HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-08-29, Page 3News
Truscott acquitted
Court of appeal panel falls
short of declaring him innocent
The verdict is in.
One month short of
the 48th anniversary
of Steven Truscott's
conviction for the rape
and murder of 12 -year-
old classmate Lynne
Harper, the Ontario
Court of Appeal has
handed him an acquit-
tal.
"Based on evidence
that qualifies as fresh
evidence in these pro-
ceedings, we are satis-
fied that Mr. Truscott's
conviction was a mis-
carriage of justice and
must be quashed," said
the court. "While it
cannot be said that no
jury acting judicially
could reasonably con-
vict we are satisfied
that if a new trial were
possible, an acquittal
would clearly be the
more likely result. We
have determined the
most appropriate remedy
an acquittal."
The announcement, made elec-
tronically via the worldwide web
Tuesday morning, was met with
jubilation by Truscott's supporters.
"We were prepared for the worst,
and hoping for the best," says Bob
Lawson, who grew up on and still
owns the property where Lynne's
body was found in June 1959.
Lawson and his wife, Anne, are
long-time supporters of Truscott's
bid for exoneration in connection to
the rape and murder of the girl who,
along with Truscott, lived on the
Clinton Royal Canadian Air Force
Base now known as Vanastra.
Lawson notes he originally
planned a visit to Brighton, Ont.
this week, but he and his wife had a
Steven Truscott answers questions
of Appeal last year.
change of plans when they heard
the Ontario Court of Appeal's five -
member panel was ready to render
its decision after nearly eight
months of deliberations after hear-
ing testimony from witnesses in
June and July 2006, and oral argu-
ments from Truscott's Association in
Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted
(AIDWYC) defence team in January
2007.
Ontario's Attorney General is on
record as saying a new trial will not
be sought in the case.
The Court of Appeal panel's deci-
sion fell short of declaring him inno-
cent. Truscott's lawyers had argued
that if he was acquitted of the crime
he should also be found innocent by
the court.
is to enter
at the Ontario Court
By Cheryl Heath
Penitentiary chaplain sure
of Truscott's innocence
Cheryl Heath
011.1111012110111
Malcolm Stienburg was a chaplain
at the Collin's Bay penitentiary the
first time he met Steven Truscott,
the youngest Canadian ever sen-
tenced to hang.
As Stienburg recalls it, the pair
played cribbage.
Stienburg remembers that
encounter well because he was
familiar with the case and the pub-
lic outcry associated with a
teenaged boy being sentenced to
death.
Truscott transferred to the adult
penitentiary after turning 18 years
of age at the Guelph -based Ontario
Training School for Boys.
"It was not a case of guilt or inno-
cence," says Stienburg. "People were
genuinely upset about a 14 -year-old
being sentenced to hang. I shared
See STIENBURG, Page 13
The Huron Expositor • August 29, 2007 Page 3
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