|
Monique
Turenne
| James
Driskell
| Kevin
Tokarchuk
| Chief
Ewatski
| Loren
Schinkel
| Kyle
Unger
|
Brenda Campbell
Another
near-conviction based on bad interrogation -- Case hidden until
reporter found it in court files
- Woman cleared of
murder charge
- New evidence comes to light; another
charged in slaying
Mike McIntyre, Winnipeg
Free Press, November 27, 2003
MANITOBA Justice will drop
a second-degree murder charge against a disabled Winnipeg woman
who her lawyer says was pressured into giving a false confession,
the Free Press has learned.
New evidence -- including DNA
analysis and witness statements -- came to light in recent months.
That evidence has now led police to arrest a new suspect and
charge him with the March 2003 slaying.
The man, Norman Duck, is not
connected in any way with the wrongly accused woman, who has
no prior criminal record and was simply found at the scene of
the crime and taken into custody.
Although acquittals are not
uncommon in the justice system, clearing a charged person of
wrongdoing because a new suspect has been arrested for the same
crime is extremely rare.
Defence lawyer Martin Glazer,
who represents the woman, said the case raises troubling questions
about the way Winnipeg police investigate serious crimes and
treat suspects.
Brenda Campbell, 38, did admit
to knifing Patrick Hamilton at a Powers Street rooming house,
but only after a 10-hour interrogation by police, he said.
Glazer said police took advantage
of his client's condition to elicit a bogus confession.
"She gave a statement
to police in which she told them what they wanted her to hear.
She advises she was yelled at and told, 'Don't lie to us. You're
f---ing lying.' She was scared and she felt pressured,"
he said.
"It's not unusual or,
sadly, that infrequent for even average full-functioning individuals
to give confessions and false confessions. So imagine someone
on the mental level of Ms. Campbell."
Campbell suffers from fetal
alcohol syndrome and other disabilities that resulted from her
being shot and hit by a car earlier in her life. She is a mother
of two young boys, but lost custody of them several years ago.
"She is a vulnerable person,
borderline retarded," Glazer said, adding police didn't
simplify their explanation of Campbell's legal rights when dealing
with the disabled woman, as required by law.
Campbell spent three weeks
in jail before she was released on bail in late March. It was
her first time behind bars.
"This has been a horrible
experience for her," said Glazer. Although a lawsuit against
police and justice officials is a possibility, no action has
been initiated.
Crown attorney Chris Vanderhooft
told court on Wednesday the murder charge against Campbell will
be officially dropped in the coming weeks. He said the woman
won't have to make any further court appearances.
Glazer is angry police and
the Crown haven't moved more quickly, considering the new suspect
was arrested in July.
"I only wish the speed
in which they charge someone would be equal to the speed in which
they clear someone," said Glazer, who doesn't understand
the reasons for delay.
Despite his criticism of police,
Glazer does credit homicide investigators with continuing their
investigation and not simply "closing the book" on
this case, which could have resulted in a wrongful conviction.
At the bail hearing in March,
the Crown claimed blood evidence would help build the case against
Campbell. However, DNA results completely cleared Campbell and
took police in another direction.
Several witnesses emerged in
the weeks following the killing with information about a new
suspect, said Glazer.
Police have never publicly
released information about the dramatic twist in the case, despite
arresting the new suspect four months ago.
The information was obtained
by the Free Press through court documents and legal sources,
and then confirmed yesterday by police and justice officials.
"We are aware of the decision
(to drop the charge against Campbell) and agree with it,"
Const. Bob Johnson said yesterday.
Hamilton, 52, of the Bloodvein
First Nation was stabbed to death March 3 during a drinking party
in a suite at 145 Powers St.
An autopsy revealed 23 knife
wounds in his chest, abdomen and lower back.
On her videotaped confession
-- which was taken over the course of 10 hours -- Campbell said
she was molested by the victim while she used the bathroom in
his apartment.
She told police about grabbing
a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabbing Hamilton, who fell to
the ground and died. Another tenant of the suite woke up hours
later, found the dead man and called police.
Campbell was found by officers
inside the suite, along with the tenant (who is not the new suspect).
Glazer said yesterday there
was never a sexual assault against his client, who simply made
up the story with the assistance and urging of Winnipeg police.
mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca
|
-
 Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
Truth suppress'd, whether
by courts or crooks, will find an avenue to be told. Sheila Steele, injusticebusters.com
If you hold the mouth
of Truth, It will burst out its rib-cage. Somali proverb
Publisher : Sheila
Steele
Got something
to say about this or any other stories on this site? Go to injusticebustersblog Participate!
- injusticebusters
court advice :
- How to walk yourself through the justice system
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- Why you should dump your preliminary hearing (written July 1998 and still valid)
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- Sermonette:
The
Naked Truth -- (You
will find links to many more sermonettes in the sidebar on this
page
Another target
of Dueck's malice: : Wilf Hathway
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contributed greatly to the good vibes which happened around the civil
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Please participate
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Index
to the stories on this website
This is not
regularly updated so if you are looking for a particular story
and you have a name or keyword, please use the site search engine(at
the bottom of the page) which IS regularly updated
Index to Saskatoon Police stories
This is a pretty good scrapbook
for the 1998-2002 period.
 Hatchen and Munson: These two drove
Darrell Night to the edge of Saskatoon
on a freezing January night in 2000. They were found guilty of
unlawful confinement, did some time and are acknowledged by the
Saskatoon Police Service for each having served for 17 years.
The Police Association stood by them and paid for their defence
until they were convicted. Only then were they fired.
-
Unfolding in Ontario: The
John Chalmers corrupt murder conviction
- Winnipeg Police
stories
-
- Background
to Driskell case
-
- Police withholding evidence: lawyers; Could trigger
new trial for Driskell,
March 16th, 2003, By Dan Lett
- 'Junk science' cases to get provincial review:
Government to ensure juries were not misled by hair evidence, March 15th, 2003, By Dan Lett
- The verdict had a price tag: Driskell jurors
didn't know of deals made with key witnesses, March 15th, 2003 by Dan Lett
- Hard time with no way out, March 14th, 2003 by Dan Lett
- Who killed Perry Harder? March 14, 2003, Global TV
- Winnipeg Free Press Editorial - New trial warranted
March 17th, 2003
- New trial for Driskell? More DNA tests sought
to put case before Appeal Court, March
18th, 2003, By Dan Lett, Winnipeg Free Press
-
- Loren
Schinkel: Bad cop
- Monique Turenne:
caught in a frame made by Schinkel, Florida DA and confessed
killer
- James
Driskell: wrongfully
convicted
- Tom
Sophonow: wrongfully
convicted
-
-
- Fort Francis, Ontario:
- Dirty
cop Scott Gobeils
-
- 2005: In
the United States the proven wrongful convictions just keep coming
at us!
Canadians
who have been wrongfully convicted because of improper investigations
combined with zealous Crown
A round-up of wrongful convictions in Canada
- Robert
Baltovich
- Michael Burns
- Sebastian Burns
- Rodney
Cain
- Wilbert
Coffin
(hanged, 1953)
- Jason
Dix
- Jim
Driskell
- Jody
Druken
- Randy
Druken
- Hugues
Duguay
- Michel Dumont
- Peter
Frumusa
- Walter
Gillespie and Robert Mailman
- Clayton Johnson
- Yvonne Johnson
- Herman
Kaglik
- Darren
Koehn
- Kulaveeringsam
"Kulam" Karthiresu
- Stephen Leadbeater
- Donald Marshall
- Chris McCullough
- Michael
McTaggart
- Felix
Michaud
- David Milgaard
- Guy
Paul Morin
- Shannon
Murrin
- Jamie
Nelson
- Greg
Parsons
- Benoit Proulx
- Atif Rafay
- Louise
Reynolds
- Thomas
Sophonow
- Gary
Staples
- Billy
Taillefer
- Steven
Truscott
- Joe
Warren
- Leon
Walchuk
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