Steven Truscott: Miscarriage of Justice

Canadian Criminals are a major part of Canadian society. In our country if you were not the direct victim of a crime you tend to forget the members of society that take pleasure in causing societies grief. As in the case of James Hutchinson and Richard Ambrose, whose crimes were committed in December of 1974.1 They were convicted of killing two Moncton City Police officers. Today, years after the murders were committed Ambrose and Hutchinson are still the center of a major controversy that has plagued our parole system. In order to fully understand the controversy that Ambrose and Hutchinson posses you must look at the

The Fells Acres Case was set against the backdrop of many other child sex abuse scandals that had caused mass hysteria across the nation. As a result of what was considered to be a newly found epidemic (child sexual abuse), members of the court were influenced by convictions in other cases, leading to influence on the Fells Acres Case before it even went to trial. Emotional appeal heavily influenced the verdicts within the Fells Acres Case as a result of personal bias influenced from the media. The moral reactions of the prosecution and other members of the court resulted in the preconceived notion of the verdict before the trial began: that the Amiraults were guilty on all counts. Those of the prosecution approached the case with their own perspective; their opinion reflected their own practices and beliefs, thus causing the outcome to validate what they were originally looking for: a guilty verdict. The criticism Rabinowitz portrays explains how the mindset of the prosecutors disregards all of the facts leading to a just verdict and instead promotes finality. As a result, in the Fells Acres Case Justice Elizabeth Dolan allowed the testifying children to face away from the accused in hopes to create a less intimidating environment. As a product of Dolan’s emotional agenda, the justice had violated The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights that requires the accuser to face the accused. Furthermore, resulting from moral reactions, prosecutors and judges ignore the plasticity of children and their memories as well as the impact such plasticity’s have on the

Thomas Sophonow is a Canadian who was wrongfully convicted of murder and whose case was the subject of a major judicial inquiry

Christopher was identified in a crime line-up and two of the women-mother and sister of the rape victim was in court and identified Coleman as the offender. They didn’t find any physical evidence to show that Coleman committed this crime. The victim's mother told the prosecutor that she had know Coleman years earlier and she had not seen him recently, but recognized his voice and distinctive walk. Another sister told the court that she knew Christopher by the nickname “Fat” and that he had removed his mask during the crime when it was occurring. Nevertheless, these women had identified Coleman to responding during the grand jury hearing, and the other sister had incorrectly identified at least two other alleged

Innocent until proven guilty is a phrase that applies to our judicial system in modern times; however, when the play Doubt by John Patrick Stanley was written this phrase did not always apply. The play is a parable that makes you think about how gossip and rumors can cause havoc and potentially ruin someone’s career. In the play the rumors that are flying are rumors about whether or not Father Flynn is innocent or guilty to the crime of molesting a young boy named Donald Muller. Critics still argue whether he was innocent or guilty to the crime today, and no answer is known. However, based on the evidence in Patrick Shanley’s play Doubt: A Parable, one could conclude that Father Flynn is innocent due to the fact that he had reasonable evidence

In a small southwestern Ontario town of Clinton, Canada, associating with Royal Canadian Air Force base where everyone lived close around the section - including a young, 14-year-old boy named Steven Murray Truscott, a popular, athletic teenager who lived with his parents on the RCAF base. His father, Daniel Truscott, was an RCAF warrant officer and his mother, Doris Truscott, who did not have a job, she only devoted her time looking after their family of 6. In June 1959 after a fellow classmate, Lynne Harper was found dead and raped, Steven Truscott was found to be the only suspect by evidence so he became convicted of first-degree murder. He would soon known to be Canada's youngest death-row inmate, sentenced to be hung months after the murder, at age 14. It

Throughout history, there have been countless malicious and monstrous crimes that have left a lasting impression on society and it’s faith in mankind. The case of Casey Anthony and the 2008 murder of her 2 year old daughter, Caylee, is no exception. Due to the massive publicity and media attention surrounding this case, the trial was known worldwide and created such controversy that an unbiased eye was difficulty to be found. Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, went on trial on May 22, 2011 for her child’s murder. “After over 400 pieces of evidence, 33 days of testimony, and more than 90 witnesses in this trial, the jury reached a verdict of not guilty of First Degree murder.”…………… In addition, she was also found not guilty

On June 9, 1959 Lynne Harper disappeared; her body was found 2 days later, and she had been raped and strangled. On the 9th, Truscott gave Harper a ride on the crossbar of his bicycle, and in court the crown prosecutor asserted that Truscott and Harper left the county road, and in a wooded area, Truscott raped Lynne. Truscott maintained that he took her to the intersection of the County Road and Highway 8, where he left

In R. v. Gladue, the Supreme Court of Canada addressed the issue of proper interpretation of s. 718.2(3) for the first time. The accused was an Aboriginal women charged with second-degree murder for the killing her common-law husband. Gladue’s defence counsel did not raise that she was an Aboriginal offender in his submissions on sentence at trial and she was sentenced to three years imprisonment and a ten-month weapon prohibition. Gladue appealed her sentence to the British Columbia Court of Appeal, and again to the Supreme Court of Canada in December 1998. Although her appeal was dismissed again, the Court went to provide a framework for interpreting s. 718.2(e). In this case, it was determined that the Court was required to consider all reasonable alternatives to imprisonment for all offenders with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders generally and not only to those living on the reserves. In particular, there needs to be more emphasis on restorative justice, where community members and the victim will also be involved in the process. The Court is allowed to take into account prior findings of guilt when determining the appropriate sentences and in some offences prior guilt will create a higher minimum sentence, which the Court

Have you ever or anyone you care and love for ever been wrongfully convicted of a crime? The reasonable person would only find it natural to fight tooth and nail to prove their innocence, they would make sure that the state has their I's dotted and their t's crossed. Well imagine how 17 year old Ronnie Bridgeman, 20 year old Wiley Bridgeman and 19 year old Ricky Jackson felt when they were sentenced to death in 1975 after business man Harry Franks was beaten and then shot outside of a neighborhood convinces store.

The Steven Truscott case is one case that Canada will always remember. The day this young, innocent boy was brought in for questioning, his life would never be the same. This injustice started with the disappearance of a 12 year old girl, Lynne Harper. Her body was found 2 days after her disappearance, on

Fraser does very little to offer others opinions. He talks mainly from personal experience, using only a single case to reference, not only does he not offer other experts opinions but only uses one statistic from an outside source. “Statistical analysis from the Innocence Project work, we know that we have, what, 250, 280 documented cases now where people have been wrongly convicted and subsequently exonerated”. Here, Dr. Fraser uses this related statistic to further back up his argument from a logos perspective. Even though Dr. Fraser does very little to offer others opinions; because of his great use of ethos, pathos, and logos he was able to strongly back up his views and persuade the audience towards his side of the argument.

First and foremost, anytime we look at crimes against the innocent and vulnerable people, we tend to be more impacted. Although, most of us claim to be unbiased and believe in equality, we all place different values on different lives. To hear about a gang members being killed in a rival gang shootout, is less impactful as hearing about small children being killed by an Active Shooter in their school. I draw attention to this only to illustrate the emotional impact the Andrea Yates case had on the majority of our population. Cases like this cross a moral threshold that most of us cannot imagine. Be it the love we have for the children in our lives, or our understanding of their innocence. Unfortunately, according to Andrea Yates, it was this very innocence that drove her to kill her five children.

Though murder is a crime amongst the most vile that a human commit, it shouldn’t warrant the denial of humanity. An act that is assumably committed by those deluded enough to allow overwhelming hatred to control them, murder is regarded as a conscious decision regarded as logical by these criminals. Unfortunately, for some it is a result of illogical actions produced from the lingering effects of childhood trauma, abuse, mental illness, or even accidents, but these factors are seldom considered by the average person due to fear of those labeled as murderers. Sentenced to life, Ashley Jones was tried as an adult while only fourteen, a result of murdering two relatives, who are later shown to have been abusive. Having “a horrific history of abuse

In April 2006, a girl who is referred to as J.R., was convicted of murdering her family along with her then-boyfriend (Graveland, 2015). J.R. and her boyfriend, Jeremy Steinke, are both guilty in killing J.R.’s mother, father, and eight-year-old brother. J.R. and her family live in Medicine Hat, Alberta. At the time, 12-year-old J.R. was in a relationship with 23-year-old Jeremy Steinke. J.R. cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. J.R. is currently described as the “poster child” and is currently considered at low-risk to offend again (Graveland, 2015). The Court of Queen’s Bench Justice, Scott Brooker, has slowly been lifting some restrictions off of J.R.’s sentence under the Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision Program. In 2014, Brooker has lifted her curfew on weekends, but still kept the strict curfew in place on weekdays until about early 2015 when those were lifted as well (Graveland, 2015). The 23-year-old Jeremy Steinke is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. It was argued the Steinke assisted in killing the parents because the parents were very reproachful towards Steinke’s and J.R.’s ten year age gap. During trial, a picture was painted of a man who was strongly convinced that he found his true love and would do anything to retain her affection for him (Graveland, 2015). During