|
 January 25, 2005: The Federal government
released the
first national examination of the reasons for so many wrongful
convictions in Canada. This should be required reading for every prosecutor,
cop and criminal defence lawyer in the country. News
reports of the gov't report
2004
update | Robert
Baltovich is granted a new trial in December, 2004
Robert Baltovich
(1)
Another miscarriage
of Justice
His appeal
Court sets limits on
Bernardo's ex-lawyer: Serial killer wins partial victory as Lockyer
muzzled in Baltovich appeal
KIRK MAKIN - JUSTICE REPORTER,
Globe and Mail, April 25, 2003
A bizarre alliance between
serial killer Paul Bernardo and the Ontario Crown achieved mixed
success yesterday in attempting to have a prominent defence lawyer
thrown off a coming murder appeal.
An Ontario Court of Appeal
judge said that defence counsel James Lockyer cannot participate
in a portion of the Robert Baltovich appeal in which Mr. Bernardo
will be portrayed as the real killer of University of Toronto
student Elizabeth Bain.
Mr. Baltovich was convicted
of the Bain murder in 1992. His appeal contends that Mr. Bernardo,
the Scarborough Rapist, actually killed Ms. Bain and then remained
silent as Mr. Baltovich took the rap.
However, Mr. Bernardo -- supported
by the Crown -- strongly objected to Mr. Lockyer involving himself
in the Baltovich appeal in light of his having represented Mr.
Bernardo in 1996-97.
"Mr. Lockyer cannot defend
Mr. Bernardo in one matter and then attack him on another,"
Crown counsel Howard Leibovich argued in a brief to Mr. Justice
Marc Rosenberg. "There is no doubt that Mr. Lockyer and
Mr. Bernardo had a solicitor-and-client relationship.
"It undermines the integrity
of our justice system to permit a lawyer to, in effect, defend
a current client by pointing a finger at a prior client."
In a 1999 letter to Mr. Lockyer,
Mr. Bernardo expressed much the same sentiment. He noted that
while representing him in 1996-97, Mr. Lockyer could potentially
have examined confidental material in his file.
"It has come to my attention
that you are representing Mr. Robert Baltovich through the Organization
for the Wrongfully Convicted, and have as such an aim in pointing
the finger for his convicted crimes toward myself," Mr.
Bernardo said in his letter.
Mr. Lockyer, who has devoted
thousands of hours to preparing the Baltovich appeal, said he
never received the letter and only recently became aware of Mr.
Bernardo's complaint.
He said he was consulted at
one point on a legal issue involving videotapes Mr. Bernardo
had taken depicting the torture and rape of murder victims Kristen
French and Leslie Mahaffy but the matter had no relevance to
the Baltovich case.
Mr. Lockyer, a leader in the
movement to free the wrongfully convicted, also said that his
work for Mr. Bernardo was mainly restricted to assessing the
merits of his appeal in support of an application for legal aid
funding.
Mr. Lockyer spoke to Mr. Bernardo
twice by telephone, and once dispatched a colleague to Kingston
Penitentiary to interview him. He said that he did not examine
any sensitive material from the Bernardo defence file.
The dispute forced Judge Rosenberg
to balance Mr. Bernardo's right to solicitor-and-client privilege
against Mr. Baltovich's intense desire to have Mr. Lockyer and
co-defence-counsel Joanne McLean handle his appeal.
"The mischief that the
conflict-of-interest and duty-of-loyalty rules seek to prevent
is the spectre of counsel for a client acting against the interests
of another client, whether present or former," the judge
said.
"For members of the public
to have confidence in the legal profession and the administration
of justice generally, they must know that their confidences will
be respected and not used against them in the future for the
benefit of another client."
Judge Rosenberg said he took
Mr. Lockyer at his word about not having known of Mr. Bernardo's
objections until recently. The judge also said he was loath to
hamper the long-delayed Baltovich appeal, and that a compromise
allowing an independent lawyer to pursue the Bernardo aspect
would solve the dilemma.
"Mr. Baltovich is entitled,
if at all possible, to have this appeal dealt with as expeditiously
as possible by counsel in whom he has confidence," Judge
Rosenberg said. "The current client's interests in counsel
of choice weigh very heavily in this case."
Under a compromise solution
agreed to by both sides, defence counsel Brian Greenspan will
handle the portion of the Baltovich appeal dealing with Mr. Bernardo's
alleged culpability.
"The solution that allows
for Mr. Lockyer and Ms. McLean to retain carriage of the bulk
of this appeal is very much in the public interest," Judge
Rosenberg said. "Since Mr. Lockyer and Ms. McLean will now
have nothing to do with the Scarborough Rapist ground of appeal
and the Bernardo fresh evidence, Mr. Lockyer will not be acting
against his former client."
Judge Rosenberg said that upon
Mr. Lockyer and Ms. McLean turning over the Bernardo portion
of the file to Mr. Greenspan, "there will be no communication
between them concerning those matters. Mr. Greenspan is not affiliated
in any way with Mr. Lockyer and Ms. McLean. Crown counsel agrees
that this is an appropriate solution."
In spite of the fact that Ms.
Bain's body has never been found, Mr. Baltovich was convicted
after a controversial trial that led many observers to question
his guilt.
In an affidavit he wrote for
the appeal court recently, Mr. Baltovich said he feels "in
a state of limbo" and cannot conceive of being represented
by anyone besides Mr. Lockyer and Mr. McLean.
Mr. Bernardo and his ex-wife,
Karla Homolka, are serving prison terms for the sex-slayings
of Kristen and Leslie. After his conviction in the murders, Mr.
Bernardo avoided a protracted trial for multiple rapes by agreeing
to be designated as a dangerous offender.
Man appeals murder conviction,
says Bernardo did it
Mar 29,2000 ET
TORONTO - A
man convicted of murdering his girlfriend claims Paul Bernardo
did it, and wants to be released on bail while he waits for his
appeal.
Lawyers for
Robert Baltovich argued Wednesday there is new evidence to further
suggest that he did not kill Elizabeth Bain.
Elizabeth Bain
disappeared on a summer night, 10 years ago. There was blood
on the floor of her car when it was found.
But her body
was never found.
Bain's boyfriend,
Robert Baltovich was convicted of her murder. Baltovich has always
insisted he was innocent.
Lawyers presented
fresh evidence Wednesday to the court.
Details of
the new evidence can't be revealed because of a publication ban.
But the private investigator in the case, Brian King, describes
it this way:
"It's
based on an overwhelming amount of a lot of different things.
Not just one thing like forensic evidence but say a combination
of interviews and information that has come forward since the
trial."
During the
original trial, Baltovich's lawyers suggested Bain was killed
by the Scarborough rapist. Several witnesses testified at the
trial that they saw Bain with a blond man in the days before
she vanished.
Today, police
and the public know that rapist was Paul Bernardo. And since
then, media reports, and a book have pointed out links between
Bernardo and Bain.
Many people
have come forward to support Baltovich's request for bail.
He also received
support Wednesday from a well known person who was wrongfully
convicted of killing someone, Rubin Carter.
Carter said
people in Baltovich's position should be released from jail until
the case is resolved.
"Any time
someone has been wrongly imprisoned and there is evidence this
person is not guilty of the crime then the justice system removes
the person immediately from the environment of danger,"
Carter said.
The judge asked
the lawyers to outline possible bail conditions for Baltovich,
but he warned them not to read anything into that.
He will hand
down his ruling on Friday.
Robert Baltovich seeks bail pending
his appeal
March 29, 2000
TORONTO (CP) -- As an appeal
court outlined its reasons for dismissing Paul Bernardo's appeal
on his murder convictions in the sex slayings of two schoolgirls,
the man who has blamed him for another murder was nearby seeking
bail pending his own appeal. Robert Baltovich was convicted of
killing his girlfriend, Elizabeth Bain, in 1992. Her body was
never found and Baltovich maintains his innocence. Baltovich's
lawyers and others, including an author who wrote a book about
the Baltovich case entitled No Claim to Mercy, have previously
pointed the finger at Bernardo. Bain's family has long scoffed
at Baltovich's claims that Bernardo killed their daughter, calling
him a cunning opportunist. But the timing of Bain's disappearance
and the lack of evidence linking Baltovich to her on the day
she vanished has some taking a second look. At Baltovich's 1992
trial, some witnesses reported seeing her on the day of her disappearance
in a car with a blond man -- Baltovich is dark-haired, and Bernardo
is blond.
Robert Baltovich begins
bid to join ranks of wrongly convicted
March 31, 2000
TORONTO (CP) -- Robert Baltovich
emerged from prison Friday on a quest to officially join the
growing ranks of Canada's wrongfully convicted. Shrieks of joy
echoed in the courthouse halls as appeal court Justice Marc Rosenberg
granted the 34-year-old's request for bail pending the appeal
of his 1992 conviction in the murder of his girlfriend. Hours
later, eight years to the day after he was first convicted of
killing Elizabeth Bain, Baltovich was greeted warmly by applauding
friends and family as he strolled out of custody. Baltovich then
made his way down busy University Avenue to the offices of lawyer
James Lockyer, who will spend the next year preparing his client's
appeal. There have been at least six high-profile cases of wrongful
conviction in recent years, including Guy Paul Morin, David Milgaard
and Donald Marshall.
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