QUOTE OF THE DAY: "“They shouldn’t be a judge-executioner or anything sitting up in the police station,” he said. “And if they’ve done something wrong, then they should be held accountable. If they’re not held accountable … you know that the next miscarriage of justice is just around the corner.”
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Innocence Canada, which led the fight to exonerate the men, alleged in a court document that the convictions had been the result of “police tunnel vision, non-disclosure of important evidence, recantations by the two key Crown witnesses,” as well as a disregard for the men’s strong alibis. Gillespie, who spent 21 years in prison, had alleged several times before his death last April that he was told he could avoid prison by signing a false confession pinning the blame for the killing on Mailman. He said Saint John police told him if he refused to sign the confession he would be sent to jail for life. Mailman said that if there’s anybody still alive from the police force who had anything to do with influencing witnesses or falsifying information, he would like to see them face justice."
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STORY: "Wrongfully convicted N.B. man hopes promised police review comes in time for birthday," by Canadian Press Reporter Hina Alam, published on March 2, 2025.
GIST: Robert Mailman turns 77 later this month, and as a birthday gift there is nothing he would like more than answers about what led to him spending 18 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.
The New Brunswick man is hoping to get his hands on a copy of the external review commissioned by the Saint John, N.B., police chief into the force’s handling of his case. Mailman and his friend Walter Gillespie served lengthy prison sentences after being convicted of a 1983 murder, and it was only in January 2024 that a court ruled they had been victims of a miscarriage of justice.
Saint John’s board of police commissioners said the review is complete and undergoing a privacy check, but no date has been given for its release.
“I’d like to see the (review), have some answers,” Mailman said in a phone interview last week. “A copy that has no answers, you may as well just throw in the garbage."
Mailman and Gillespie had their names cleared after federal Justice Minister Arif Virani reviewed their case and ordered a new trial, citing evidence that called into question “the overall fairness” of their prosecution.
But after the Crown announced on Jan. 4, 2024, that it would present no evidence and the men were formally acquitted, questions remained about how the men had been convicted in 1984. Innocence Canada, which led the fight to exonerate the men, alleged in a court document that the convictions had been the result of “police tunnel vision, non-disclosure of important evidence, recantations by the two key Crown witnesses,” as well as a disregard for the men’s strong alibis.
Gillespie, who spent 21 years in prison, had alleged several times before his death last April that he was told he could avoid prison by signing a false confession pinning the blame for the killing on Mailman. He said Saint John police told him if he refused to sign the confession he would be sent to jail for life.
Mailman said that if there’s anybody still alive from the police force who had anything to do with influencing witnesses or falsifying information, he would like to see them face justice.
“They shouldn’t be a judge-executioner or anything sitting up in the police station,” he said. “And if they’ve done something wrong, then they should be held accountable. If they’re not held accountable … you know that the next miscarriage of justice is just around the corner.”
Saint John police Chief Robert Bruce ordered a “comprehensive review” of the case in January 2024 to be undertaken by retired RCMP officer Allen Farrah after the court exonerated the men. Last week, Tamara Kelly, chairwoman of the city’s board of police commissioners, said the chief is reviewing the report to ensure protected information is not divulged.
“A version of the report will be available,” Kelly said in an email Wednesday when asked if the review will be made public.
Mailman questioned what privacy concerns were being addressed and whether the police were reluctant to identify officers who were at fault.
“Why should they not be identified? I mean, what privacy are they going on about?” he asked. “They didn’t mind pinpointing me and Wally (Gillespie) and dragging our names through the mud. If somebody’s out there and they’re alive and if they have any involvement in this, then they should be charged. Period.”
Ron Dalton, co-president of Innocence Canada, said the federal Justice Department and New Brunswick Crown prosecutors went over the evidence and convictions with a “fine-tooth comb” as they reviewed the case.
“All these facts have been there in front of everybody for quite some time,” he said. “The police don’t need more time. They just need the intestinal fortitude to stand up and do the right thing.”
While an apology would be “nice,” Mailman said, what he wants most is for those who did wrong to be held accountable. He has terminal liver cancer and said he is getting weaker all the time.
“I’m just taking it one day at a time,” said Mailman, whose birthday is March 14. “I sure would like to see a copy of that review.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 2, 2025.
The entire story can be read at:
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am grateful to 'Authory' a valuable service which creates a portfolio of all of my posts since I fired my first post into the cybersphere on the Charles Smith Blog on September 29, 2007, some 17 years ago. Today's post is number 11, 784 Yikes! Yes, this is a compulsion, but it's a healthy one ! One of the best features of 'Authory' (which I am trying out on the Blog for the first time, is a search engine for the portfolio which makes it easier for readers to follow the many important cases, issues and developments (and occasional rants) in the area of flawed pathology, flawed pathologists, and whatever else might cross my mind in jurisdictions throughout the world which are at the heart of the Blog. So, dear reader, you can access the portfolio at the following link. Just type the inquiry into the search box at the following link, and hit enter. (The search box is on the top write side of the page under 'Read more.' Why not try it out, and, as encouraging use of this search function by my readers is rather new to me, any feedback on how it is working would be appreciated at: hlevy15@gmail.com. Cheers!
https://authory.com/HaroldLevy
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;
