PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY: (Toronto Star story): "Skiffington is being defended by lawyers from Innocence Canada, which works to exonerate people believed to be wrongly convicted. They maintain police used a so-called Mr. Big operation to coerce a confession that was not credible.Their client was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2001 and is serving a life sentence. Last year, Innocence Canada asked the federal Justice Department to review the conviction, which is ongoing, while it helps Skiffington apply for bail in hopes the case goes to the B.C. Court of Appeal and a new trial is ordered. Reiner said that while defence lawyer Philip Campbell argued his client would not have lied to the fictitious crime boss who used violence as an intimidation tactic, the evidence shows Skiffington was repeatedly caught lying to the head of the fake criminal gang that recruited him. “To Mr. Big, he vacillated between saying he was innocent, he hired a hit man, to again being innocent and to finally confessing. Can anyone seriously argue that Mr. Big would have to express anger and frustration in that context? But no threats were issued.” Reiner said Skiffington’s demeanour in the video recording should also be noted, adding he appears to be searching his memory and seems nervous. “It is a small wonder that Mr. Campbell would like you not to consider demeanour,” Reiner told Justice Michael Tamm Mr. Big stings typically involve police setting up elaborate scenarios designed to extract confessions from suspects who become part of a crime-group family and are told trust, loyalty and honesty are prized above everything but they must come clean about their past so any incriminating evidence can be destroyed."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "From "Innocence Canada release (below); "Following Justice Tammen’s decision granting Mr. Skiffington’s release from custody, Tamara Duncan, of Innocence Canada, co-counsel for Mr. Skiffington, stated, “In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized in the Hart decision that the Mr. Big investigative technique could become abusive and could produce unreliable confessions which are a known cause of wrongful convictions. We have long believed that this is precisely what happened in Wade’s case and that the Mr. Big sting targeting him coerced a false confession which resulted in his wrongful conviction. Wade’s fight to clear his name is far from over, but today’s ruling in an important step in this process. Mr. Campbell added: “Mr. Big has a unique capacity to get suspects talking but it also has a powerful potential to distort the truth and elicit false confessions. This case, with such coercive tactics and so little confirmation, is an example of the technique at its worst. It’s the kind of case for which the Supreme Court of Canada formulated new legal rules in 2014."
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BACKGROUNDER: Toronto Star story on Wade Skiffington's application for bail pending his judicial review. (Release story follows the backgrounder. HL);
STORY: "B.C. man seeking bail after confession motivated to kill common-law wife, Crown counsel says," by Associated Press reporter Camille Bains, published by The Toronto Star on January 9, 2019.
GIST: "A man seeking bail while
awaiting the possibility of a new trial had a “she is leaving me motive”
to kill his common-law wife in British Columbia in 1994 and his
confession to an undercover officer should stand, a Crown counsel says. Hank
Reiner told a B.C. Supreme Court judge on Wednesday that Wade
Skiffington was angry and jealous and feared he would lose his spouse
and his young son before shooting her six times, at an apartment in
Richmond. A
member of the B.C. Crown counsel says Wade Skiffington had a “she is
leaving me motive” to kill his common-law wife in British Columbia in
1994. (Dreamstime) Reiner said a supposed crime boss did not threaten Skiffington, whose
confession about killing Wanda Martin was recorded on a hidden video
camera and shown at the bail hearing. The couple had moved from Newfoundland and Labrador and Martin had wanted to return there before the murder, Reiner said. Skiffington
is being defended by lawyers from Innocence Canada, which works to
exonerate people believed to be wrongly convicted. They maintain police
used a so-called Mr. Big operation to coerce a confession that was not
credible.
Their client was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2001 and is serving a life sentence. Last
year, Innocence Canada asked the federal Justice Department to review
the conviction, which is ongoing, while it helps Skiffington apply for
bail in hopes the case goes to the B.C. Court of Appeal and a new trial
is ordered. Reiner said that while defence lawyer Philip Campbell
argued his client would not have lied to the fictitious crime boss who
used violence as an intimidation tactic, the evidence shows Skiffington
was repeatedly caught lying to the head of the fake criminal gang that
recruited him. “To Mr. Big, he vacillated between saying he was
innocent, he hired a hit man, to again being innocent and to finally
confessing. Can anyone seriously argue that Mr. Big would have to
express anger and frustration in that context? But no threats were
issued.” Reiner said Skiffington’s demeanour in the video
recording should also be noted, adding he appears to be searching his
memory and seems nervous. “It is a small wonder that Mr. Campbell would like you not to consider demeanour,” Reiner told Justice Michael Tamm Mr.
Big stings typically involve police setting up elaborate scenarios
designed to extract confessions from suspects who become part of a
crime-group family and are told trust, loyalty and honesty are prized
above everything but they must come clean about their past so any
incriminating evidence can be destroyed. A Supreme Court of Canada decision in 2014 involved a Newfoundland
and Labrador man convicted of drowning his twin daughters after such a
sting by the RCMP. The top court ruled Nelson Hart’s confession to
undercover police was inadmissible and two first-degree murder charges
against him were withdrawn. “This case actually bears remarkable similarities to the Hart case,” Reiner said. “The undercover confession is presumptively inadmissible and the trier of fact must look for evidence of corroboration.” Reiner
said Skiffington showed a level of awareness and sophistication when he
told police in a 1994 interview that he didn’t have any gunshot residue
and blood on his clothes to link him to Martin murder but later told
Mr. Big he’d changed his clothes. The Crown lawyer also said the
trial heard testimony from a couple who said that shortly before
Martin’s murder, Skiffington staged an assault, saying he’d been mugged
and roughed up, in order to get her sympathy so she would stay with him. The
trial heard he and Martin had a rocky relationship, that Skiffington
refused to let her take their son back to Newfoundland and Labrador and
he was heard calling her degrading names, Reiner said. He said
there was also evidence that Skiffington knew Martin would be alone at
her friend’s apartment with their son, that he entered from an unlocked
door between appointments at his carpet-cleaning job and “fired in blind
rage.”"
The entire story can be read at:
The current bail release story (Associated Press); - Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - can be read at the link below: A man convicted of killing his common-law wife almost 25 years ago has been granted bail by a British Columbia Supreme Court judge. Wade Skiffington has proclaimed his innocence in the 1994 murder of Wanda Martin in Richmond, B.C. He was found guilty based on a confession to undercover police as part of a so-called Mr. Big sting operation that began five years after Martin was shot six times. Justice Michael Tammen said Wednesday that he agreed with defence counsel that Skiffington would have been released on parole four years ago, if he hadn't continued to claim his innocence. Martin's body was found in a friend's apartment along with the couple's unharmed 18-month-old son. The federal justice minister is reviewing Skiffington's conviction after an appeal by lawyers with Innocence Canada, which is also challenging the credibility of the undercover sting, arguing that police extracted a false confession. Martin's parents told CBC they were unhappy with the decision to set Skiffington free, if only temporarily. "How else can you feel but upset and disappointed? We were hoping it wouldn't come to this. He had absolutely nothing to lose by maintaining his innocence but a whole lot to gain," Beverly Martin said. In court Wednesday, Tammen said that it wasn't in the public interest to keep Skiffington in prison, because his behaviour in prison suggests he is neither a risk to public safety nor a flight risk, adding the justice minister could take years to reach a decision. He imposed several bail conditions, including that Skiffington live with his father in Newfoundland and Labrador. Skiffington's father told the court during the bail hearing that he would put up $100,000 in cash and his home as a surety for his son's release. Wade Skiffington was convicted of second-degree murder after his common-law wife was shot dead in 1994. He confessed to the crime during an RCMP sting.Crown counsel Hank Reiner opposed the man's release and told a bail hearing earlier this month that Skiffington knew his common-law wife would be alone for at least 20 minutes while she visited her friend and that provided him an opportunity to kill her on Sept. 6, 1994. Reiner said Skiffington's anger motivated him to kill Martin, because he'd run into a man he believed was having an affair with her shortly before the murder and he also didn't want her returning to their home province of Newfoundland and Labrador with their son.The court has heard Skiffington told the boss of a fictitious crime group he shot Martin four, five or six times, emptying the cartridge, and that he changed his clothes in case any gunshot residue ended up on them.But Tammen said Skiffington's confession didn't include details that would have been known only to the killer and didn't lead police to discover any new evidence. He said police swabbed Skiffington's hands for gunshot evidence after the crime but found nothing and a phone number Skiffington had written on his hand was still visible, suggesting he had not scrubbed it clean."
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Read Innocence Canada release (January 23, 2019): "Vancouver, BC: In a dramatic breakthrough in one of Canada's most notorious wrongful conviction cases, Wade Skiffington has been released on bail while the Minister of Justice conducts a full investigation into whether his conviction was a miscarriage of justice.
On January 23, 2019, the Honourable Justice Michael Tammen, of the British Columbia Supreme Court, in Vancouver, BC, ordered that Mr. Skiffington be released to live with his family in Newfoundland and Labrador while the Minister’s investigation is underway.
Following Justice Tammen’s decision, Phil Campbell, of Innocence Canada, said “This is a great day. As dreadful as wrongful convictions are, it is deeply gratifying when they start to be recognized and corrected. The Minister of Justice’s determination that this case may be a miscarriage of justice was the first step in that process. Today’s ruling that Wade can live with his family and loved ones while the process unfolds is the second. We look forward to the day when the courts recognize that he is innocent.”
Mr. Skiffington, age 53, has been in prison for more than 17 years for the murder of his fiancée, Wanda Martin, a crime that he vehemently insists that he did not commit. Before and since his legally dubious “Mr. Big” confession, Mr. Skiffington has always maintained his innocence. Despite being a model prisoner, he has been denied parole because he will not participate in correctional programming that he perceives requires him to admit guilt for a crime he did not commit – the classic “prisoner’s dilemma” or “Catch 22”. Following Justice Tammen’s decision granting him bail, Mr. Skiffington expressed the hope that his seemingly interminable nightmare may finally be coming to and end.
On June 14, 2017, Mr. Skiffington filed an application pursuant to Part XXI.1 of the Criminal Code for Ministerial Review of his conviction. On June 7, 2018, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Convictions Review Group (CCRG) concluded that there was a reasonable possibility Mr. Skiffington could have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice and has commenced a full investigation into his case.
Under Part XXI.1, convicted persons who have exhausted the courts’ appeal process can apply for a review provided they can furnish new and significant information. The Minister can choose to turn down the application; refer it to a provincial appellate court for a fully contested appeal; or direct that a new trial be held. Previous exonerees who went through the lengthy S.696.1 process include Steven Truscott, Robert Baltovich and Romeo Phillion. To date, Innocence Canada (formally known as AIDWYC – the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted) has helped exonerate 22 innocent people.
The Department of Justice’s review of Mr. Skiffington's conviction is based largely, although not entirely, on the question of whether the only evidence capable of sustaining the conviction, a confession made during an undercover Mr. Big sting, can be said to be reliable when analyzed in accordance with the Supreme Court of Canada’s seminal decision in R. v. Hart, rendered in 2014. If his confession is deemed to be unreliable, Mr. Skiffington’s conviction cannot stand.
Wanda Martin was shot multiple times in a friend’s apartment building in Richmond, B.C. on September 6, 1994. Her fiancé Wade Skiffington immediately became the subject of police scrutiny, as many domestic partners naturally are, but there was never any forensic evidence tying him to the offence and independent third-party witnesses readily established that he had a credible alibi and no realistic opportunity to commit the offence. Mr. Skiffington was completely co-operative with police in the aftermath of Wanda’s homicide, providing them with multiple statements and permitting a search of his residence. Residents who lived close to the crime scene reported a man, who was not Wade Skiffington, behaving in a very suspicious manner in the neighbourhood shortly after the homicide.
Innocence Canada believes that the police investigation into Wanda Martin’s murder was a classic case of tunnel-vision, a known cause of wrongful convictions, and that police failed to pursue alternative suspects and rudimentary avenues of investigation that may well have resulted in the apprehension of the person who killed Wanda Martin. Instead, with their focus solely on Wade Skiffington, in 2000, six years after Wanda’s murder, police initiated a costly, intricate and violent “Mr. Big” undercover operation where they posed as gangsters - all in an attempt to coerce a confession from Mr. Skiffington. Under immense pressure, and with a genuine fear of violent repercussions if he did not tell the undercover boss what he wanted to hear, Wade Skiffington confessed to a crime he did not commit. That confession, without any corroborating evidence, and with many details that showed it to be false, resulted in Mr. Skiffington’s conviction and a life sentence with no chance of parole for 13 years.
Following Justice Tammen’s decision granting Mr. Skiffington’s release from custody, Tamara Duncan, of Innocence Canada, co-counsel for Mr. Skiffington, stated, “In 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized in the Hart decision that the Mr. Big investigative technique could become abusive and could produce unreliable confessions which are a known cause of wrongful convictions. We have long believed that this is precisely what happened in Wade’s case and that the Mr. Big sting targeting him coerced a false confession which resulted in his wrongful conviction. Wade’s fight to clear his name is far from over, but today’s ruling in an important step in this process.”
Mr. Campbell added: “Mr. Big has a unique capacity to
get suspects talking but it also has a powerful potential to distort the
truth and elicit false confessions. This case, with such coercive
tactics and so little confirmation, is an example of the technique at
its worst. It’s the kind of case for which the Supreme Court of Canada
formulated new legal rules in 2014.”
http://www.innocencecanada.com/the-latest/newspress/bail-granted-wade-skiffington/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
http://www.innocencecanada.com/the-latest/newspress/bail-granted-wade-skiffington/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
