On August 9, 1967 Leopold Roy was stabbed to death by an unknown assailant. His wife who found him laying in his blood told police that she saw the suspect and provided them with a description which led to Romeo and his twin brother Donald being brought into a lineup. Donald had an alibi which clears him, but Mildred, Leopold’s wife later told police that she wasn’t 100% positive that Romeo was the assailant so he was released. Years have gone by since the murder when Romeo is arrested on unrelated charges and while being questioned by Detectives, he was misled to believe that his lover Neil had told the police information that Romeo was bragging to him about. Based on that information, Romeo confessed to the murder, but later recanted. Despite professing his innocence, the Crown believed that they had enough evidence to convict and on November 7, 1972, Romeo Phillion was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of Parole for 10 years. Romeo remained in prison with no hopes of being released until on day in 1998 when his parole officer gave him an envelope containing police reports from his Corrections Canada file. An envelope that would change Romeo’s prison life as he knew it; there was a report prepared by the investigating officer, Detective McCombie on April 12, 1968, that would provide Romeo with an alibi at the of the murder.  

 

On page 98 in chapter 4 in the McGraw Hill Connect, it’s referring to Wrongful Conviction. The chapter starts by stating, “Perhaps the greatest challenge that faces the criminal justice system is the prospect of the wrongful conviction of innocent defendants.” Out of the six contributing factors listed, we believe only three may apply to Romeo’s case. The contributing factors are:

2.    Mistaken eyewitness testimony;

3.    False confessions;