Wrongfully Convicted: The Innocent in Canada.

Alexander David Kurke is a criminal lawyer in Sudbury, Ontario.

Journalist Peter Boer sets out to tell the stories of six men who he believes were wrongfully convicted of individual or multiple murders. The title betrays an apparent bias that one senses throughout. Leaving aside the fact that the vast majority of Canadians are truly “innocent” of any criminal misconduct, Boer knows well that the finding of “not guilty” has little to do with actual innocence in our criminal justice system. The opening sentence of Boer’s introduction is also telling: “The existence of our criminal justice system is proof that people make mistakes.” Viewing criminal misconduct as “making mistakes,” particularly in a book describing the murders of truly “innocent” people, seems to trivialize a fairly serious matter.

First up is the notorious case of David Milgaard, wrongfully convicted of the 1969 Saskatoon murder of Gail Miller, a crime for which Larry Fisher was eventually convicted, but only after Milgaard had spent 23 years in prison. Donald Marshall Jr.’s conviction for killing his friend Sandy Seal in 1971 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, is the subject of the next chapter. In Chapter 3, Boer describes the decade-long ordeal of Guy Paul Morin, convicted of the 1984 murder of little Christine Jessup. Next we read of the three trials of Thomas Sophonow for the 1981 killing of Barbara Stoppel. The Manitoba Court of Appeal prevented a fourth trial. Boer also discusses the public inquiries and compensation packages that are the almost inevitable sequel to wrongful convictions.

No compensation could make Wilbert Coffin whole, if he was wrongfully convicted of the murder of three American hunters in Quebec in 1953; his case stands as a compelling argument against capital punishment. Fittingly, the final chapter is devoted to Steven Truscott, acquitted by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2007, almost 50 years after his conviction for the capital murder of 12-year-old Lynne Harper.

Not all readers will agree with Boer’s presentation or conclusions, but the book is a very readable and clear introduction to the issues, with a brief list of further resources at the end.