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WRONGFULLY CONVICTED- THE CASE OF Leighton Hay

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WRONGFULLY CONVICTED- THE CASE OF Leighton Hay

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This is a photo of Leighton Hay after he was given a sentencing of 12 years for a murder he did not commit.

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Video taken 7 years ago on CBC.ca stating the wrongly conviction of Leighton Hay. Lawyer of Wrongfully Convicted Leighton Hay speaks out.

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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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Innocence Canada states the information of what has happened the night of Leighton Hay's arrest. The night where Leighton would have his life changed forever. A nightmare he wish he could take back.

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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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Picture of Leighton Hay standing next to his Lawyer James Lockyer standing outside the University Avenue Courthouse in Toronto on 11/28/2014.

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Picture of Leighton Hay standing next to his Lawyer James Lockyer standing outside the University Avenue Courthouse in Toronto on 11/28/2014.

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19 year old man who was wrongfully convicted of Toronto murder that took place on July 5, 2002 speaks out with his lawyer about the freedom he now has after serving 12 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. The trauma he has received after spending time in jail and being able to be free and finding light after a dark tunnel.

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31 Year old, residence of Mississauga living a nightmare of the past 12-and-a-half years.

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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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Judge apologizes for the sentencing of Leighton Hay.

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Judge apologizes for the sentencing of Leighton Hay.

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Justice John McMahan apologized as Hay was released. Nothing I can say will bring back 12 years. "I apologize for the fact that it has taken this long for the justice system to get it right. I hope you have a long and fulfilling life," McMahon said to Hay, who then left the courthouse with his family without speaking to reporters". This website link has relevance to this case because it shows what the wrongly convicted person, Mr. Hay has to say about his incarceration.

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Leighton Hay, a Toronto-area man who has spent 12 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit, has been released from custody after Crown prosecutors decided to withdraw murder charges against him.

One year after the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial for Hay because of fresh forensic evidence, the Crown announced Friday it had dropped charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder against Hay.

Justice John McMahon apologized as Hay was released.

"Nothing I can say will bring back 12 years. I apologize for the fact that it has taken this long for the justice system to get it right. I hope you have a long and fulfilling life," McMahon said to Hay, who then left the courthouse with his family without speaking to reporters.

Hay, now 31, was handed a life sentence in 2004, after being convicted of the murder of Colin Moore, 51, a prominent member of the Toronto Guyanese community.

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

The Crown alleged at trial that Hay had acted as an accomplice to Gary Eunick. Eunick shot Moore eight times after he and his brother, Roger, refused to pay a cover charge to enter the nightclub and then sought shelter in its kitchen.

While Eunick's identity was never in doubt, Hay was convicted in part through hair samples.

The Crown argued Hay had gone home and shaved his head to prevent investigators from identifying him. They pointed to hair found in a newspaper in his bathroom garbage, as well as in a electric razor on his nightstand.

But Hay's lawyers conducted their own tests, and obtained the opinion of experts who said the samples were facial hair, not hair from the scalp.

Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial for Hay after reviewing the fresh evidence concerning the hair.

Hay was also convicted based on the testimony of one witness whose reliability was later called into question.

Hay's lawyer, James Lockyer of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, noted that the justice system is now realizing eyewitness testimony can be notoriously unreliable.

"This is a case of how mistaken eyewitness identification can lead to miscarriages of justice," Lockyer told reporters outside the court Friday.

"There's been a lot of those in Canada and other jurisdictions, and I just wish the court would better recognize the dangers that exist in eyewitness identification."

Hay, who has schizophrenia, spent most of his incarceration in the psychiatric wings of two Canadian penitentiaries.

His father told reporters that he always knew this day would come, and said he was grateful to his son's lawyers, the Supreme Court and Justice McMahon.

"The judge apologized for all the mistakes that they made and that was good. I'm happy," he said.

With files from The Canadian Press

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Leighton Hay walks out of a Toronto court, Friday, Nov. 28, 2014.

A lawyer for Leighton Hay speaks to the press outside a Toronto courtroom on Friday, Nov. 28, 2014

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Leighton Hay freed after 12 years behind bars

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Leighton Hay, a Toronto-area man who has spent 12 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit, has been released from custody after Crown prosecutors decided to withdraw murder charges against him.

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Lawyer James Lockyer speaks out about the freedom of Mr. Hay.

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Lawyer James Lockyer speaks out about the freedom of Mr. Hay.

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James Lockyer opens up about the hardest fight he had to put up with the Court system to find justice in his client Mr. Hays. The Criminal Lawyer says "his mental health is not 100% he has been diagnosed with Schizophrenic". This picture is a picture of Mr. James Lockyer, criminal lawyer of Mr. Leighton Hay.

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Wrongly Convicted person leaves Toronto Courtroom after murder charge dropped.

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Wrongly Convicted person leaves Toronto Courtroom after murder charge dropped.

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The Crown has dropped a murder charge against Leighton Hay of Toronto, who was serving a life sentence for killing Colin Moore, 51, in July 2002. He is seen leaving the University Avenue courtroom with his father Lascelles Hay.

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Leighton Hay leaves Toronto courtroom after murder charges dropped - CityNews Toronto

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The Crown has dropped a murder charge against Leighton Hay of Toronto, who was serving a life sentence for killing Colin Moore, 51, in July 2002. He is seen leaving the University Avenue courtroom with his father Lascelles Hay.

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R. v. Hay - Supreme Court of Canada Case. Decision, appeal and case summary.

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This page contains a form to search the Supreme Court of Canada case information database. You can search by the SCC 5-digit case number, by name or word in the style of cause, or by file number from the appeal court.

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Witnesses from a nightclub described a second gunman as carrying “two in. picky dreads” — longer hair than what Hay had during a time.

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Witnesses from a nightclub described a second gunman as carrying “two in. picky dreads” — longer hair than what Hay had during a time.

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From the Canada Times:

The charges opposite Leighton Hay, a Toronto male convicted of an execution-style murder in 2002, were cold this morning and he walked out of probity a giveaway male after some-more than 12 years in prison.

The Crown said it is no longer in a open seductiveness to pursue a case.

Hay, 19 during a time, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the July 2002 murdering of 51-year-old Colin Moore. But he appealed based on debate contrast on hairs found in his apartment.

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

"Leighton has been by a calamity for all these years," pronounced James Lockyer, a association's comparison counsel, who pronounced before Hay was expelled that his "walk into leisure today" would be "momentous for him."

"This was a miscarriage of probity of a top order," Lockyer added.

Hay's lawyers have asked Justice John McMahon to apologize on interest of a probity system.

Hair Justification Pivotal To Case

On Jul 6, 2002, Moore was hosting an eventuality during a nightclub in a Toronto suburb of Etobicoke. At 1:13 a.m. ET, dual group armed with handguns stormed into a nightclub, and shot and killed Moore.

Police identified one of a gunmen as Gary Eunick.

Eunick had borrowed a automobile of Hay's mom and was pushing it a night in question, according to police.

When military found a automobile during Hay's home, they arrested both Eunick and Hay.

Witnesses from a nightclub described a second gunman as carrying "two in. picky dreads" - longer hair than what Hay had during a time.

The Crown argued during his strange hearing in 2004 that Hay returned home after a sharpened and had a haircut.

The military searched for justification of a haircut during Hay's home, and found some really brief hairs in a journal in a rubbish bin and on an electric razor in his bedroom.

Hay's lawyers presented justification during a interest - a second interest on a crime - that questioned either Hay indeed got a haircut.

Hay's lawyers also highlighted one declare who identified Hay with "80 per cent" certainty as a gunman during a nightclub. Two weeks later, the same declare did not name Hay's print in a lineup.

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From the Canada Times: The charges opposite Leighton Hay, a Toronto male convicted of an execution-style murder in 2002, were cold this morning and he walked out of probity a giveaway male after some-more than 12 years in prison. The Crown said it is no longer in a open seductiveness to pursue a case.