"An Ontario man who was wrongly convicted of killing his niece will receive $4.25 million in compensation.
The payment to William Mullins-Johnson was announced today by Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley.
Mullins-Johnson spent 12 years in prison for the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece, whose death was later attributed to natural causes.
He was one of several people who were wrongly accused of killing children based on flawed evidence from pathologist Dr. Charles Smith."
THE TORONTO STAR;
SEE GOVERNMENT'S PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWING THE STAR STORY;
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND William Mullins-Johnson of Sault Ste. Marie was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Valin Johnson after a two and half week trial in September 1994.[4] He was convicted after a jury trial in which Smith’s evidence played a major role in determining the time of death, the cause of death and whether the girl had been sexually assaulted. Mullins-Johnson had babysat Valin, 4, and her 3-year-old brother on the evening of June 26, 1993.[4] When the girl's mother returned home, she did not check on her daughter. At 7 a.m. the next day she found Valin dead in bed. A local pathologist performed an autopsy on Valin. Then "consultation reports" were sought from Smith and four other specialists, based on tissue samples and other evidence from the autopsy. Smith was the only consultant to conclude Valin was sexually assaulted at the time of death. That contradicted the defence's point that Valin, who had a history of vomiting in bed, might have died of natural causes. The jury convicted, which the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld in 1996. The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed a further appeal in 1998. Attempts were made to clear his name based on available DNA technology, but the tissue could not be located by Smith, who was given the evidence by the pathologist who did the autopsy, until 2005, 11 years after the trial, when the missing tissue samples turned up in Smith’s office. William Mullins-Johnson was released on bail in 2006, pending review of his case. On July 16, 2007, a report by three expert pathologists (a report written unbeknownst to the lawyers working on his behalf) determined there was no evidence that the girl was sexually assaulted, and the Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant, said that William Mullins-Johnson's conviction “cannot stand” and that he should be acquitted by the appeals court. On October 15, 2007 he was acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"An Ontario man who was wrongly convicted of killing his niece will receive $4.25 million in compensation," the Toronto Star Canadian Press story published earlier today under the heading, "an wrongfully convicted in Smith case gets $4.25 million," begins.
"The payment to William Mullins-Johnson was announced today by Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley," the story continues.
"Mullins-Johnson spent 12 years in prison for the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece, whose death was later attributed to natural causes.
He was one of several people who were wrongly accused of killing children based on flawed evidence from pathologist Dr. Charles Smith.
In overturning Mullins-Johnson’s conviction, the Court of Appeal found there was no evidence he was guilty of any crime.
He has launched a lawsuit against several doctors, including Smith."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/charlessmith/article/878905--man-wrongfully-convicted-in-smith-case-gets-4-25-million
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE PRESS RELEASE: ATTORNEY-GENERAL CHRIS BENTLEY:
McGuinty Government Compensates William Mullins-Johnson
NEWS
The government will be providing William Mullins-Johnson with $4.25 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction.
This payment is being provided under the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Guidelines for Compensation of the Wrongfully Convicted.
In overturning Mr. Mullins-Johnson's conviction, the Court of Appeal found that there was no evidence that he was guilty of any crime.
QUOTE
"On behalf of the Government of Ontario, I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies to Mr. Mullins-Johnson and his family for the miscarriage of justice that occurred and the pain they had to endure. Mr. Mullins-Johnson has been working hard to rebuild his life and we wish him well as he continues that process."
-Chris Bentley, Attorney General
QUICK FACTS
* On July 17, 2007, the federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada announced his decision on the application by Mr. Mullins-Johnson for ministerial review of his conviction. The Minister referred the matter back to the Court of Appeal for a hearing based on fresh evidence.
* On October 15, 2007, the Court of Appeal heard the appeal and reversed the conviction by granting Mr. Mullins-Johnson a full acquittal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
