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Steven Murray Truscott (born January 18, 1945 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian man who was wrongly sentenced to death in 1959 for the rape and murder of classmate Lynne Harper. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He continued to maintain his innocence until 2007, when his conviction was declared a miscarriage of justice and he was formally acquitted of the crime though not declared factually innocent. Truscott was scheduled to be hanged on December 8, 1959; however, a temporary reprieve on November 20, 1959 postponed his execution to February 16, 1960 to allow for an appeal. On January 22, 1960, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. He was released on parole on October 21, 1969 and his parole restrictions were lifted on November 12, 1974. On November 29, 2001, Truscott filed a section 690 (replaced by sections 696.1 to 696.6) Criminal Code application for a review of his 1959 murder conviction. Hearings in a review of the Truscott case were heard at the Ontario Court of Appeal. On August 28, 2007, after review the court declared that Truscott's conviction had been a miscarriage of justice. As he was not declared factually innocent, a new trial could have been ordered, but this was a practical impossibility given the passage of time. Accordingly, the court acquitted Truscott of the murder.〔(The full Ontario Court of Appeal ruling )〕 On July 7, 2008, the government of Ontario awarded him $6.5 million in compensation.〔(Ontario Compensates Steven Truscott )〕 ==Lynne Harper== On June 9, 1959, 12-year-old Lynne Harper disappeared near RCAF Station Clinton, an air force base that lay south of Clinton, Ontario (roughly 80 kilometers north of London). Two days later, on the afternoon of June 11, searchers discovered her body in a nearby farm woodlot. Harper had been raped and strangled with her own blouse. Cheryl "Lynne" Harper was born to Leslie and Shirley Harper on August 31, 1946 in Moncton, New Brunswick. She had one older brother, Barry Harper, who lives in Ohio and a younger brother, Jeffrey. Her father was a school teacher before he joined the military in 1940. They relocated to the RCAF base at Clinton in July, 1957. Lynne spent her time going to Sunday School, Bible class and Girl Guides. Truscott and Harper were classmates in a combined grades 7/8 class at the Air Vice Marshal Hugh Campbell School located on the north side of the Air Force base. In the early evening of Tuesday, June 9, 1959, Truscott gave Harper a ride on the crossbar of his bicycle and they proceeded from the vicinity of the school northwards along the County Road. The timing and duration of their encounter, and what happened while they were together, have been contentious issues since 1959. In court the Crown contended that Truscott and Harper left the County Road before reaching the bridge over the Bayfield River and, in a wooded area beside the County Road (known as Lawson's Bush), Truscott raped and murdered Lynne. Truscott has maintained since 1959 that he took Harper to the intersection of the County Road and Highway 8, where he left her unharmed. Truscott maintains that when he arrived at the bridge, he looked back toward the intersection where he had dropped Harper off and observed that a vehicle had stopped and that she was in the process of entering it. On June 10, 1959 at 9:30 a.m. Steven was interviewed by (Constable) Hobbs in a cruiser at his school. He told Hobbs that while standing on the bridge, he saw Lynne get into a "late model Chevrolet" and there "was a lot of chrome on the car and it could have been a Bellair (sic) version."〔Kaufman〕 At 11:20 that evening, Lynne's father reported her missing. ==Arrest and trial== On June 12, shortly after 7:00 p.m., Truscott was taken into custody. At about 2:30 a.m. on June 13, he was charged with first degree murder under the provisions of the Juvenile Delinquents Act. On June 30, Truscott was ordered to be tried as an adult; an appeal on that order was dismissed. On September 16, Truscott's trial began in the then Supreme Court of Ontario in Goderich before Mr. Justice Ferguson and a jury. Steven Truscott was represented by Frank Donnelly; Glen Hays appeared for the Crown. All the evidence presented in court against the accused was circumstantial, and centred on placing Harper's death within a narrow time frame which implicated Truscott. On September 30, the jury returned a verdict of guilty, with a recommendation for mercy. Mr. Justice Ferguson, as was then required under the law, sentenced Truscott to be hanged. On January 21, 1960, Truscott's appeal, put forth by John G.J. O'Driscoll to the Court of Appeal for Ontario was dismissed. Immediately afterwards the Government of Canada commuted Truscott's sentence to life imprisonment. An application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was denied on February 24. On that date, Truscott did not have an automatic right to appeal to this court.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Steven Truscott」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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