BAIL HEARING TOMORROW FOR WOODHOUSE

 Indigenous Man Returns to the Court in Winnipeg where He was Convicted 50 Years Ago

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More than 49 years ago on March 5, 1974, Clarence Woodhouse, a young Indigenous man, and a member of the Pinaymootang First Nation on the Fairford Indian Reserve in Manitoba, was convicted of the murder of Mr. Ting Fong Chan in Winnipeg, a crime he did not commit.

 

On July 18 of this year, two of Mr. Woodhouse’s former co-accused were vindicated in the King’s Bench Court by Chief Justice Joyal in Winnipeg. A fourth accused, Clarence’s brother Russell Woodhouse, sadly died in 2011 before he could be vindicated.

 

On September 13, 2023, Innocence Canada filed an application with Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani for a ministerial review of Clarence Woodhouse’s conviction pursuant to the provisions of the Criminal Code.  We also filed a posthumous application on Russell Woodhouse’s behalf with the support of his surviving sister, Linda Anderson.

 

Clarence Woodhouse, now in his early 70s, has always proclaimed his innocence but no one listened to him.  The prosecution’s case at his trial in 1974 depended on a “confession” that he was supposed to have made in fluent English despite Saulteaux being the language he spoke. Mr Woodhouse testified that he was assaulted by members of the Winnipeg Police into signing a false confession, but the trial judge and the jury disbelieved him.  Innocence Canada has now adopted his case and brought it before the Justice Minister urging him to quash his conviction.

 

Monday, October 23, 2023, will be the next step on Clarence Woodhouse’s road to vindication.  He will appear at 2:00 p.m. before the King’s Bench Court at 408 York Avenue, Winnipeg asking that he be released on bail pending the Minister’s decision. 

 

Jerome Kennedy, a Director of Innocence Canada, who has led the case for Mr. Woodhouse’s vindication, said today:

 

“49 years has been an interminable wait for Clarence Woodhouse, but he never gave up.  Tomorrow will be an extraordinary day for him, to be back in the very same court where he was wrongly convicted.”

 

James Lockyer, also a Director of Innocence Canada, who is assisting Mr. Kennedy with the case, said today:

 

“Innocence Canada is privileged to be able to help Mr. Woodhouse and we will be there for him at his release hearing.”

 

For further information, contact:  

 

Jerome Kennedy at 709-725-2966 or jkennedy@wrmmlaw.com

James Lockyer at 416-518-7983 or jlockyer@lzzdefence.ca

 

AIDWYC Frees Another Wrongly Convicted - Hays to get new trail

 
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New Forensic Evidence Leads SCC to Send

Leighton Hay’s Murder Conviction Back to Trial

Toronto, Canada – The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC) is pleased to announce that the Supreme Court of Canada has today ordered that Leighton Hay’s 2004 first degree murder conviction in Toronto must be quashed and sent back for a new trial. For 12 years Mr. Hay and AIDWYC have been fighting to clear his name and the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision is an important step towards establishing his innocence. 

In the early morning of July 6, 2002, two men shot and killed Collin Moore in a Toronto nightclub. The men also shot at Collin’s brother, Roger Moore, who escaped with a graze to his forehead.

The Crown alleged that Mr. Hay was one of the two gunmen and the gunman who was supposed to be Mr. Hay was described by an eyewitness as having 2-inch dreadlocks.  However, when arrested hours after the shooting, Mr. Hay had a very short haircut causing the prosecution to allege that he must have cut his hair after the shooting.  The prosecutor produced hairs found by police wrapped in a newspaper from the bathroom in the home where he was arrested as proof of the haircut.

At Mr. Hay’s appeal in the Supreme Court of Canada on April 23, 2013, AIDWYC presented new evidence that undermined the Crown’s eyewitness identification evidence of Mr. Hay. The new evidence establishes that the hairs seized from the home by the police came from Mr. Hay’s beard and were not from a haircut.

Erroneous eyewitness identification is a well-known cause of wrongful convictions in Canada and in other countries. According to the U.S. Innocence Project, eyewitness misidentification is the single greatest cause of wrongful convictions in that country, playing a role in nearly 75% of convictions overturned as a result of their post-conviction DNA results.

James Lockyer, AIDWYC’s lead counsel who argued the case in the Supreme Court of Canada for Mr. Hay said today,

“It is a good day for Mr. Hay and a good day for justice in Canada. Mr. Hay is a vulnerable member of our society and is in many ways a ready victim for a wrongful conviction.  AIDWYC adopted his case three years ago and we feel vindicated by this decision. We will be there for Mr. Hay at his new trial.”

AIDWYC is a non-profit organization dedicated to identifying, advocating for, and clearing the names of individuals convicted of crimes they did not commit and working to prevent future wrongful convictions through education. This year, AIDWYC is celebrating its 20^th Anniversary. On November 23, 2013, an educational conference and celebratory gala will be held in Toronto. Both events are open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend. Visit AIDWYC’s website to learn more and donate: www.aidwyc.org.

For more information, contact:

James Lockyer, 416-847-2560

Win Wahrer, 416-504-7500