dinners at the base dining room.

"I don't think they did any socializing," he said. "From the time of the trial to the time we moved, we didn't do much of anything."

After Mr. Truscott's conviction, the Harpers left for a month-long respite in New Brunswick. They avoided as much as possible speaking to the media while working through their terrible pain. Eventually, they moved to a different air force base in Langar, England, where they tried to get on with their lives. But over the years, as Mr. Truscott pressed on with his campaign for exoneration, healing became impossible.

"You never want to see someone who was innocent convicted of something," the elder Mr. Harper said Wednesday. "But this is about money."

The Harpers have long felt that part of Mr. Truscott's motive in continuing the efforts to clear his name has been to win a hefty compensation package from the government.

On Tuesday, Mr. Truscott's lawyer, James Lockyer, said his client should "get every penny he can out of the government after what he has been through." Former Appeal Court judge Sydney Robins has been appointed by the provincial government to review the issue. However, he said he must first decide whether Mr. Truscott, who has not been deemed innocent, is entitled to an award.

"The issue turns on the fact that there was no explicit finding of factual innocence in the case," Mr. Robins told The Canadian Press Wednesday.

Both Harpers said they will try to block any payout to Mr. Truscott. Barry said he has spoken with provincial officials to notify them that he and his father both plan to make written submissions to Mr. Robins on why they think compensation should be denied.

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Lynne Harper's family speaks out on Truscott

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The family of Lynne Harper finally broke their silence Wednesday to talk about the "mental distress" they have suffered while watching the acquittal of the man they have always believed to be her killer. Steven Truscott, who was convicted as a teen of raping and murdering 12-year-old Lynne in 1959, was cleared of the charges Tuesday in a unanimous judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

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In this video Steven Truscott breaks his silence.

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Steven Truscott - His Word Against History - the fifth estate

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This video discusses how the criminal justice system failed Steven Truscott.
http://curio.ca.dproxy.library.dc-uoit.ca/en/video/the-trials-of-steven-truscott-1975/

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In 1959, 14-year-old Steven Truscott was sentenced to hang for the murder of a 12-year-old girl near Clinton, Ontario. His death sentence was commuted, but it wasn't until late August of this year that an Ontario court finally acquitted him of the murder charge.

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The girl in this picture is the victim, Lynne Harper, who was 12 years old when she was sexually assaulted and strangled to death.

Who killed Lynne Harper? Retired OPP sergeant says travelling salesman a suspect in string of unsolved murders. (2015, September 29). Retrieved June 17, 2018, from http://nationalpost.com/news/canada/who-killed-lynne-harper-retired-opp-sergeant-says-travelling-salesman-a-suspect-in-string-of-murders

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This image displays two people, Isabel LeBourdais to the left and Steven Truscott to the right. The states that you are innocent until proven guilty, however for Steven Truscott he was guilty from the time Lynne Harper’s body was found.  Isabel LeBourdais is the one who took it upon herself to thoroughly read through the trial transcript and wrote a book that helped prove Steven Truscott’s innocence.

Gladstone, B. (2011, October 10). Obit: Isabel LeBourdais (1909-2003). Retrieved June 18, 2018, from http://www.billgladstone.ca/?p=2450

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This is a brief summary of the Steven Truscott case.

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This case study has an in depth look at the media posted here. Follow the links or citations to the contents origin, or check out our analysis here.

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This is a picture of Steven Truscott at the age of fourteen. You may notice that there is a bicycle in the picture, this is the bicycle he gave his friend Lynne Harper a ride on. This is the young boy that was accused of killing his friend and spent years trying to prove his innocence and clear his name.

Chronology: Key events in the Steven Truscott case. (2007, August 28). Retrieved from https://www.ctvnews.ca/chronology-key-events-in-the-steven-truscott-case-1.254270

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This padlet will hold the content for Wrongfully Convicted, Spring 2018 GNED 1307 - 35252.