PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Wrongful Conviction day has spread like wildfire around the world since it was launched by Innocence Canada a decade ago, and it is now called, 'International Wrongful Convictions Day.' (IWCD);
Innocence Canada has been much applauded for helping in the exonerations of 29 Canadians from across the country since 1993 - innocent individuals who combined spent more than 250 years in prison. (The organizing is currently reviewing over 100 cases of possible wrongful convictions - and that's a very daunting task)
But it's not widely known that this very special annual event, to be held this year on October the 2d, was conceived - and brought to fruition - by Win Wahrer, Innocence Canada's co-founder.
Bravo Win! This is a great accomplishment!You have my nomination for an Order of Canada, and a Nobel award is in order too.
(I'm serious!)
Your's is a stunning contribution to the on-going battle against wrongful convictions around the globe.
As Innocence Canada President Ron Dalton puts it, "Wrongful Conviction Day began as a dream of Innocence Canada founder and current Director of Client Services Win Wahrer back in 2014 and has since grown into an international day of annual recognition of the plight of wrongly convicted individuals throughout the world."
Ron Dalton stresses that it is not a day of celebration but rather an annual opportunity to reflect upon the phenomenon of wrongful convictions and to acknowledge, honour and give a voice to the wrongly convicted, their families, advocates and supporters.
This year's Toronto event is sponsored by Innocence Canada and the International Wrongful Conviction Day Committee, and will be held on Wednesday October 2, at The Ontario Bar Association, 20 Toronto Street. (Reception at 5.00 PM followed by program from 7.00 PM to 9.00 PM.)
"Exonerees from across Canada will be attending and participating in the evenings programme.
Amongst the exonerees in attendance will be A.J. Woodhouse and Brian Anderson (Manitoba)
who were exonerated on July 18, 2023, almost fifty years after they were wrongly convicted and
incarcerated. Some of the others that will be attending are Innocence Canada co-president and
exoneree, Ron Dalton (Newfoundland), Tom Sophonow (British Columbia), Réjean Hinse
(Quebec), Tammy Marquardt (Ontario), Maria Shepherd (Ontario) and Dinesh Kumar (Ontario).
During the evenings programme there will be a presentation of the annual Rubin Hurricane Carter
Champion of Justice Award, the Tracey Tyler Award, which is given to an individual or group who
through the news media, documentary, or film, has helped to expose a wrongful conviction or raise
awareness of the issue. The third award being presented is the Donald Marshall Jr. Award named
after Canada’s first recognized wrongly convicted person. Some of our special guests will be
previous award recipients who include representatives like Jim Williamson, Julian Sher, and
David Studer of the Fifth Estate, Susan Milgaard representing her mother, the late Joyce Milgaard,
and Marie Coffin Stewart whose brother Wilbert Coffin was hanged in Quebec in 1956."
Link to the event poster:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#search/win+wahrer?projector=
Ron Dalton's post on the importance of recognizing Wrongful Conviction Day can be found at:
https://www.law360.com/ca/criminal/articles/1864111/importance-of-recognizing-wrongful-conviction-day-ron-dalton-
HAROLD LEVY: PUBLISHER: THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG:
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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.
- SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
