THE TRIALS of STEVEN TRUSCOTT Introduction
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THE TRIALS OF STEVEN TRUSCOTT Introduction The acquittal of Steven Truscott, With public sympathy more and more Focus On August more than 48 years after his trial and on his side, Steven Truscott himself 28, 2007, the conviction for murder, resolved one stepped back into the limelight. With Ontario Court of of Canada’s lengthiest miscarriages the aid of lawyer James Lockyer and Appeal (www. of justice. In 1959, at the age of 14, other members of the Association in ontariocourts. Truscott was convicted of the rape and Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, on.ca/appeal.htm) murder of a 12-year-old girl. Following Truscott filed an official request with the overturned the a brief trial, he was sentenced to be Justice Minister for a review of his case. 1959 conviction of Steven Truscott hanged—a sentence that made him the Following an official inquiry, the Justice for the murder of youngest person ever to be sentenced for Minister referred the case to the Ontario 12-year-old Lynn execution by a Canadian court. Court of Appeal. It took nearly six years Harper. News in Truscott’s sentence was commuted from the filing of his request, but Steven Review looks back to life imprisonment, and he served 10 Truscott finally won his day in court. at the original years before being paroled. Following The appeal resulted in Truscott’s trial and Truscott’s lengthy battle to his release, he assumed a new name acquittal and a vindication for all those clear his name, and lived, worked, and raised a family who had supported him over the years. and at some of the in Guelph, Ontario. But Truscott never The only sour note was the court’s people who helped stopped protesting his innocence in inability to declare him “factually him in that battle. the murder of Lynne Harper. While innocent.” In other words, while the We also look at maintaining his anonymity, he continued court found that the evidence available the implications of to work to clear his name. was certainly insufficient to convict him, the court’s decision in recognizing Truscott had several defenders, and it did not prove that he did not, after all, Truscott’s wrongful they ensured that the Truscott story commit the crime. conviction. remained in the public eye over the The Ontario government was quick years. The first book in his defence, to issue an apology. Attorney General Isabel LeBourdais’ The Trial of Stephen Michael Bryant announced: “For that Further Research Truscott, appeared in 1966. It was miscarriage of justice, on behalf of the To learn more instrumental in pushing the federal government, I am truly sorry. It is a about other cases government to ask the Supreme Court decision that will not be appealed by being pursued by to review the Truscott trial. The most the Crown—it is over” (Toronto Star, the Association recent book, Julian Sher’s Until You August 29, 2007). He also announced in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted Are Dead (2001), followed after a CBC that the government would be looking the go to its documentary that criticized the conduct into providing Truscott with financial official Web site at of officials at the time of the trial in 1959. compensation. www.aidwyc.org. That documentary led to a huge A Toronto Star editorial (August outpouring of support for Truscott and 29, 2007) summed up the meaning to a pledge by Justice Minister Ann of the Truscott case for Canadians. MacLennan to review any allegations “The judgment . brings to a close a of wrongful conviction that Truscott’s disturbing chapter in Canada’s history lawyers brought to the government. By that shows once again how fallible our this time, several prominent cases of justice system can be. Truscott now wrongful conviction had already been in joins David Milgaard, Donald Marshall, the headlines, and it seemed increasingly Guy Paul Morin, James Driskell, likely that Truscott’s case was another Thomas Sophonow, and others whose example. convictions have been overturned, CBC News in Review • October 2007 • Page 19 sometimes years after the fact, as lessons miscarriages of justice. The Truscott to police, lawyers, and judges that they case is the best answer to those who still must always remain vigilant against advocate the death penalty.” To Consider 1. Of what crime was Steven Trustcott accused when he was 14 years old? 2. Who was instrumental in helping Trustcott clear his name? 3. What was the final decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal? 4. What actions did the Attorney General of Ontario take? 5. On August 28, 2007, Tim Shufelt wrote in The Globe and Mail: “There is no official avenue in the Canadian legal system to declare Mr. Truscott, or anyone else before the courts, innocent. The closest verdict is an acquittal, meaning guilt could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but not necessarily that innocence was proven.” The decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal reflects this fact. Do you believe this will result in any lingering doubts as to the innocence of Steven Truscott? 6. How much confidence do you have in the Canadian legal system? Explain. CBC News in Review • October 2007 • Page 20 THE TRIALS OF STEVEN TRUSCOTT Video Review Answer the questions in the spaces provided. Quote “They finally got it 1. How many years did it take to clear Steven Truscott? ___________ right after all these years. I’m so used 2. How old was Truscott when he was convicted in 1959? ___________ to fighting. Now we don’t have to 3. How old was Lynne Harper, the murder victim? ___________ fight anymore.” — Steven Truscott in 4. What sentence did Truscott first receive? the Toronto Star, August 29, 2007 5. When was he released from prison? ___________ 6. In what year did the federal justice minister order a court review of Truscott’s case? ___________ 7. When was Truscott finally cleared by the Ontario Court of Appeal? _______ 8. Who is James Lockyer? 9. How long did it take Isabel LeBourdais to get her book into print? ________ 10. Where was her book first published? ___________________________________ 11. What did the book call for the government to do to address the injustice to Truscott? 12. How did the Supreme Court of Canada rule in its review of the Truscott case? 13. Did Isabel LeBourdais get to celebrate Truscott’s victory with him? CBC News in Review • October 2007 • Page 21 THE TRIALS OF STEVEN TRUSCOTT The Crime The crime of which Steven Truscott sticker on it. That, he said, was the last Further Research was accused shocked the small town of he saw of her that evening. Read more about the Steven Truscott Clinton, Ontario, and his trial attracted trial at www. attention across Canada. The Evidence cbc.ca/news/ The evidence on which Truscott was background/ The Murder convicted was almost all circumstantial, truscott/index. The victim, 12-year-old Lynne Harper, and the bulk of it has been discredited html. lived on a nearby base where her father in the years since the trial. The most was in military service. She was last seen damning evidence was medical, provided Did you know . alive on the evening of June 9, 1959. by John Penistan, the doctor who According to At that time she was seen riding on the examined Lynne Harper’s body and Julian Sher, author crossbars of a classmate’s bicycle. That performed her autopsy. of Until You Are classmate was Steven Truscott, a 14- Penistan, analyzing the contents of Dead, police have year-old who was in the same combined her stomach, claimed to be able to place subsequently grade 7-8 class on the base. Her father the time of death between 7:00 and 7:45 looked into 10 to 15 “persons reported her missing late that same night. p.m.—precisely the time when she was of interest” since Her partially nude body was found with Steven Truscott. Pathologists now doubts were raised by searchers two days later in a local are in agreement that stomach contents about Truscott’s woodlot called Lawson’s Bush. She had cannot be used to pinpoint time of death guilt (The Globe been raped and strangled with the blouse with that amount of accuracy. and Mail, August she had been wearing. A second doctor, David Brooks, 29, 2007). examined Truscott and testified that he The Accused found lesions on his genitals that were From the beginning of their likely caused by raping Lynne Harper— Did you know . Penistan himself investigation, the police focused on “. a very inexpert attempt at later wrote a paper Steven Truscott as the chief suspect. He penetration” (The Globe and Mail, that he called was interrogated several times, once February 7, 2007). It is now clear, an “agonizing without either of his parents present. however, that the lesions were instead reappraisal” of his He was never warned that anything he caused by a skin condition. In 2002, Brooks evidence at the said might be used as evidence against himself told investigators reviewing the trial, questioning him. No one suggested that his family case that some parts of his testimony were its accuracy. This was forwarded might wish to hire a lawyer. On July 11 “absolute garbage.” (Ibid.) to the lead police he was taken into custody for further Witness testimony from two children inspector. The questioning. At 2:30 a.m. on the 12th who have subsequently been branded as document was he was charged with murder. No other liars was also important in convicting not given to suspect was ever seriously investigated Steven Truscott.