Post by happyhaddock on Jun 29, 2007 17:56:33 GMT -5
A small extract from the Lamer Report on wrongful convictions in Canada:
The conviction of innocent people has been established with increasing frequency in Canada in recent years. The Supreme Court of Canada recently referred to ''a disturbing Canadian series of wrongful convictions" commencing with Donald Marshall Jr. in 1971 and including David Milgaard, Guy Paul Morin, Thomas Sophonow and Gregory Parsons: The United States v. Burns [2001] 1 S.C.R. 283 at paras 97 et seq., commonly referred to as the Burns and Rafay case. In each of these wrongful convictions, a Royal Commission, such as this one, was established to determine what "went wrong" in order to determine how such gross miscarriages of justice can be avoided in future.
The most recent reports in the Morin and Sophonow inquiries have built upon the Marshall Inquiry Report. The Milgaard Commission has not yet reported. I, and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, are fortunate to have the findings of these earlier reports to draw upon. The Morin Commission was conducted by my good friend and a former colleague on the Quebec Court of Appeal, the Honourable Fred Kaufman. The Sophonow Commission was conducted by another good friend and a former colleague on the Supreme Court of Canada, the Honourable Peter Cory. I have made liberal reference to their reports in order to avoid attempting to "re-invent" the wheel.
These reports and other literature identity a number of recurring features in wrongful conviction cases. These include:
Tunnel vision is rarely the result of malice on the part of individuals. Rather it is generated by a police and prosecutorial culture that allows the subconscious mind to rationalize a biased approach to the evidence. Moreover, it is mutually reinforcing amongst police officers, amongst prosecutors and in the interaction between these groups of professionals. It may even affect judges.
Commissioner Kaufman described tunnel vision as:Commissioner Cory elaborated:
Once "locked in" to the theory of their case, it is not difficult to understand how some police officers, with "noble" motivation, may move from mere interpretation of the evidence to more malignant practices. These could include "assisting" witnesses in their recollection, ignoring relevant evidence that does not support their mission and using coercion to attempt to obtain admissions from the single suspect, whose guilt is assumed.
Many of these consequences became visible in the case of Gregory Parsons. It is important to emphasize that these were not the result of personal malice. This "disease" is transmitted through individuals but it does not mean those who carry it are evil. There is no question that the conduct of the professionals "infected by this virus" has inflicted profound pain and suffering on the victims...the accused, family and friends. However, in the case of Gregory Parsons, I perceive that it has also caused genuine anguish to those professionals who were misguided by tunnel vision, for the pain and suffering it has caused.
The conviction of innocent people has been established with increasing frequency in Canada in recent years. The Supreme Court of Canada recently referred to ''a disturbing Canadian series of wrongful convictions" commencing with Donald Marshall Jr. in 1971 and including David Milgaard, Guy Paul Morin, Thomas Sophonow and Gregory Parsons: The United States v. Burns [2001] 1 S.C.R. 283 at paras 97 et seq., commonly referred to as the Burns and Rafay case. In each of these wrongful convictions, a Royal Commission, such as this one, was established to determine what "went wrong" in order to determine how such gross miscarriages of justice can be avoided in future.
The most recent reports in the Morin and Sophonow inquiries have built upon the Marshall Inquiry Report. The Milgaard Commission has not yet reported. I, and the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, are fortunate to have the findings of these earlier reports to draw upon. The Morin Commission was conducted by my good friend and a former colleague on the Quebec Court of Appeal, the Honourable Fred Kaufman. The Sophonow Commission was conducted by another good friend and a former colleague on the Supreme Court of Canada, the Honourable Peter Cory. I have made liberal reference to their reports in order to avoid attempting to "re-invent" the wheel.
These reports and other literature identity a number of recurring features in wrongful conviction cases. These include:
- A crime which is horrible and alarming, giving it a high profile in the community and creating public pressure to find and convict the perpetrator immediately;
- An absence of direct evidence, leading to reliance upon "circumstances" which are subjectively interpreted to draw inferences of guilt; (frequently such inferences are logically weak and are, occasionally, "far-fetched");
- Reliance upon highly questionable evidence such as "jailhouse informants";
- The "demonizing" of a suspect, who may be a "loner", "outsider" or member of a minority group;
- Exaggeration of adversarial roles on the part of the police and prosecutors, leading to "noble cause corruption". This involves the justification of improper professional practices in order to achieve the perceived "correct" result.
Tunnel vision is rarely the result of malice on the part of individuals. Rather it is generated by a police and prosecutorial culture that allows the subconscious mind to rationalize a biased approach to the evidence. Moreover, it is mutually reinforcing amongst police officers, amongst prosecutors and in the interaction between these groups of professionals. It may even affect judges.
Commissioner Kaufman described tunnel vision as:
“...the single-minded and overly narrow focus on a particular investigative or prosecutorial theory, so as to unreasonably colour the evaluation of information received and one's conduct in response to the information.”
“Tunnel Vision is insidious. It can affect an officer or, indeed, anyone involved in the administration of justice with sometimes tragic results. It results iii the officer becoming so focussed upon an individual or incident that no other person or incident registers in the officer's thoughts. This tunnel vision can result in the elimination of other suspects who should be investigated. Equally, events which could lead to other suspects are eliminated from the officer's thinking. Anyone, police officer, counsel or judge can become infected by this virus”.
Once "locked in" to the theory of their case, it is not difficult to understand how some police officers, with "noble" motivation, may move from mere interpretation of the evidence to more malignant practices. These could include "assisting" witnesses in their recollection, ignoring relevant evidence that does not support their mission and using coercion to attempt to obtain admissions from the single suspect, whose guilt is assumed.
Many of these consequences became visible in the case of Gregory Parsons. It is important to emphasize that these were not the result of personal malice. This "disease" is transmitted through individuals but it does not mean those who carry it are evil. There is no question that the conduct of the professionals "infected by this virus" has inflicted profound pain and suffering on the victims...the accused, family and friends. However, in the case of Gregory Parsons, I perceive that it has also caused genuine anguish to those professionals who were misguided by tunnel vision, for the pain and suffering it has caused.