LUDMILA ILINA: CBC FIFTH ESTATE EXPlORES POSSIBLE CANADIAN MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE; OSGOODE HALL INNOCENCE PROJECT HAS TAKEN ON CASE; TONIGHT: 9.00;

"Young, along with Melfi and Heydarian, who are in their second year at Osgoode, believe the same evidence that convicted Ilina could now absolve her. They question how Ilina, a petite 55-year-old university professor with no history of violence, could have actually beaten her husband to death. The more they looked into her story, the more problematic the case against her became, convincing them her conviction may be worthy of appeal to the government of Canada.

Ilina’s life sentence was based on the strength of circumstantial and forensic evidence after her husband, Ted Mieczkowski, was found on their driveway in a pool of blood."

OSGOODE HALL RELEASE;

SEE PREVIEW OF TONIGHT'S SHOW AT:

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/aquestionofinnocence/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CBC's 'the fifth estate' profiles Osgoode's Innocence Project tonight

Ludmila Ilina has maintained for 16 years that she was wrongly convicted of murdering her husband in their Winnipeg home. Despite that, she was sent to prison for life. Professor Alan Young, director of the Innocence Project at York's Osgoode Hall Law School, and Osgoode students Alex Melfi and Ziba Heydarian have now taken on her case. Their efforts will be shown tonight on CBC Television’s "the fifth estate".

Right: Host Linden MacIntyre, host of CBC Television's "the fifth estate"

“A Question of Innocence" will air at 9pm with"fifth estate" host Linden MacIntyre taking a closer look at the Ilina case, the Osgoode team reviewing it and how evidence can be used to both convict and acquit. CBC News Network will rebroadcast the episode on Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 7pm and Tuesday at 10pm.

Left: Alan Young

Young, along with Melfi and Heydarian, who are in their second year at Osgoode, believe the same evidence that convicted Ilina could now absolve her. They question how Ilina, a petite 55-year-old university professor with no history of violence, could have actually beaten her husband to death. The more they looked into her story, the more problematic the case against her became, convincing them her conviction may be worthy of appeal to the government of Canada.

Ilina’s life sentence was based on the strength of circumstantial and forensic evidence after her husband, Ted Mieczkowski, was found on their driveway in a pool of blood.

Osgoode’s Innocence Project seeks to address the problem of wrongful convictions, with students and faculty volunteering their time to assist individuals claiming to have been wrongfully convicted.

For more information, visit "the fifth estate" website.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Osgoode Hall release can be found at:

http://www.yorku.ca/yfile/archive/index.asp?Article=16763

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FROM FIFTH ESTATE WEB SITE;

A Question of Innocence

When the paramedics arrived on the scene in the summer of 1995, they found Ludmila Ilina sitting on the front steps of her Winnipeg house, her husband's body lying on the driveway in a pool of blood. She told investigators she woke up early that morning to prepare for a business trip. After going to her husband's bedroom and finding his bed undisturbed, she noticed the front door was unlocked. Outside she discovered her husband's bloodied body. He'd been brutally beaten, bludgeoned, dragged outside and left to die with his bicycle on top of him. This is the story she steadfastly stuck to through 16 hours of intense police interrogation. A brutal crime with one obvious suspect, but did she do it? The police were convinced she did, and charged her with second degree murder.

It's been 15 years, and Ilina is still protesting her innocence. Now she may be on the verge of getting her case looked at again.Sent to prison for life on the strength of circumstantial and forensic evidence, she's exhausted every avenue of appeal. She has one last and final hope — The Innocence Project — a York University Osgoode Hall law program dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted criminals. Her fate now lies in the hands to two young second-year law students. Students Alex Melfi and Ziba Heydarian and well-known law professor Alan Young join forces to test the evidence that convicted a 54-year-old, slightly built intellectual, with no history of violence, of battering her husband to death. It's a long shot, but if they can prove the case against Ilina is flawed, they can appeal her conviction to the Government of Canada. Perhaps the same evidence that convicted Ludmila Ilina could now free her.

In "A Question of Innocence," the fifth estate's Linden MacIntyre takes a closer look at the case of Ludmila Ilina and the Osgoode Hall team tackling her case in an engrossing examination of how evidence can be used to both convict and acquit.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Fifth Estate post can be found at:

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/aquestionofinnocence/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 found 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;