Justice Delayed

In a unanimous decision that referred to the original conviction as a "miscarriage of justice", five judges on the Ontario Court of Appeal acquitted Steven Truscott of murdering Lynne Harper in 1959. Even though he has maintained his innocence since his conviction, Truscott is quoted as saying, "I never in my wildest dreams expected in my lifetime for this to come true."

The case is one of the most famous -- and infamous -- in Canadian history. Truscott, who was 14 years old at the time, was tried as an adult. When the jury found him guilty, he became the youngest Canadian to be sentenced to death. (In fairness to the jury, the sentence was automatic in cases of murder and they did recommend clemency.) His death sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1960, and ten years later he was released on parole.

Throughout the past 49 years, Truscott has declared he was not the person who killed Lynne Harper. Although the court was unable to declare him innocent since there was no evidence that conclusively proved that irrefutably, Truscott now joins a number of Canadians whose murder convictions were overturned decades after the fact.

There is an old saying that goes "Justice delayed is justice denied". In this case, I think the operative phrase is "Justice delayed is better than on-going injustice". However, I wonder if Truscott would have ever been vindicated if the government actually went ahead with the execution as planned. Would anyone have cared whether or not the young convicted killer's protests of innocence were true or not?

I am fortunate to live in a country that has abolished the death sentence, but even in Canada the call arises periodically to reintroduce capital punishment. The next time the proponents of tough justice call to reimpose the death sentence, I hope they remember the case of Steven Truscott, a man who waited nearly half a century for the courts to recognize what he already knew.