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This article was published in 2005 and it mainly speaks about how Williams was released after serving 10 years for a crime he did not commit. A part of tent from this article outlines, "However, independent forensic experts have since stated that the murder never happened, and leading pathologists believe the girl died of natural causes".

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QUACKS: Dr. Joel Yelland false testimony | Dr. Roy Meadow UK quack | Abuse expert to face court | Victims: Angela Cannings | Trupti Patel | Sally Clark | Dr. Charles Smith's victims of malice: Brenda Waudby | Louise Reynolds | Anthony Kporwodu and Angela Veno

Pathologist fallout: Mullins-Johnson gets $4.25M | Richard Brant acquitted

'Murderer' could be free on bail by next week

Didn't kill niece, lawyers say: 'Hopeful' as bail hearing nears

[Related: TIMELINE]

William Mullins-Johnson is expected to be freed from prison next Wednesday on bail after spending about 12½ years behind bars for a murder independent forensic experts say never happened.

The Sault Ste. Marie man was arrested in 1993 and convicted the following year of strangling his 4-year-old niece, Valin, a conviction that has been called into question by two leading pathologists who said the girl died of natural causes.

His lawyers appeared in court yesterday, as he waited in Warkworth penitentiary near Campbellford, to set a date for a bail hearing pending his application to have his case reviewed by Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.

[Related: Dr. Charles Smith testimony sent Mullins-Johnson to jail]

Lawyer James Lockyer, who represents Mullins-Johnson along with lawyer David Bayliss, told the Toronto Star they took the William Mullins-Johnson case on behalf of the Toronto-based Association in Defence of the Wrongly, which has gone to bat for people involved in the most notorious miscarriages of justice in Canada.

Lockyer said even though Mullins-Johnson would have to spend another six days behind bars before appearing in court for his bail hearing, "actually I am very pleased that this is going to be so soon."

"We're very hopeful," Bayliss added.

Outside court, Laureena Hill, Mullins-Johnson's mother, told reporters she did not want to be too hopeful that her son will be released Wednesday - in the past she had not much cause to put her faith in the criminal justice system.

Convicted man set for release next week

His mother has prepared a freshly furnished room in Sault Ste. Marie, with a new bed, a computer and a television. And if the room's too small, she says she will give up her own for him.

For 12½ years, Ms. Hill has prayed for the release of her son, William Mullins-Johnson, convicted of raping and killing his four-year-old niece, Valin. Every week, she sent him book-length letters filled with the details of the life he was missing, from the weather to local gossip. Now, after a new pathologist's report found Valin was never raped and probably died of natural causes, it may be less than a week until he can go home with his mother.

Yesterday, on her son's 35th birthday, Ms. Hill sat in the front row as Crown lawyer Ken Campbell told the court that Mr. Mullins-Johnson's bail hearing, scheduled for next Wednesday, will probably last "significantly less than an hour."

Legal experts say that indicates the Crown is unlikely to oppose Mr. Mullins-Johnson's release on bail.

Neither Mr. Campbell nor defence lawyer James Lockyer would confirm that suspicion, and others caution that it's hard to know what the Crown intends to do.

"I'm hoping they free him next Wednesday, but it's hard to try and keep that [hope] there in case it doesn't happen," Ms. Hill said outside the court. "I don't know what I'd do anyway if they don't release him."

Her voice went quiet for a moment as she imagined the scenarios that could keep her son behind bars.

"I don't trust anything very much any more, especially since he ended up where he ended up. Anything could happen. They could not believe that they have a case now that he is innocent."

Hobbled by two sore and swollen knees that need replacing and shaking with emotion at times, Ms. Hill wiped sweat from her brow as she discussed her efforts to free her son. On Wednesday, she visited Mr. Mullins-Johnson at Warkworth Institution, a medium-security jail 150 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

"I went to see him yesterday and he's getting quite antsy. He was keeping everything calm and now he's getting kind of jumpy," she said.

"Things are going very quickly, and we didn't expect it to go this quickly."

Mr. Mullins-Johnson spent a sleepless night this week after seeing a photo of himself with Valin published in a Toronto newspaper. The photo shows the two of them at Christmas, 1992, six months before she died.

"He said he was almost forgetting what she looked like," Ms. Hill said. "All he did was cry all night long."

Her son has just one wish if he is released next week. He would like to go to a Toronto Blue Jays game.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail this week, Mr. Mullins-Johnson remembered watching the Blue Jays play the Milwaukee Brewers on television the night Valin died. He has been watching them from jail ever since.

Although there was no physical evidence connecting him to the crime, his lawyers say it was bad forensic work that convicted him.

Several pathologists, including Charles Smith (right), whose work in 40 cases is being reviewed by the Ontario coroner's office, concluded that Valin had been anally raped and strangled or smothered. A new investigation conducted by chief forensic pathologist Michael Pollanen says the signs of rape and strangulation were actually natural post-mortem occurrences that were misinterpreted.

Lawyers for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted have applied to Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to have the conviction quashed. Mr. Cotler can either refer the case back to the appeal court, order a new trial, or declare Mr. Mullins-Johnson innocent. He will make that decision after an investigation by counsel in his office that could take several months. In the meantime, Mr. Mullins-Johnson's lawyers have applied for bail in the hope that he'll be allowed out of prison for the next several months, perhaps years, while his case is decided.

Although there is no provision in the Criminal Code for the bail of convicted murderers, a precedent was established with the release of Romeo Phillion in 2003. That case was argued by Mr. Lockyer and presided over by Mr. Justice David Watt, who is also the judge in this case.

John Rosen, a prominent criminal defence lawyer in Toronto, said the Crown's request for a very short bail hearing is a sign that they aren't likely to stand in the way of Mr. Mullins-Johnson's release.

"If the prosecution indicates it doesn't need much time for the application, then that usually signals a consent to the release and the only issue will be the terms of the release," he said.

Toronto Star Editorial: Correct this injustice

Swift justice is not always true justice. That may be the case with William Mullins-Johnson, a Sault Ste. Marie man who was convicted by a jury in six hours and has spent more than 12 years in prison for a murder that is now in doubt.

Mullins-Johnson, convicted of killing his 4-year-old niece while babysitting her on the basis of evidence that is now being challenged, has always maintained his innocence.

The Toronto-based Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted has taken up his cause. A senior official in the Ontario chief coroner's office and an international forensic expert suggest Mullins-Johnson was a victim of a miscarriage of justice. After reviewing the evidence they believe the child died of natural causes.

The association has urged federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to intervene. And with good reason.

Vindication can be painfully slow arriving. David Milgaard spent an unconscionable 23 years behind bars before being freed.

Mullins-Johnson will face a bail hearing today and could be freed. Given the doubt that now exists, the provincial attorney general's office has reason not to oppose his release.

But it is up to Cotler to resolve this matter. He can nullify the conviction, send the case to the Ontario Court of Appeal or order a new trial.

Whatever his course of action, Cotler should act promptly. Mullins-Johnson deserves better.

New report says Ontario man wrongfully convicted

Laureena Hill said her son was "totally stunned" when he learned a new legal brief said he's been wrongly convicted for the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece.

After telling him the news over the phone, Hill said her son "couldn't say anything. And I know exactly what he was going through because when they told me, that's the way I reacted," Hill told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday.

"It's just like I couldn't think and I was like that for hours. And then all of a sudden the tears started."

Her son, Williams Mullins-Johnson, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., has languished behind bars for 12 years for a crime he says he didn't commit. In 1994, he was convicted of raping and murdering Valin Johnson in 1993, and was sentenced to life in jail.

His conviction was based in part on a report by Dr. Charles Smith, a forensic pathologist, who said the little girl had been sexually assaulted and died of mechanical asphyxia (strangulation).

[ALSO: Clayton Johnson falsely convicted by "expert evidence"]

Now, a new report by the province's chief pathologist backs the man's claim of innocence. The report rejects the earlier coroner's report, and says the child was never raped and likely died of natural causes.

Following this latest report, lawyers for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) have asked the Federal Minister of Justice to review Mullins-Johnson's conviction.

They will be applying for bail for their client on Thursday.

"I hope I haven't got a battle on my hands. The attorney general of Ontario can consent to his release," said lawyer James Lockyer, director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, appearing on CTV Newsnet.

"And I am hoping that he will do that perhaps as soon as Thursday of this week."

Smith's work in 40 homicides and deaths is the subject of an investigation by Ontario's Chief Coroner.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General declined to discuss whether the province would oppose bail.

Hill, the mother of the accused, said she never gave up hope that her son was innocent.

"I believed in Bill all the time," she said through tears.

"For seven years, that's all we did was cry Every time I spoke to him on the phone, every time I went to visit him in prison, one of the hardest things for me to do was walk into that place, and then have to walk out and leave him there."

Mullins-Johnson was 22 when his niece died. He had been living at the home of his half-brother, Paul Johnson.

On Saturday, June 26, 1993, his sister-in-law, Kim Lariviere, asked him to babysit after dinner for her children, aged 3, 4 and 6.

Valin watched TV with Mullins-Johnson for a bit and then put herself to bed. She had been suffering from a fever earlier in the day.

When Mullins-Johnson checked on her at 8 p.m., she was sleeping. When Lariviere came home, she didn't look in on her daughter that night.

When she did check on Valin the next morning at 7 a.m., she saw vomit on the bed and when she turned her daughter over, she was purple.

The coroner who worked the case, Smith, was an expert witness at Mullins-Johnson's trial.

His most stunning testimony suggested Valin had suffered trauma to her rectum, which he said was caused by a large, blunt object.

Dr. Michael Pollanen, director of forensic pathology with Ontario's coroner's office, disputed that finding. He said there was no evidence of "acute penetrating anal trauma in Valin Johnson."

Pollanen also said there was no semen found on Valin nor her pyjamas, and no DNA found on Mullins-Johnson.

In fact, Pollanen believes Valin died of natural causes.

Mullins-Johnson's lawyer David Bayliss explained on CTV's Canada AM Wednesday that Smith misinterpreted changes in the little girl's body after death, "which are the sort of changes that all bodies go through after death."

One of those changes, the pooling of the blood in the body, was "misinterpreted as bruising on her scalp, on her neck, all over her body," said Bayliss. "And really there was almost no bruising at all."

Ontario's Chief Coroner, Dr. Barry McLellan, ordered a review of all of Smith's work in June, after concerns were raised about the cases in which he was either a leading or a consulting pathologist.

Smith has since resigned from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.

His work on three high-profile cases led to a reprimand in 2002 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Meanwhile, Lockyer is calling for Canada to implement a better system to deal with wrongful convictions.

"This is a familiar problem: people spending years in jail for crimes that didn't happen as a result of erroneous pathology," he told The Canadian Press.

He said Canada needs an independent tribunal to re-examine wrongful conviction claims such as one established in the U.K. eight years ago, which has since found more than 50 murder convictions were unjustified.

"All we have now is a sort of a piecemeal examination of a case here and case there primarily brought forward by our organization," said Lockyer.

"It's just not good enough."

'Murderer' didn't do it, experts say
Two pathologists say 4-year-old girl died in 1993 of natural causes

Lawyers make bid for release of uncle who is still behind bars after 12 years

William Mullins-Johnson has been in jail for the murder of his 4-year-old niece, Valin, for more than 12 years.

Regarded as "different" by family and friends, the 34-year-old Sault Ste. Marie man was convicted in 1994 by a jury that deliberated for six hours after hearing scientific evidence that convinced them Mullins-Johnson had sodomized and strangled his young niece in 1993.

Now, a top official in the Ontario chief coroner's office and an internationally renowned pathologist say the murder never happened and that Valin died of natural causes.

A legal brief prepared by Toronto-based Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) maintains virtually all of the pathologists and medical experts who testified at the trial got it wrong in some way or other, most notably Dr. Charles Smith, the former head of the pediatric forensic pathology unit at the Hospital for Sick Children, who said he found evidence of anal rape.

Lawyer James Lockyer, assisted by Toronto lawyer David Bayliss, prepared the brief to persuade federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to quash Mullins-Johnson's conviction on the basis that he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Mullins-Johnson still remembers with horror the day he was charged.

"It ripped my soul out - and right from the first allegation it destroyed my life," he said during an interview two weeks ago at Warkworth penitentiary. He remembers his niece as a perky child who was "very smart, very mischievous, very funny and very special to me."

Within days of his arrest, Mullins-Johnson was in a segregation cell at the Sault Ste. Marie jail where this giant of a man - 6-foot-5 and 260 pounds - could not eat.

"I had guys in other cells pounding on the wall beside me saying: 'You're going to f---ing die. We're going to cut your f---ing head off,'" he recalled. "If anybody would have got to me I wasn't in a position to defend myself. That's how much out of it I was."

For a dozen years, Mullins-Johnson, who will turn 35 on Thursday, has been able to keep going because of his innocence and his mother who stood by him and fought tirelessly for his release, even though it caused her to be shunned by her family.

"What gave me hope was mom. She would not let me give up," he said. "There were times when I literally wanted to slash my wrists and be done with this."

In his legal brief, Lockyer says: "This (Mullins-Johnson) case has all the hallmarks of his (Smith's) modus-operandi of finding murder where it does not exist."

Smith, who has been involved in several prominent cases where parents were charged with killing their children, resigned his position at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto on July 9, just weeks after Ontario's chief coroner ordered a review of all of the suspicious death cases Smith had handled since 1991, saying the review was necessary "to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice."

Smith was also identified with the case of Louise Reynolds of Kingston, who was accused in 1997 of killing her 7-year-old daughter. The charge was dropped after experts found she had been mauled by a pit bull.

In fact, Mullins-Johnson came close to losing his only opportunity to be exonerated when Smith misplaced the forensic materials from the original autopsy, which had been sent to him for an opinion. But earlier this year, officials dispatched by Chief Coroner Dr. Barry McLellan located the crucial materials on Smith's desk.

The brief, filed in court yesterday in support of Mullins-Johnson's release from prison pending Cotler's review, states that Dr. Michael Pollanen, a top pathologist in McLellan's office, analyzed the materials and concluded that Valin Johnson was neither sodomized or strangled - but died a sudden natural death. Pollanen's conclusions are supported by Dr. Bernard Knight, a Welsh pathologist.

The case began when Valin Johnson's parents found their daughter dead on her bed in their Sault Ste. Marie home around 7 a.m. on June 27, 1993. There was vomit around her mouth and on the bed.

'It ripped my soul out - and right from the first allegation it destroyed my life' -- William Mullins-Johnson, convicted of murdering his niece

The brief says that following an autopsy which began six hours later, local pathologist Dr. Bhubendra Rasaiah and others in attendance "quickly" concluded that Valin had been the victim of chronic abuse and had likely been strangled or smothered.

Their conclusions were later buttressed by Smith, who said he saw clear evidence - not detected by anyone present at the autopsy - that Valin died while being anally raped.

Suspicion immediately focused on Mullins-Johnson, Valin's uncle, who had been living in the home, because he had been babysitting Valin and her 3-year-old brother the previous evening from 7 p.m. until their mother returned home at 9:30 p.m. The mother did not check on Valin until the morning when she found her dead.

Mullins-Johnson was arrested at 6:30 p.m. that day, despite his outpourings of grief over Valin's death and ferocious protests of his innocence.

Kim Lariviere told the police at the time that "the children loved staying with Billy."

Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Stephen Borins would later rule, in a dissenting judgment, that "there was no suggestion that the appellant (Mullins-Johnson) had previously abused the deceased, sexually or otherwise, nor of any motive for the commission of any offence against her."

"He adored that girl and would never hurt her," said Laureena Hill, Mullins-Johnson's mother and Valin's grandmother, in an interview.

Prosecutors argued, based on Smith's finding of sodomy that Mullins-Johnson was guilty of first-degree murder - which is murder during the commission of a criminal offence.

Mullins-Johnson told the jury that when he put Valin to bed around 7.30 p.m., the last time he saw her alive, "She gave me a kiss and hug the way she always did, told ... told me she loved me and I told her I loved her and she went off to bed herself, and left me and John downstairs."

Although the Crown alleged that Mullins-Johnson had murdered Valin during an anal rape there was no evidence of any bodily substances being transferred between them, no semen was found anywhere on Valin or her pyjamas, and no DNA material from Valin was found on Mullins-Johnson's clothing.

But the jury took only six hours to convict Mullins-Johnson of first-degree murder after prosecutor Glen Wasyliniuk ended his jury address with the words, "she died when there were fresh bruises that indicated sexual assault, and she was killed by that man right there."

Years later, Pollanen would make short shrift of those "fresh bruises" on Valin's thighs and buttock, saying the presence of the two or three bruises could be explained by a number of possibilities including her learning to ride a bicycle.

Now, Mullins-Johnson is waiting for a hearing in Superior Court in Toronto on Thursday, on his application for bail pending the ministerial review.

If Cotler decides that there has been a miscarriage of justice he can nullify the conviction and either send the case to the Ontario Court of Appeal or order a new trial which Lockyer says would be the quicker and therefore preferable route.

In an interview at her home on the Rankin reserve in Sault Ste. Marie, Laureena Hill said her son "Billy" was doomed from the outset because people including Valin's parents, Kim Lariviere and Paul Johnson, were willing to believe he could be a killer because from his earliest days he was "different."

"He was six feet tall when he was 12 years old so they always expected him to behave like a man instead of a kid," she explained.

Hill said the reason her son was "different" was that when he was just 3½ months old he went partially blind and deaf from a swelling in his brain which may have influenced his development.

Today she wonders what will happen to "Billy" when he finally gets out of prison after all these years, and how a family that has been torn apart in so many ways can put itself together once again.

William Mullins-Johnson timeline

A convicted killer's quest for justice

June 27, 1993: Valin Johnson is found dead in her bed in her Sault. Ste. Marie home. At an autopsy later in the day, a pathologist concludes that she was sodomized and strangled. Valin's uncle William Mullins-Johnson, who babysat her the previous evening, is charged with first-degree murder.

Sept. 21, 1994: After deliberating for only six hours, the jury convicts Mullins-Johnson of first-degree murder. He's sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance for parole for 25 years.

Dec. 19, 1996: The Ontario Court of Appeal turns down Mullins-Johnson's appeal - but Justice Steven Borins issues a powerful dissent in which he notes there was no evidence that Mullins-Johnson had ever abused Valin, sexually or otherwise; there was no motive proven; and the scientific evidence of a recent sexual assault was flawed.

May 26, 1998: The Supreme Court of Canada turns down Mullins-Johnson's appeal.

June 18, 1998: Mullins-Johnson turns to the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted for help. "I honestly believe I will not win in this fight all by myself," he writes. ''I am asking for help because nobody is going to listen to a native convict convicted of a murder with sexual overtones in the case."

Dec. 28, 2001: Toronto lawyer David Bayliss, who took the case for AIDWYC, asks Ontario coroner's office to review work conducted by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith.

Feb. 27, 2003: Bayliss asks Crown lawyers for the forensic materials from the autopsy so they can be independently tested. When Smith, who received the items on June 22, 1994, does not respond to their letters, police are asked to look into their disappearance. The majority of the materials were not located until May 2005.

May 24, 2005: Dr. Michael Pollanen, a top official in the Ontario Chief Coroner's office, reports that Valin Johnson had never been sexually abused and died a natural death.

Sept. 8, 2005: Mullins-Johnson's application for a review of his case as a miscarriage of justice is filed with federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.

Sept. 11, 2005: Mullins-Johnson files papers in Superior Court for a hearing on Thursday in which he will be seeking release on bail pending the ministerial review.
COMPILED BY HAROLD LEVY
'Gentle boy' no murderer, uncle says
Businessman was 'shocked' at 1994 verdict'

Willing to risk all he owns to bail out imprisoned man

A Sault Ste. Marie businessman has offered to put up his entire fortune - worth an estimated $1.2 million - in support of his great nephew's application for bail pending a review of his nephew's case by Justice Minister Irwin Cotler.

Gordon Boissoneau has offered to be a surety for his nephew, William Mullins-Johnson, who has been in jail for more than 12 years for first-degree murder and could remain in prison for the rest of his life if Cotler turns down his application.

Mullins-Johnson was convicted in 1994 of strangling his 4-year-old niece, Valin, a conviction that has been called into question by two leading pathologists.

Boissoneau, in an affidavit filed in court for Mullins-Johnson's bail hearing, says that he followed the trial closely and was "shocked" at the verdict.

"I knew him to be a gentle boy and I had difficulty accepting that he was capable of killing, never mind one of his young relatives, all of whom he seemed to have a warm and healthy relationship with," says Boissoneau. "On the other hand, the police and the press stated that someone had raped and killed Valin; we really did not know what to think at this incredible stressful time for our extended family."

Yesterday, Boissoneau attended a news conference in Toronto at which lawyers for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted called on Attorney General Michael Bryant to agree to Mullins-Johnson's release from prison pending the review. Mullins-Johnson will appear in Superior Court tomorrow to set a date for a bail hearing.

Boissoneau's wealth is comprised of his family home, three other residential properties and a bus line business for school children.

"I understand I can lose part or all of any amount I commit to secure William's release," he says. "I have no doubt whatsoever that William will comply with all the conditions of his bail if he is released."

Mullins-Johnson's application is based on the independent findings of Dr. Michael Pollanen, a senior official in the Ontario Chief Coroner's office, supported by Dr. Bernard Knight, an internationally renowned pathologist. Their findings, which contradict forensic evidence called at the trial, state that Valin died of natural causes.

Pollanen found that markings on Valin's face, neck and chest and a hemorrhage inside her neck interpreted at the autopsy as being evidence of sexual abuse and manual strangulation were caused either by the pooling of blood after her death or by incisions made on her body during the autopsy.

Pollanen has offered five possible medical explanations for Valin's death - she was found dead in her bed at her family home on the morning of June 27, 1993 - ranging from failure of the muscular tissues of her heart to a genetic cause.

In his own affidavit, Mullins-Johnson says he was convicted of a crime that he did not commit and has never understood how he was convicted. He also vows not to violate the terms of his release.

"I have too much to lose (and) not just my freedom but also my hope for exoneration," he says. "I owe a lot to Dr. Pollanen in Toronto and Dr. Knight in Wales, neither of whom I have ever met.

"I will not let them, or my mother or my uncle or the Court, down."

Mullins-Johnson, who turns 35 tomorrow, says that he has largely kept to himself in prison over the past 12 years "because I knew that I would not want to associate with someone convicted of my crime."

He acknowledges that in 1989 when he was 18 he committed a "serious crime" with another man, was charged with robbery, pleaded guilty a short time later, and was sentenced to two years less a day in reformatory.

Mullins-Johnson also says in his affidavit that he has been "mostly incident free" since arriving in the penitentiary system, and that he has completed an Aboriginal Substance Abuse program "as I acknowledge that I drank too much and smoked too much marijuana before my institutionalization."

Mullins-Johnson is only the third person in Canadian history to apply for release from prison pending a ministerial review.

I PRAYED FOR THIS EVERY NIGHT - mother

TORONTO -- Laureena Hill has been waiting for her son, William Mullins-Johnson, to come home for more than 12 years. With that day now in sight, the thought of seeing him walk free sends a flood of tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Billie has been used so badly," she said at a news conference held by the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) yesterday. "For the longest time we believed he was innocent. And as a matter of fact, some family and friends have shunned me because they said all I ever did was talk about him. [I] couldn't stop talking about him."

Mr. Mullins-Johnson has spent more than 12 years in prison, convicted of the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece, Valin, but a new report by the province's chief pathologist says the child was never raped and likely died of natural causes.

"It's a prayer answered," Ms. Hill said. "I prayed for this every night for 12 years without fail.

Justice officials would not say whether they will oppose a bail application from Mr. Mullins-Johnson. But his lawyers urged the Ontario Attorney-General to heed a report from its coroner's office that says Mr. Mullins-Johnson is being held for a murder that never happened.

"I am worried that the Attorney-General of Ontario will react to this case the same way they've reacted to others, with a lack of urgency, a lack of concern and an inability to acknowledge the inevitable," AIDWYC director James Lockyer said.

"The Attorney-General should surely be considering urging the court to immediately release William because it is a senior official within their own ministry who is telling them that they have an innocent man in jail."

Michael Pollanen, Ontario's chief forensic pathologist, launched an investigation into the case last December after questions were raised about the methods of embattled pathologist Charles Smith, whose work in dozens of homicides and suspicious deaths is under review. Dr. Pollanen issued a preliminary report to the Crown in January, and a supplementary report was issued in May. But it may be months before Mr. Mullins-Johnson has a chance to clear his name.

With his appeals exhausted, his lawyers have applied to the federal Minister of Justice under Section 696 of the Criminal Code to quash the conviction and order a new trial.

Kerry Scullion, senior counsel in the criminal conviction review group, said it could be several months before their investigation is complete. In the meantime, Mr. Mullins-Johnson is seeking bail. A spokesman for Ontario's Attorney-General would not say whether the Crown will support the bail application, nor would he comment on why the information contained in Dr. Pollanen's report did not lead to action on their part.

"There are legal processes in place that are currently under way in connection with this matter," Brendan Crawley said.

"We respect both of these processes, i.e. the bail application and the Section 696 process, and will provide our position and our submissions in this matter in the proper forum, that being the court."

Dr. Pollanen concluded that Valin was not raped before she died. The enlarged anus that Dr. Smith and two other doctors cited as evidence of abuse was a natural occurrence that resulted from the relaxing of muscles after death, he said. And the genital bruising taken as evidence of abuse, as well as the bruising on the neck that led the doctors to conclude she was strangled or smothered, were the result of blood pooling in those areas after death.

"The case for the innocence of William Mullins-Johnson is so overwhelming that he really shouldn't be spending another day in jail," said his lawyer, David Bayliss, who is a member of AIDWYC.

Mr. Lockyer also called yesterday for a new kind of non-governmental tribunal or commission to oversee wrongful conviction claims, as has been done in Britain.

He said this would serve a function different from appeals courts and would provide a systematic outlet for cases such as Mr. Mullins-Johnson's.

"The role of the appeal courts is not to look into issues of factual innocence. They look into issues of whether the person received a fair trial, whether there were mistakes made in the way the trial was conducted, and at the end of the day you can have a completely fair trial but still be convicted of a crime you didn't commit."

A date for Mr. Mullins-Johnson's bail hearing will be set on tomorrow.

YET ANOTHER TRAVESTY

To be sentenced to life in prison for a rape and murder that never happened is no ordinary wrongful conviction. This is the horror that befell William Mullins-Johnson of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., who has been in jail for the past 12 years. His conviction speaks to the surprising frailty of the presumption of innocence in Canadian justice. That presumption could not survive the testimony of a pathologist whose work is now considered suspect. Charles Smith was, for nearly 20 years, the leading expert on child deaths in Ontario.

Mr. Mullins-Johnson, then 22, had been babysitting his four-year-old niece Valin Johnson one evening until 9:30. At 7 in the morning, her mother found her lying dead in her bed. There was vomit on the bed and floor. An autopsy found a large opening in the rectum and bruising around the vagina. One pathologist with no experience in forensics put the time of death between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Then it was the turn of Dr. Smith, a pediatric forensic pathologist and a member of a five-member autopsy team from the provincial coroner's office. He said the injury to her rectum was caused by a blunt, round object within minutes of her death.

Yet there was no semen found, nor was any of the girl's DNA found on Mr. Mullins-Johnson, who is aboriginal. Where was the reasonable doubt? The girl had been ill with a fever for two days and an independent pathologist's review has now found that the time of death was uncertain, that she may have died of natural causes, and that Dr. Smith's devastating findings of acute trauma to the rectum were plain wrong.

Dr. Smith is no longer investigating children's deaths. Five years ago, a criminologist who reviewed 25 infant autopsies handled by Dr. Smith discovered that he made a finding of foul play in every case. Based on one of his reports, a mother in Kingston spent two years in jail awaiting trial on a charge of using a scissors to murder her seven-year-old daughter. It later emerged that her daughter had been killed by a pit bull. The Chief Coroner's Office is overseeing an inquiry into 40 homicide and suspicious-death cases Dr. Smith was involved in since 1991.

The outrageous conviction of Mr. Mullins-Johnson for a killing that never happened is a reminder of the fallibility of public officials, even medical experts, and of the frailty of the supposed checks and balances within coroners' and Crown attorneys' offices. Too many took too much on faith, ignored red flags, and in the end, devalued the presumption of innocence.

Evidence of another wrongful murder conviction sparks call for new process

TORONTO (CP) - The dozen years an Ontario man has languished in jail after being convicted of raping and killing a four-year-old girl is just one more painful reason Canada needs a better system to deal with wrongful convictions, his supporters said Tuesday.

They also called on Ontario's attorney general to agree that Bill Mullins-Johnson should get bail while Ottawa decides how to deal with what they say is the latest name on a long list of miscarriages of justice.

"Once again we have a man who's spent a lot of time in jail - 12 1/2 years in his case - not just for a crime he didn't commit, but for a crime that never happened," said lawyer James Lockyer, director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.

"This is a familiar problem: people spending years in jail for crimes that didn't happen as a result of erroneous pathology."

Mullins-Johnson, 34, of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was convicted of first-degree murder in 1994 for sodomizing and strangling his four-year-old niece Valin Johnson in June 1993.

The conviction was based on what his backers call a "rush to judgment" by pathologists, who testified Valin had been chronically sexually abused and strangled or smothered.

Their findings were backed up by Dr. Charles Smith, a controversial Toronto pathologist whose conclusions in dozens of child deaths are currently under review.

Smith told Mullins-Johnson's trial there was clear evidence Valin was killed while being anally raped, something no one who did the actual autopsy had detected.

Nor was there any semen or other DNA evidence to support that finding.

Now, Dr. Michael Pollanen, a top pathologist with Ontario's coroner's office, and a British expert, have both concluded Valin was neither abused, sodomized nor strangled.

In fact, they believe she died of natural causes.

Lockyer wants federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler to quash the conviction and order a new trial or, at the very least, refer it back to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General refused to discuss whether the province would oppose bail.

Association lawyer David Bayliss called the case another example of the perils of scientific evidence.

"Science can redeem you in some cases," said Bayliss.

"But poor science can also condemn you, and poor science is what condemned Mr. Mullins-Johnson."

Laureena Hill, who has fought tirelessly for her son's release, sobbed as she discussed her long struggle.

"It started out such a good day and I can't seem to quit crying," she said.

"Billy has been used so badly. He never would have done that. It's not in his character "

Ron Dalton, who spent more than eight years in jail for killing his wife even though she had choked on cereal, flew in from St. John's, N.L., Tuesday to "share the family's pain" but said he was also angry.

"It's very upsetting after the number of wrongful convictions that have happened in this country," Dalton said.

"The list is getting very long."

Lockyer said Canada needs an independent tribunal to review claims of wrongful convictions such as one set up in the U.K. eight years ago.

It has already found more than 50 murder convictions were unjustified.

"All we have now is a sort of a piecemeal examination of a case here and case there primarily brought forward by our organization," said Lockyer. "It's just not good enough."

Lockyer said Ontario has been "the worst province" when it comes to dealing with such cases and that promises made after the notorious wrongful murder prosecution of Guy Paul Morin have gone unkept.

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Engineered Conviction. 4-year-old niece of Mullins-Johnson died of natural causes. There was never a crime committed

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The article discusses the exoneration of a man, Mullins-Johnson, who was wrongfully convicted of raping and murdering a child. The article details the testimony of forensic pathologists and the Crown prosecutor, who agreed that there was a miscarriage of justice. The man received a full apology from the Ontario Attorney General.

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Mullins-Johnson Found Not Guilty After Day Of Gut-Wrenching Appeals Testimony | CityNews Toronto

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Sometimes the wheels of justice grind slowly. Sometimes, they move with lightning speed. Both apply to the incredibly tragic case of William Mullins-Johnson. The Sault Ste. Marie native who spent 12…

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A small summary of this article; William Mullins-Johnson, a native of Sault Ste. Marie who was convicted of killing his niece and served 12 years in prison, was declared not guilty. The case began in 1993, when the distraught relatives of four-year-old Valin Johnson found her dead. Her physical assault and strangulation were inferred from forensic evidence, which resulted in a first-degree murder conviction. Mullins-Johnson was freed in 2005 following an appeal following questions about the government-employed pathologist's evidence. Which Mullins-Johnson described in his heartbreaking testimony on Monday the awful morning he heard his niece Kim yelling and sobbing.

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The Ontario government and three top judges offered an extraordinary round of profuse apologies yesterday to a 37-year-old aboriginal man - William Mullins-Johnson - moments after he was acquitted of the 1993 murder of his four-year-old niece, Valin.

However, it wasn't enough for Mr. Mullins-Johnson who insisted that only a declaration of utter innocence can truly clear his name and allow him to return to his Northern Ontario reserve where many still believe him to be a child killer.

While the Crown resisted Mr. Mullins-Johnson's attempt to win a historical first - a verdict that would go beyond a mere acquittal and establish actual innocence - it conceded that the evidence used to convict him was worthless.

"There can be no doubt that this miscarriage of justice has exacted a terrible toll on Mr. Mullins-Johnson, his mother and his entire family," prosecutor Michal Fairburn said.

"For this, we are truly, profoundly sorry."

The apologies capped an emotionally wrenching day in which Mr. Mullins-Johnson broke down repeatedly as he described the day of Valin's death, and how the tragedy split his extended family and kept him behind bars for 12 years.

"My life got sucked right out of me," Mr. Mullins-Johnson testified haltingly. "I went into hysterics. ... It ruined my name. It ruined my reputation. I thought I was going to a federal penitentiary to die. To be honest, I expected to get my throat cut."

The case began to fall apart five years ago, when international experts contradicted disgraced pathologist Charles Smith's finding that Valin was sexually violated and murdered several hours before her body was discovered on June 27, 1993.

At the time, Mr. Mullins-Johnson was living with his brother, Paul, and his sister-in-law, Kim, in their home on the reserve near Sault Ste. Marie. The previous night, he had babysat their three children, giving Valin an affectionate hug as she settled into her bed for the night.

Weeping, Mr. Mullins-Johnson recounted his sister-in-law's horror when she discovered the next morning that Valin was dead. He described his brother's frantic efforts to roll Valin - her body rigid with rigor mortis - over onto her back so that he could administer CPR.

Within 11 hours, police had arrested Mr. Mullins-Johnson and carted him off for a nightmarish interrogation session. "They kept screaming at me that they had evidence that I did this and that," Mr. Mullins-Johnson recalled. "With every accusation, I responded: 'I didn't do it.' "

His horrified extended family "closed ranks on me," Mr. Mullins-Johnson testified. He said that since he, too, trusted the experts, he came to believe privately that his brother might have killed his daughter.

(The two men are estranged. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr. Mullins-Johnson said: "I would tell Paul that nobody hurt your little girl. We have suffered enough. It is a point where we have to heal now.")

In prison, Mr. Mullins-Johnson kept to himself. He sought refuge in learning about aboriginal culture and he waited patiently in the hope that lawyers from the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted would review and tear apart his conviction.

On Sept. 21, 2005 - precisely 11 years after his conviction - Mr. Mullins-Johnson was released on bail to await yesterday's Court of Appeal hearing.

AIDWYC lawyer James Lockyer told the court yesterday that Dr. Smith's shoddy work launched an "extraordinary rush to judgment" by authorities that ignored simple logic and a complete dearth of any physical evidence of a sexual assault.

"There was no stopping the train," he said. "It had left the station."

Urging the court to declare his client "factually" innocent, Mr. Lockyer said that nothing short of such a finding will convince the doubters in Mr. Mullins-Johnson's community. "It shouldn't need a public inquiry to restore his name, if this court believes that Mr. Mullins-Johnson is innocent," Mr. Lockyer said. "This is a request to not leave Mr. Mullins-Johnson in limbo."

But Ms. Fairburn and co-counsel Ken Campbell warned that it would be a grave mistake to create a new verdict that would "debase" any not-guilty finding and relegate it to second-place status.

"We may never know [how Valin died]," Ms. Fairburn said. "But what we do know - and it is critically important to today's case - is that there was no evidence of homicide."

The court reserved its written reasons yesterday. Before adjourning, Associate Chief Justice Dennis O'Connor told Mr. Mullins-Johnson - on behalf of Mr. Justice Marc Rosenberg and Mr. Justice Robert Sharpe - "it is regrettable that as a result of flawed evidence, you were wrongly convicted and you spent a long period in custody."

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Reinterpreting the facts
Anatomical evidence that led to William Mullins-Johnson's conviction for the murder of his four-year-old niece, Valin, was a tragic misinterpretation, Ontario's top pathologist testified yesterday.

Michael Pollanen said that two crucial autopsy observations led to the murder charge and conviction - a dilated anus, which was interpreted as a sign of a sexual assault; and bleeding in blood vessels of Valin's neck, which suggested that she had been strangled.

In fact, both were normal biological events that can be expected to take place when a child dies and is found lying face down, said Dr. Pollanen, Ontario's chief forensic pathologist.

He said that a child's anus will often dilate after death, and that blood responds to gravity after death and pools at the lowest point, often creating an appearance of bruising or compression.

Dr. Pollanen said that disgraced pathologist Charles Smith made another suspicious - but mistaken - observation when he conducted an autopsy on Valin's body in 1993: a laceration to her anus. In reality, he said, the laceration was caused when portions of her body were sectioned in preparation for the autopsy.

"The cause of death is unascertainable in this case," Dr. Pollanen said.

Crown counsel Michal Fairburn asked: "Essentially, we have a young girl who died suddenly and inexplicably, and any pathological attempt to explain her death would be mere speculation?"

"In my view ... a pathologist should resist any speculative guesses at the cause of death," Dr. Pollanen agreed.

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Formal acquittal not enough for tearful Mullins-Johnson

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The Globe and Mail offers the most authoritative news in Canada, featuring national and international news

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This video is very similar to a documentary which just talks about everything you would need to know about Williams Mullins-Johnson.

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William Mullins-Johnson wrongful conviction : A Death in the Family (2009) - The Fifth Estate

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This photo is from an article that has other wrongfully convicted offenders who have been locked up for crimes that didn't commit

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In this photo Williams is posing for an article to explain how he feels more accepted into society again William Mullins-Johnson is no longer required to remain hidden. He took center stage at a Queen's Park press conference to draw attention to the coroner, who played a key role in his 12-year prison sentence after he was falsely convicted of Valin Johnson's first-degree murder, his 4-year-old niece. Softly speaking, Mullins-Johnson turned to face the cameras and remarked, "I was put into an environment where I had to hide a lot."

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In this video Williams Mullins-Johnson talks about his experience getting convicted of a crime he didn't do and also the fact that he also had to deal with the death of his 4 year-old Niece Valin Johnson. He also speaks of the efforts of the police and investigation industry as they have not done there job properly.

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William Mullins-Johnson: A Terrible Miscarriage of Justice - January 15, 2010

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A summary of this photo= within the article. On the evening of June 26, 1993, Bill Mullins-Johnson cared for his four-year-old niece, Valin. The next morning, Valin was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead. Authorities charged Bill with murder and sexual assault based on a pediatrician's claim of signs of repeated sexual assaults and a pathologist's conclusion of strangulation. At the trial, expert testimony led to Bill's conviction and a life sentence. The family was devastated, with Bill's brother Paul harboring contempt. Despite Bill's appeals to the Supreme Court, he remained imprisoned. Innocence Canada took on his case, and after 11 years, he was finally freed, having maintained his innocence throughout.

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Very bad Qua.lityu but help to understand willaims mindset anout the whole situastion from crime to getting locked up.

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APA links are at the bottom