STEPHEN BORINS PASSES AWAY; GREAT JUDGE; AUTHOR OF DISSENTING OPINION EXPOSING FORENSIC ERRORS IN NOTORIOUS MULLINS-JOHNSON MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE;

"AS AN APPELLATE JUDGE, JUDGE BORINS WAS NOT ONE TO JUMP ON BOARD A MAJORITY DECISION IF HE HARBOURED MISGIVINGS. PERHAPS THE BEST EXAMPLES OF THIS TENDENCY WERE HIS DISSENTING REASONS IN A CASE THAT WAS DESTINED TO EXPLODE INTO ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S MOST NOTORIOUS WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS;" - R. V. WILLIAM MULLINS-JOHNSON.

JUSTICE REPORTER STEVE BORINS: THE GLOBE AND MAIL;

Steve Borins is one of my heroes (as well as a friend): a consummate trial and appeal court judge with a brilliant mind and the ability to tackle the toughest issues;

As Justice Reporter Kirk Makin points out in today's Globe and Mail, Steve, or should I say Justice Stephen Borins of the Ontario Court of Appeal, was the author of the dissenting opinion in the William Mullins-Johnson case.

This dissent pointed the way to William Mullins-Johnson's exoneration for the first-degree murder of his 4-year-old niece Valin Johnson after spending more than twelve years behind bars;

When the forensic evidence from the autopsy was finally located on top of Dr. Charles Smith's desk in his office at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto after a lengthy search we ultimately learned that Valin had not been murdered at all - but had died a natural death;

Globe and Mail Justice Reporter Kirk Makin's story ran in today's paper under the heading: "Ontario judge loses fight to cancer."

"One of Ontario's longest-serving and most respected judges, Mr. Justice Stephen Borins of the Ontario Court of Appeal, died Saturday after a battle with leukemia," the story begins;

"Appointed to Ontario's County Court bench in 1975, Judge Borins' legal acumen was so highly regarded that in 1997, he was elevated to the province's top court," it continues;

""He knew the law inside out and backwards," said Patrick LeSage, former chief judge of the Superior Court of Ontario.

"I saw him as a very bright, knowledgeable, careful, thorough, caring person. There is no one I know who has written more significant judgments in the full breadth of the law than Steve Borins."

Frank Addario, president of the Criminal Lawyers' Association, said Judge Borins "was principled and intellectually curious. He had an inspiring willingness to stand up for the underdog. I felt he was a courageous judge."

As an appellate judge, Judge Borins was not one to jump on board a majority decision if he harboured misgivings. Perhaps the best examples of this tendency were his dissenting reasons in a case that was destined to explode into one of the country's most notorious wrongful convictions - R. v. William Mullins-Johnson.

In late 1996, the Court of Appeal dismissed Mr. Mullins-Johnson's appeal of his first-degree murder conviction in the killing of his four-year-old niece. Judge Borins alone ruled that Mr. Mullins-Johnson ought to be granted a new trial.

Eleven years later, as doubts swirled around the quality of pathology evidence given by Dr. Charles Smith, Mr. Mullins-Johnson was granted bail. Mr. Mullins-Johnson was fully exonerated last year.

Born in Toronto, on Oct. 3, 1934, Judge Borins graduated from the University of Toronto law school."

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;