THE BAD NEWS: In their closing submission to the Court of Appeal, the prosecutors from the Attorney General's Ministry, told the panel of three justices of the Ontario Court of Appeal that they were asking the court to 'stay the proceedings' against Mr. Rees, who had been convicted of murdering a 10-year-old Toronto girl in 1989 - as contrasted with the 'acquittal' that he is seeking. It is bad news because, if the prosecutors have their way, this would leave him in a state of 'limbo' - neither innocent or guilty - when he spent the past 35 years fighting to clear his name - even though protesting his innocence while in the penitentiary would have seriously held up his parole. As it did! By asking the court for a stay of proceedings, they are condemning him to live in a Kafkaesque universe in which his 23 years locked up behind bars like an animal, and all of the years since in which he has been burdened by the restrictions of parole (and still is), while being branded as a child killer, never happened. But all of this did happen. And now the prosecutors have the opportunity to make amends for the disgraceful failures of Ontario's criminal justice system that put Tim Rees in this awful position by supporting an acquittal, are seeking a disposition that will keep a cloud over him for the rest of his life. Only an acquittal can help Tim Rees somehow put all of this behind him, and carry on for the rest of his life, knowing that his name has been cleared, and that all the world, so to speak, will know that he is an innocent man, and did not murder Darla Thurrott, THE GOOD NEWS: The ultimate decision is going to be made by the three justices of the Ontario Court of Appeal, who have conducted evidentiary hearings with key witnesses, (including the surviving police officers who investigated Darla Thurrott's death), and are well aware of the elephant in the courtroom, the abominable investigation conducted by Ontario police, whose failure to pursue the real killer - and whose relentless pursuit of Mr. Rees - led to the murder conviction of an innocent man. I am confident, that these justices, will find a way, to demonstrate their humanity and bring a positive end to Tim Rees's 35-year search for justice, by supporting Mr. Rees's call to the appeal court for a clear, unfettered acquittal, which will tell the world, that he is an innocent man. Nothing less will do!
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;
