COMMENTARY: "The wrongly convicted are never truly set free," by Gary Mason, published by The Globe and Mail on November 7, 2014. (Mason refers to Vancouver lawyer Joan McEwan' remarkable recently published book "Innocence on Trial: The Framing of Ivan Henry" as he concludes that "Mr.
Henry’s tragic story deserves to be included in a gallery of the worst
examples of wrongful convictions in our country’s (Canada's) history" - and that in Canada "The wrongly convicted are never truly set free.")
n
early-1980s Vancouver, Ivan Henry was an ex-convict still adjusting to
civilian life when he was detained on a break-and-enter charge. A short
time later, he found himself on trial for ten charges of sexual
assault-crimes he vehemently denied committing. Declared a dangerous
offender in November 1983, Henry spent twenty-seven years in prison
before being acquitted in 2010 on the basis of unreliable evidence. To
this day he has not been compensated or publicly exonerated.
This is a powerful story of justice miscarried and one man's determined quest to win restitution for the wrongly convicted.
- See more at: http://www.heritagehouse.ca/book_details.php?isbn_upc=9781772030020#sthash.QvdRGo3p.COMMENTARY: "The wrongfully convicted are never truly set free," by Gary Mason, published by The Globe and Mail on November 7, 2014. (Mason refers to Vancouver lawyer Joan McEwan's remarkable book on the Ivan Henry saga called, "Innocence on Trial: The Framing of Ivan Henry,
" which he rightly describes as "a remarkable
undertaking of research.)
GIST: "In 1982, the city was being
terrorized by a serial rapist. Police were under increasing pressure to
find who was doing it. One day, Mr. Henry was pulled over at a traffic
stop. In quick order, he found himself being interrogated and then
charged with assaulting 17 women. Mr. Henry chose to clumsily defend
himself when he became convinced his legal aid lawyer was part of a
conspiracy to put him behind bars. As was later revealed, Mr.
Henry was nowhere near the scene where most of the crimes were
committed. Police didn’t check out his rock-solid alibis. Semen
collected from several victims was never sent for testing to see if it
matched the suspect. Three police officers put him in a choke-hold for
the police lineup photo. His prior conviction for attempted rape was
erroneously allowed into evidence at the jury trial. And there were
other, equally egregious examples of authorities abusing due process to
get a conviction under any circumstances.
Mr. Henry was ultimately
found guilty of 10 sex crimes, declared a dangerous offender and sent
off to prison to serve an indefinite sentence. In 1990, his dying
wife confessed to a daughter that her husband was innocent. She had
fingered him to get a $1,000 reward being offered by police that she
used to support her drug habit. But it took 20 more years before an
appeal court would recognize the miscarriage of justice and make Mr.
Henry a free man. In Canada, the wrongfully convicted are never
truly set free. Most are not exonerated by the courts – merely
acquitted. Mr. Henry walked out of court with less support for his
transition to life on the outside than a paroled murderer would get. And
his transition has been difficult – with little financial means, he
lives in the basement of his daughter’s home. He faces a fight to get
government compensation for the 27 years he lost.........Mr.
Henry’s tragic story deserves to be included in a gallery of the worst
examples of wrongful convictions in our country’s history. Ms. McEwen
would like to see him fully absolved of the crimes he didn’t commit, not
just cleared. And if there is any justice in our sometimes fallible
justice system, he will be."
The entire commentary can be found at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/the-wrongfully-convicted-are-never-truly-set-free/article21481822/
For purchase of "Innocence on Trial: The framing of Ivan Henry" from the publisher's site:
n
early-1980s Vancouver, Ivan Henry was an ex-convict still adjusting to
civilian life when he was detained on a break-and-enter charge. A short
time later, he found himself on trial for ten charges of sexual
assault-crimes he vehemently denied committing. Declared a dangerous
offender in November 1983, Henry spent twenty-seven years in prison
before being acquitted in 2010 on the basis of unreliable evidence. To
this day he has not been compensated or publicly exonerated.
This is a powerful story of justice miscarried and one man's determined quest to win restitution for the wrongly convicted.
- See more at: http://www.heritagehouse.ca/book_details.php?isbn_upc=9781772030020#sthash.QvdRGo3p.dpuf
In
early-1980s Vancouver, Ivan Henry was an ex-convict still adjusting to
civilian life when he was detained on a break-and-enter charge. A short
time later, he found himself on trial for ten charges of sexual
assault-crimes he vehemently denied committing. Declared a dangerous
offender in November 1983, Henry spent twenty-seven years in prison
before being acquitted in 2010 on the basis of unreliable evidence. To
this day he has not been compensated or publicly exonerated.
This is a powerful story of justice miscarried and one man's determined quest to win restitution for the wrongly convicted.
- See more at: http://www.heritagehouse.ca/book_details.php?isbn_upc=9781772030020#sthash.Ux1TUgUP.dpuf
In
early-1980s Vancouver, Ivan Henry was an ex-convict still adjusting to
civilian life when he was detained on a break-and-enter charge. A short
time later, he found himself on trial for ten charges of sexual
assault-crimes he vehemently denied committing. Declared a dangerous
offender in November 1983, Henry spent twenty-seven years in prison
before being acquitted in 2010 on the basis of unreliable evidence. To
this day he has not been compensated or publicly exonerated.
This is a powerful story of justice miscarried and one man's determined quest to win restitution for the wrongly convicted.
- See more at: http://www.heritagehouse.ca/book_details.php?isbn_upc=9781772030020#sthash.Ux1TUgUP.dpuf
http://www.heritagehouse.ca/book_details.php?isbn_upc=9781772030020
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I
have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses
several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of
the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this
powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and
myself get more out of the site.
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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
