STORY: "Supreme Court allows appeal of conviction in 2002 Toronto murder," by reporter Peter Edwards, published in the Toronto Star on July 18, 2012.
GIST: "A Toronto man convicted in the 2002 execution-style murder of a beloved member of the local Guyanese community has won the right to appeal from Canada’s top court. The decision to grant an appeal to Leighton Hay in one of the city’s most notorious cases of the past decade was announced on Thursday morning by the Supreme Court of Canada.........In their successful arguments for an appeal, Hay’s lawyers said that recent forensic testing on hairs found in his apartment prove he’s innocent of the July 2002 execution-style murder of Colin Moore, 51. The Crown had argued that Hay shaved his head shortly after the murder to thwart identification. Police discovered hair clippings, wrapped in a newspaper, in his house. Hay’s defense team spearheaded recent forensic testing on the hairs. The testing suggested there is a roughly 90 per cent certainty the clippings were facial hairs and not from his head, which would undermine the theory that he shaved his head after the shooting to fool police.
Neither the prosecution nor defense sought to have the hairs tested at the original trial. Hay, who was 19 at the time of the murder, is serving a life term and has been in prison for the past decade. “The fresh evidence has changed the case for and against the applicant dramatically,” Hay’s defense team of James Lockyer, Philip Campbell and Joanne McLean argued. “If the haircut occurred, the applicant is likely guilty. If it did not, he is surely innocent. A verdict which did not consider the fresh evidence is unreliable and should not be upheld.”
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1228827--supreme-court-allows-appeal-of-conviction-in-2002-toronto-murder
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.
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
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog
