FACTS OF THE CASE: KAUFMAN INQUIRY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "The Jessops and the Morins were neighbours in the small town of Queensville, about 35 miles north of Toronto. On the afternoon of October 3, 1984, the school bus returned Christine to her home at about 3:50 p.m. No one was there. Her mother, Janet, had taken Christine’s older brother, Ken, to the dentist in Newmarket. The precise time of their return to the Jessop home was a major issue at the second trial. Guy Paul Morin left work at 3.32 that afternoon and could have arrived home no sooner than 4:14 p.m.. Accordingly, the Jessops’ time of return had an impact on any ‘window of opportunity’ for Mr. Morin to have committed this crime. Mr. Morin gave evidence to demonstrate that he arrived home well after the Jessops and therefore had no opportunity to abduct Christine Jessop. The prosecution vigorously disputed his alibi and suggested that he changed his time of arrival in various statements to avoid responsibility for the murder. Christine was not in the house when the Jessops returned, but there was no immediate cause for alarm. But when she failed to show up by early evening, Ms. Jessop called the police. A search of the area was organized and it continued for several days. No trace of Christine was found. As time passed, concerns heightened that she had been the subject of foul play. York Regional Police conducted the investigation into her disappearance. Her body was found on December 31, 1984, near the town of Sunderland in Durham Region, about 56 kilometers east of Queensville. Her body was on its back with her knees spread apart in an unnatural position. An autopsy determined that she had been stabbed in the chest several times and this had been the cause of death. The presence of semen on her underpants irresistibly suggested that she had been sexually assaulted. Her body was badly decomposed, and death could have occurred three months before its discovery. Because her body was found in Durham Region, the Durham Regional Police Service took charge of the case. John Scott prosecuted Mr. Morin at his first trial. Susan MacLean assisted Mr. Scott. Clayton Ruby and Mary Bartley defended Mr. Morin. Leo McGuigan was the lead prosecutor at the second trial, assisted by Alex Smith and Susan MacLean. Jack Pinkofsky, Elizabeth Widner and Joanne McLean defended Mr. Morin. Brian Gover was leading prosecutor during a lengthy motion by the defence to stay the proceedings at the second trial."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"The Jessops and the Morins were neighbours in the small town of Queensville, about 35 miles north of Toronto. On the afternoon of October 3, 1984, the school bus returned Christine to her home at about 3:50 p.m. No one was there. Her mother, Janet, had taken Christine’s older brother, Ken, to the dentist in Newmarket. The precise time of their return to the Jessop home was a major issue at the second trial. Guy Paul Morin left work at 3.32 that afternoon and could have arrived home no sooner than 4:14 p.m.. Accordingly, the Jessops’ time of return had an impact on any ‘window of opportunity’ for Mr. Morin to have committed this crime. Mr. Morin gave evidence to demonstrate that he arrived home well after the Jessops and therefore had no opportunity to abduct Christine Jessop. The prosecution vigorously disputed his alibi and suggested that he changed his time of arrival in various statements to avoid responsibility for the murder. Christine was not in the house when the Jessops returned, but there was no immediate cause for alarm. But when she failed to show up by early evening, Ms. Jessop called the police. A search of the area was organized and it continued for several days. No trace of Christine was found. As time passed, concerns heightened that she had been the subject of foul play. York Regional Police conducted the investigation into her disappearance. Her body was found on December 31, 1984, near the town of Sunderland in Durham Region, about 56 kilometers east of Queensville. Her body was on its back with her knees spread apart in an unnatural position. An autopsy determined that she had been stabbed in the chest several times and this had been the cause of death. The presence of semen on her underpants irresistibly suggested that she had been sexually assaulted. Her body was badly decomposed, and death could have occurred three months before its discovery. Because her body was found in Durham Region, the Durham Regional Police Service took charge of the case. John Scott prosecuted Mr. Morin at his first trial. Susan MacLean assisted Mr. Scott. Clayton Ruby and Mary Bartley defended Mr. Morin. Leo McGuigan was the lead prosecutor at the second trial, assisted by Alex Smith and Susan MacLean. Jack Pinkofsky, Elizabeth Widner and Joanne McLean defended Mr. Morin. Brian Gover was leading prosecutor during a lengthy motion by the defence to stay the proceedings at the second trial."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Justice Kaufman had been required by order in council to inquire into the conduct of the investigation into the death of Christine Jessop, the conduct of the Centre for Forensic Sciences in relation to the maintenance, security and preservation of forensic evidence, and into the criminal proceedings involving the charge that Guy Paul Morin murdered Christine Jessop. In short, as Justice Kaufman summed it up, his mandate required him to determine, to the extent possible, why the investigation into the death of Christine Jessop and the proceedings which followed resulted in the arrest and conviction of an innocent person. As you will see from this post and others to be published over the next few days, Justice Kaufman got to the heart of his mandate in spades.
Constable Robertson and his dog Ryder:
Officer Robertson was a member of the York Regional Police in October 1984. The York Regional Police did not have a canine unit. Robertson had an interest in dogs and in their use in police work. He testified at the second trial that his dog, using the scent of a blue sweater given to him from Christine Jessop’s bedroom, indicated that Christine Jessop had been in the Morin Honda. The dog’s ‘indications’ were led as evidence that Christine Jessop had been in the Morin Honda. The Commissioner found Officer Robertson’s account to be implausible for a number of reasons, including:
- There is no record or recollection of anyone that the blue sweater was provided to Robertson. Everyone was searching for the blue sweater for months thereafter, including his fellow officers. It was Robertson’s evidence that not only was the sweater in open view in Christine’s bedroom, but he returned it to the York Regional officers at the command post for the investigation.
- There is no suggestion that his partner that night, his supervising officers or anyone else knew that the dog had detected anything at the Morin property.
- Robertson took no action to search the vehicle or even try the door of the vehicle where Christine’s scent was purportedly detected.
- He has notes and supplementary reports made at the very time of the events or shortly thereafter, documenting the most minute details of the objects and locations searched. These records contain no mention of the Morin vehicle, the dog’s indications, or the use of the sweater as a scent object.
- When Guy Paul Morin, Christine Jessop’s neighbour, was arrested, Robertson did not tell his fellow officers that his dog detected Christine Jessop’s scent in the neighbour’s Honda; indeed, he told no one in authority during Morin’s first trial. His claim only came forth after Guy Paul Morin had been acquitted and was facing a new trial, and then only in the context of a collective meeting which explored police officers’ potential relevance at a second trial.
- Robertson exaggerated the extent of his training and the extent of any relationship he had with an RCMP dog trainer, Peter Payne.
Apart from Robertson’s credibility, the Commissioner expressed serious concerns about the admissibility of evidence as to the dog’s ‘indications’ that Christine Jessop had been in the Morin Honda.
Constable McGowan and the ‘Stare’
Constable McGowan was another witness whose evidence surfaced only at the second trial. He was a York Regional Police officer who was the first to attend the Jessop residence in response to Janet Jessop’s phone call to police. During the second trial, he testified that on the night of October 3, 1984, at approximately 8:18 p.m., he went to the Morin household to speak with the neighbours. He was greeted by Ida Morin. While questioning her, he observed a side profile of a person who appeared to be looking straight ahead. When he later saw the news report of Guy Paul Morin’s arrest on television, it triggered the memory of what he had witnessed at the Morin house that evening. He was “astonished,” he said, to see that Mr. Morin was the person who had been sitting in the chair, seemingly unconcerned about his questions relating to the missing child.
The Commissioner was left with serious doubt as to whether McGowan even attended the Morin residence that evening. More problematic was McGowan’s evidence as to what he saw at the Morin residence and when it was that his impressions of Guy Paul Morin and his family were first recorded.
His notebook says nothing about his attendance at the Morin residence. No supplementary report reflects any such attendance. At the second trial, Mr. Pinkofsky cross-examined McGowan vigorously on his ‘latebreaking’ allegation. McGowan conceded that his claims about Morin were not reflected in his early will-say. At the Inquiry, he swore that his claims about Morin were reflected in his earliest will-say; everyone just got the order of his three will-says confused at the second trial. The Commissioner found McGowan’s reconstruction of the order of his will-says was seriously flawed.
The Commissioner found that he could not safely rely upon anything that Officer McGowan said on the critical issues. Apart from his credibility, the prosecution should not have been permitted to use the testimony that Guy Paul Morin stared straight ahead as evidence of Morin’s conduct or demeanour consistent with guilt. Further, characterizations such as “I was not made welcome”, I had a feeling that my presence was bothersome, Morin was “seemingly unconcerned” and “I felt [Morin’s demeanour] strange for an immediate neighbor” are easy to allege, difficult to disprove; easily tainted by the impressions of fellow officers in a collective meeting and easily coloured by the charge against an accused.
Paddy Hester:
Ms. Hester, a Queensville resident, was yet another witness who testified only at the second trial. Her present ill-health precluded her from testifying at the Inquiry. The Commissioner had the benefit of hearing her on tape, in the context of a February 1987 interview conducted by Officer Fitzpatrick. This tape, which seriously undermined her credibility, was not provided to the prosecutors or to the defence.
The day after Guy Paul Morin’s arrest, Paddy Hester came forward with a story. It described a discussion with Christine Jessop’s neighbour whose “heart was not in the search effort.” She was not called as a witness at the first trial. Prior to the second trial, she was motivated to come forward to assist the prosecution. She alleged that she had witnessed a strange encounter with the Morins in a pickup truck (with Guy Paul Morin staring straight ahead, dressed in a trench coat) and a second incident where Morin had chased her away from the Morin Honda before she could search it. She claimed that her story had been reported to the York Regional Police in a timely way. However, there was no contemporaneous record that confirmed that report. (The Commissioner found that perhaps some, but not all, of the ‘late-breaking’ evidence could be explained away by inadequacies in the records kept or preserved by York Regional police. At some point, the absence of any confirmatory records defies coincidence and raises serious issues as to the reliability of claims made years later and well after Mr. Morin’s arrest and first trial.)
The Commissioner found the February 1987 interview that Officer Fitzpatrick conducted with Paddy Hester disturbing, both in what it said about her attitude and what it said about Fitzpatrick’s approach. Her animosity towards Guy Paul Morin was patent. Her admission that “she almost did cartwheels and flips” when Morin was charged was particularly illuminating. In the interview, Officer Fitzpatrick shared with Ms. Hester the evidence which existed against Guy Paul Morin. In particular, he told her what forensic evidence was found in the Morin Honda as an introduction to questions as to what she saw in the car. He shared with her his and Shephard’s views as to Guy Paul Morin’s guilt. He expressed how much he wished they had known about her evidence before. The Commissioner found this was “a text book example of how not to conduct an interview.” This was an example, albeit an extreme example perhaps, of what was happening with a number of witnesses.
The Report concluded that Paddy Hester’s evidence could not be safely relied upon.
Leslie Chipman:
Leslie Chipman was Christine Jessop’s best friend. She testified at the second trial that she and Christine talked with Guy Paul Morin several times. During these conversations, Morin had his hedge clippers in hand and he held them so tightly that his knuckles were white. Mr. McGuigan invited the jury to look at Morin’s very unusual and strange type of conduct and demeanour:
Why was the accused on three occasions during that period clipping the hedge between the Jessop and the Morin property? He denies that this happened. And I submit Miss Chipman is worthy of your belief in that regard. I submit that this was his vehicle for watching those two young girls.
Ms. Chipman testified for the prosecution at the second trial only. To Mr. Scott’s credit, he chose not to call her at the first trial. Ms. Chipman testified at the Inquiry that her trial evidence was untrue and made several serious allegations against the authorities who collected her evidence and prepared her for trial. This was said to explain why her evidence at Guy Paul Morin’s trial was untrue.
The Commissioner found that Ms. Chipman attempted to be truthful in her testimony before the Inquiry, but that her most serious allegations were unfounded. She did not deliberately lie at Guy Paul Morin’s second trial, but came to believe, and to communicate to the Court, things about Guy Paul Morin which, on reflection, were untrue. She was swept away by the accusation against Guy Paul Morin.
The Commissioner concluded:
I do not believe that police or prosecutors told Ms. Chipman what to say. I also do not believe that police or prosecutors knew that her recollections were false ones. She admitted that she never indicated that to them either. I do find that the interviewing process by the authorities contributed to the added strength and detail in her trial evidence and that this may have been brought about through very pointed questions which she may have felt constrained to answer. I have no doubt that Mr. McGuigan, given his considerable skills as an advocate, could ‘squeeze every drop’ from a witness, without violating any ethical rules. This was a highly impressionable witness, who was very young at the material time, who regarded the police and prosecutors with respect and awe, was alone with them, who wished to assist and who was coloured by the charge existing against Guy Paul Morin. As well, her evidence was based upon impressions of what were then insignificant moments, where subtle changes in her evidence could turn her observations from suspicious conduct (even assuming it showed that much) on Morin’s part to complete innocuousness. In those circumstances, the importance of the interviewing process is manifest; the dangers of suggestibility considerable.
Again, it is my view that this evidence should not have been introduced and used in the way that it was. Further, it is clear that extreme care is needed when dealing with the evidence of children, and this must begin at the very first interview. Certainly, an adult should have been present, even if this would have meant a delay.
Evidence of Funeral Night Screams:
On January 7, 1985, Christine Jessop was buried in the cemetery in which she used to play behind the Jessops’ home. After the funeral, friends and relatives congregated at the Jessop residence. During the second trial, Janet Jessop testified that she and some guests were in the den at approximately 7:00 p.m. when a scream was heard coming from the north of her house. She ran outside with three of the visitors. A male voice screamed “Help me, help me, Oh God, help me.” She described it as sounding frightened, troubled or scared. Ms. Jessop said that she recognized it as Guy Paul Morin’s voice. She and her brother-in-law, Wally Rabson, Barb Jenkins and Wally’s brother, Lloyd Rabson, went to the driveway, looked around, but saw nothing. Snow had fallen that day but had stopped by this time. Ms. Jessop then heard footsteps in the snow and saw a silhouette of a person moving quickly into the back door of the Morin house. She asked “Can I help you?”, “Are you alright?” and “Does anyone need help?”. She did not think she used Guy Paul’s name. There was no reply. As no one answered her call, she assumed everything was all right. The group remained outside for a minute before returning indoors. Ms. Jessop testified that she and her husband reported this to the police later that evening or the following day.
There was no record of any contemporaneous suggestion to this effect by Ms. Jessop. Her identification of Guy Paul Morin as the screamer was not brought to anyone’s attention for years thereafter, even though Ms. Jessop met with police and prosecutors on a regular basis and was highly motivated to assist the prosecution. It was only after Guy Paul Morin’s acquittal that these claims came forth. Some aspects were only revealed to the Crown during the second trial proceedings.
The Commissioner found that Ms. Jessop did not hear or see footsteps in the snow or see a silhouette of a person moving quickly into the back door of the Morin house and could not identify the voice as that of Guy Paul Morin. Fueled by her understandable rage towards Guy Paul Morin and her concern that he not be again acquitted for Christine’s murder, she may have convinced herself that she had seen and heard these things. Objectively viewed, this aspect of her evidence, given all the circumstances outlined above, was patently unreliable.
An experienced counsel should have known that. Brian Gover was suitably sceptical about her evidence. Mr. McGuigan indicated that he had some scepticism about her evidence that she heard the footprints in the snow. However, he gave no thought to why she was giving that evidence. Otherwise, he said that he accepted her evidence because it was circumstantially supported. As for the other problematic aspects of her evidence, those were for the defence to address and the jury to explore. The Commissioner found that an objective assessment of Ms. Jessop’s evidence, giving full value to the Crown and defence roles in an adversarial proceeding, may well have compelled the Crown to advise the jury that aspects of Ms. Jessop’s evidence, albeit perhaps well-intentioned, could not safely be relied upon. Mr. McGuigan did not have the requisite objectivity, as did, for example, Mr. Gover and as Mr. Scott may well have, had these untimely claims been made to him. The evidence of the ‘funeral night screams’ was more evidence led to show Mr. Morin’s ‘consciousness of guilt.’ Its reliability was highly doubtful.
Mandy Patterson:
Mandy Patterson and Guy Paul Morin were fellow band members. Ms. Patterson testified that in February 1985, approximately four months after Christine Jessop had disappeared from her home, she spoke to Mr. Morin about Christine’s death. She claimed that the issue appeared to upset him and she got the distinct feeling that he did not want to talk about it, so she did not pursue it. As she said at the first trial, “I was shocked to hear he lived right beside her and hadn’t wanted to talk about it ... before.” She added that this surprised her because she had always found Mr. Morin to be a very caring person. On April 15, 1985, one week before Mr. Morin’s arrest, she again raised with him the subject of Christine’s death: “He just said, those things happen, what can you do. He said, ‘The poor, sweet, innocent little girl.’ Things like that happen.”
While there was nothing in the words that was unusual or inappropriate, it was the manner in which he expressed them that struck Ms. Patterson. She thought he had said this in a “very uncaring” way. She later testified that she expected more animation in his voice: his tone displayed no expression; it “didn’t sound normal. I was surprised. I thought he would be a lot more concerned, him being her neighbour.”
When Ms. Patterson expressed the hope that Christine had not been held captive before she was killed, Mr. Morin replied that Christine was murdered the night she was taken.
Ms. Patterson reflected the mind-set of various Crown witnesses: she felt like ‘part of the prosecution team’; she was enveloped to some extent by the confidence and determination of the authorities, and she labelled the defence as ‘the bad guys.’
The Commissioner found that Ms. Patterson did not intentionally mislead the Court or the Inquiry. But she did take sides and it did colour her approach to the evidence.
The real problem with much of Ms. Patterson’s evidence is that it should have formed no part of the trial. Her feelings or perceptions that Guy Paul Morin should have sounded more concerned or caring when speaking about Christine Jessop was evidence that contributed little more than prejudice and constituted the most dangerous kind of evidence. Its use at this trial as yet more evidence ‘consistent with Guy Paul Morin’s guilt’ — coming, from the last witness for the Crown — was inappropriate. In that regard, the Crown cannot be faulted; it sought and obtain a ruling favouring its admission as evidence.
Morin’s Failure to Search, Attend the Funeral or Express Condolences:
One of the elements of consciousness of guilt that was put forward to the jury by the Crown attorneys was Mr. Morin’s failure to join the search for Christine Jessop, his failure to attend her funeral and his failure to express his condolences to the family.
Much of the ‘consciousness of guilt’ evidence not only should not have been left with the jury on that basis, but should not have been admitted at all. The failure to search for Christine Jessop was worthless evidence and ought to have been excluded. The situation was compounded in that Morin’s answer as to why he did not search on one day was shown to be wrong, and his explanation was left to the jury as further evidence of his consciousness of guilt.
Mr. Morin’s failure to express condolences also was worthless evidence and ought not to have been admitted.
Mr. Morin’s failure to attend the funeral or funeral home was worthless evidence and ought not be have been admitted. Again, the situation was compounded in that Morin’s answer (that he was not invited) was, not surprisingly, used to reflect upon his credibility. The issue should never have been before the jury in the first place.
The introduction of all of this evidence, together with other problematic evidence of consciousness of guilt, was bound to have had, in its accumulation, a significant effect on the jury. The leading of this evidence demonstrated that the prosecution sought to squeeze every drop out of the information available to them, to support their case. However, there was no impropriety in the leading of this evidence, since it was presented to the trial judge who ruled on it. Further, in fairness to both the trial judge and Crown counsel, there has been some greater sensitivity to the limited use of consciousness of guilt evidence expressed by appellate courts more recently than was the case during the currency of the trial."
The entire section of the Executive Summary can be read at:----------------------------------------------------------.
