Backgrounder

For Immediate Release
August 28, 2007

On June 9, 1959, 12-year-old Lynne Harper was murdered. Her body was found in a wood lot near the Clinton, Ontario air force base.

On June 13, 1959, 14-year-old Steven Truscott was charged as a juvenile with Harper's murder.

On June 20, 1959, the Juvenile and Family Court ordered that Truscott be tried as an adult. Leave to appeal that decision was later denied by both the Ontario High Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal.

On September 16, 1959, the trial began before the Honourable Mr. Justice Ferguson of the Supreme Court of Ontario and a jury at Goderich, Ontario. The trial continued for 13 days.

On September 30, 1959, the jury delivered its unanimous guilty verdict. All 12 members of the jury acknowledged their vote to convict Mr. Truscott, who was immediately sentenced to death, as required by the law at that time.

On October 10, 1959, an appeal against conviction was filed with the Ontario Court of Appeal. The appeal was argued over three days before a five-member panel of the Court.

On January 20, 1960, the Court unanimously dismissed the appeal, for reasons drafted by the Chief Justice of Ontario.

On January 21, 1960, the federal government commuted the sentence of death to a term of life imprisonment.

On February 24, 1960, Mr. Truscott's application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied.

On April 26, 1966, the Governor General in Council took the extraordinary step of ordering a review of the case by the Supreme Court of Canada, directing the Court to receive any further evidence that it saw fit to allow.

From October 5, 1966 to October 12, 1966, the Supreme Court of Canada considered 17 grounds of appeal. In a rare proceeding, the Supreme Court of Canada heard evidence from 26 witnesses.

On May 4, 1967, the Supreme Court of Canada, by a majority of 8-1, indicated that had the case been an appeal from Mr. Truscott's conviction, the Court would have dismissed the appeal. The sole dissenting judge would have allowed the appeal, quashed the conviction and ordered a new trial.

On October 21, 1969, by an Act of Parliament, Mr. Truscott was released on parole at the age of 24, after serving 10 years in prison.

On November 28, 2001, Mr. Truscott applied to the federal minister of justice for a further review of the conviction, pursuant to what is now section 696.1 of the Criminal Code.

On January 24, 2002, the federal minister of justice appointed former Quebec Court of Appeal judge Fred Kaufman to examine the application and provide advice on its merits.

On April 19, 2004, Mr. Kaufman's report was provided to the federal minister of justice.

On October 28, 2004, the federal minister of justice found that there was a "reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred" and referred the case to the Ontario Court of Appeal pursuant to section 696.3(3)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code, directing the Court to determine the case as if it were an appeal by the accused on the issue of fresh evidence. Counsel for Mr. Truscott tendered a large volume of material as "fresh evidence," including several new expert reports and information from 69 witnesses.

On March 2, 2006, as part of the Crown's investigation into the fresh evidence, the Attorney General ordered the disinterment of Lynne Harper's remains for potential DNA analysis. The disinterment took place on April 6, 2006. On April 10, 2006, Ontario's Chief Coroner announced that the state of the remains made DNA testing impossible.

From June 19, 2006 to July 7, 2006, a five-member panel of the Court of Appeal, led by Chief Justice Roy McMurtry, heard testimony from 18 witnesses.

Between January 31 and February 14, 2007, the Court heard oral arguments and reserved judgment.

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