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Leighton Hay (Wrongfully Convicted) Word Document

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Leighton Hay (Wrongfully Convicted) Word Document

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Here is a capture of Leighton Hay and his father Lasalle as they leave from the Superior Court in November of 2014.

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Here is the outside crime scene of the HHMS Nightclub on Victoria Park Avenue. This where Leighton Hay was being accused of participating in the murder. 

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Here illustrates a sketch of Mr. Leighton Hay during a court hearing for being accused of being a suspect of the murder of Martin Moore.

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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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In this article it explains the release of wrongfully convicted Leighton Hay. Leighton Hay had served 12 years in prison from the age of 19 and was released at the age of 30.

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The charges against Leighton Hay, a Toronto man convicted of an execution-style murder in 2002, were withdrawn this morning and he walked out of court a free man after more than 12 years in prison.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

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Article timeline in events of Leighton Hay.

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In this article it takes you through each significant timeline throughout the case and trial towards Leighton Hay. It starts with the events that took place and reason for conviction.

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Leighton Hay, 31, of Mississauga has been living a nightmare for the past 12-and-a-half years, since he was sent to maximum-security prison for a murder that forensic testing suggests he did not commit.

Much of Hay's time since 2002 has been spent in a prison psychiatric unit in Kingston, where he's treated with anti-depressant medication.

"Leighton has been through a nightmare for all these years," his lawyer, James Lockyer of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) said.

"His walk into freedom today will be momentous for him and for us at AIDWYC," Lockyer said.

Here are key dates in Hay's legal odyssey:
July 6, 2002
Early that Saturday morning, three men balk at paying a $10 cover charge at a community charity dance at the HHMS Restaurant and Nightclub on Victoria Park Ave., just south of Eglinton Ave.

The monthly dances are usually calm events, appealing to the middle-aged Guyanese community, organized by Martin Colin Moore, 51, a father-of-two and a beloved member of the Guyanese-Canadian community.

The three men clash with Moore, and his brother Roger, and are ejected.

Minutes later, at 1:13 a.m., two men with handguns burst into the restaurant and the unarmed Moore brothers are cornered in the kitchen.

Martin Colin Moore is shot eight times, including a bullet to his aorta. He's rushed to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and is pronounced dead within hours.

Roger Moore is grazed in the head with a bullet and survives.
July 6, 2002
A witness notes the license plate of a car carrying the killers.

It leads police to a home on Chigwell Court in Mississauga that's shared by 19-year-old Leighton Hay and 27-year-old Gary Eunick.

Eunick matches the description of one of the killers.

He's the boyfriend of Hay's sister Lisa. He works as a hair stylist and has a criminal record for firearms offences and cocaine possession and was sentenced to 14 months and two weeks of jail time.

In a clothes hamper, police find a sock with six different types of ammunition inside.

They also find strands of hair inside a crumpled piece of newspaper in a bathroom and observe that Hay's hair is short.

Witnesses say the second gunman had "two inch picky dreads."

Eunick and Hay are arrested for first-degree murder.
May 10, 2004
The Crown presents powerful evidence against Eunick at their jury trial.

Court hears that gunpowder residue and blood matching that of Eunick were found on an orange vest similar to that worn by a gunman at the restaurant.

Blood matching Eunick's DNA was also discovered inside a Honda Civic that matched the description of one seen speeding away from the restaurant after the shooting.

The jury hears that Eunick's DNA was also found on broken glass in the restaurant's parking lot and on the building's front door and that there were 72 gunshot residue patches on a pair of Eunick's jeans.

Hay's lawyer Jeff House argues that his client was at home asleep at the time of the shooting.

The Crown suggests that Hay shaved his head immediately after the murder to alter his appearance and confuse witnesses.

DNA testing is not done on the hair clippings at the time of the trial to determine if its head hair or hair from a facial shave.
June 8, 2004
Eunick and Leighton Hay are each sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years.

Hay spends much of his time heavily medicated in a psychiatric unit.
May 17, 2010
Hay's legal team from the AIDWYC - James Lockyer, Philip Campbell and Joanne McLean - ask the Supreme Court of Canada to allow them to send the hairs from the newspaper for forensic testing.

If the clippings are found to be facial hair, they argue, this would undercut the Crown theory that Hay shaved his head to alter his appearance after the shooting.
Nov. 18, 2010
The Supreme Court of Canada orders the release of key exhibits from the trial for forensic testing. It's the first time a Canadian court has ordered court exhibits released for forensic testing when a case is over, after a convicted person has exhausted all appeals.
Nov. 8, 2013
Scientists find the hairs found wrapped in the newspaper were from a facial shave "to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty."

After hearing this, the Supreme Court of Canada votes 7-0 in favour of granting a new trial for Hay, who's now 30.

Hay sounds stunned on speaker phone from Millhaven maximum-security prison as he was told the news by Lockyer.
Nov. 28, 2014
Judge at University Ave. courthouse approves Crown withdrawal of prosecution against Hay.

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association in defence of the wrongly convicted

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Wrongful conviction: Key dates in the legal nightmare of Leighton Hay of Mississauga

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Leighton Hay, 31, of Mississauga has been living a nightmare for the past 12-and-a-half years, since he was sent to maximum-security prison for a murder that forensic testing suggests he did not commit. Much of Hay's time since 2002 has been spent in a prison psychiatric unit in Kingston, where he's treated with anti-depressant medication.

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"Supreme Court orders new trial in Toronto nightclub murder"

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"Supreme Court orders new trial in Toronto nightclub murder"

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In this article it presents a new trial in which new forensic evidence is introduced to better understand the samples of hair that was found the night of the murder, to prove Mr. Hay's innocence.

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OTTAWA -- After hearing fresh forensic evidence, the Supreme Court of Canada has ordered a new trial for a Toronto man convicted of murdering a respected community figure a decade ago.

Leighton Hay was convicted of the first-degree murder of Colin Moore, 51.

Moore was shot and killed in July 2002 at a Toronto nightclub where he was hosting a monthly fundraiser.

Hay has served about 10 years of a life sentence.

In an unusual move, the Supreme Court considered new forensic evidence -- hair samples that Hay's lawyers say prove his innocence.

In its unanimous 7-0 verdict, the court ruled a new trial is necessary to consider the fresh evidence.

"The fresh evidence that Mr. Hay seeks to admit could reasonably be expected to have affected the jury's verdict," wrote Justice Marshall Rothstein on behalf of the majority.

"The interests of justice require that the Court remit the matter for a new trial, in which the Crown would have the opportunity to adduce evidence challenging the reliability of the fresh evidence."

Gary Eunick and another man pumped eight bullets into Moore after he and his brother, Roger, sought shelter in the nightclub's kitchen.

Eunick was among a group of men who refused to pay a cover charge after arriving at the club shortly after midnight.

Eunick and Hay were tried together and convicted.

While Eunick's identity was never in doubt, Hay was convicted as his accomplice on the testimony of one witness. The reliability of her evidence has now been called into question.

Hay's prosecutors also relied on hair found in a newspaper in his bathroom garbage, as well as hair in the electric razor on his nightstand.

The prosecutors argued that Hay had shaved his scalp to change his appearance after the shooting.

Hay's lawyers tested the hair and obtained expert opinions that said the samples did not, in fact, come from his scalp.

"Mr. Hay argues that the fresh evidence establishes that the hair clippings did not come from a shave of Mr. Hay's scalp and that, as a result, acquittal or a new trial is warranted," Rothstein wrote.

Friday's ruling overturns the Ontario Court of Appeal, which rejected Hay's appeal.

In another legal twist, one of the judges who rejected Hay's initial appeal was Michael Moldaver, who has since been appointed to the Supreme Court.

Moldaver was not involved in Friday's Supreme Court ruling.

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Supreme Court orders new trial in Toronto nightclub murder

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OTTAWA -- After hearing fresh forensic evidence, the Supreme Court of Canada has ordered a new trial for a Toronto man convicted of murdering a respected community figure a decade ago. Leighton Hay was convicted of the first-degree murder of Colin Moore, 51.

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In this video it presents that the Judge withdrew the charge and apologized on the justice time for the 12 years it took to prove Leighton Hay's innocence. This video provides background leading up to the case

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Wrongfully convicted of murder in 2002, Leighton Hay freed

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Toronto man asks judge to apologize on behalf of justice system

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In this video it presents Leighton Hay's lawyers speaking upon the effects that Mr. Hay had gone through and having the ability to push for a forensic testing on the strands of hair to prove his innocence. Mr. Hay's mental health had deteriorated and compensation would not provide enough justice.

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Addresses media after Toronto man was freed from prison, after charges that led to his 2002 murder conviction were withdrawn

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In this video it presents interviews trying to get a word from Mr. Hay although, he refuses to communicate with them. This video presents a lot of emotions that can be visible by Leighton Hay's body language.

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Leighton Hay walked free today for the first time in more than 12 years, after charges that led to his conviction in a 2002 murder 2002 were withdrawn