James Patrick Driskell (born 1959) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

who was

wrongfully convicted A miscarriage of justice occurs when a grossly unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Inno ...

for the murder of Perry Harder in 1991. Driskell's trial and conviction led to a commission of inquiry in 2006.

The crime and prosecution

Harder was last seen outside his rooming house in a

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

and his remains were found in a shallow

grave A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

just outside

, Manitoba, Canada, three months after his disappearance. Harder had been shot at least once. Harder and Driskell had previously been charged with possession of stolen goods, and the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

theory A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...

was that Driskell had committed the murder in order to prevent Harder from

testifying In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. La ...

against him. The only physical

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, eviden ...

linking Driskell to the crime were three hairs found in his

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across t ...

that supposedly belonged to the victim. DNA tests showed years later that not only did the hairs in fact not belong to Harder, but they weren't even related to each other.

Later years

On 3 March 2005,

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a Ministry (government department), ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of ju ...

and

Attorney General of Canada The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vo ...

Irwin Cotler Irwin Cotler, PC, OC, OQ (born May 8, 1940) is a retired Canadian politician who was Member of Parliament for Mount Royal from 1999 to 2015. He served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal g ...

used a special provision of the

Criminal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...

provision to quash the conviction, stay the charges, and order a new trial for Driskell, but the Manitoba Department of Justice decided not to order a new trial. It instead entered a stay of proceedings and called for a public inquiry, ending Driskell's conviction without exonerating him. Driskell had been free on

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

since late 2003, after serving a total of 12 years in

Stony Mountain Penitentiary Stony Mountain Institution is a federal multi-security complex located in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood immediately adjacent to the community of Stony Mountain, Manitoba, about from Winnipeg. The Institution (medium-security) began operat ...

convicted of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

. Driskell's lawyer was

James Lockyer James Lockyer may refer to: * James Lockyer (activist), Canadian lawyer and social justice activist * James Lockyer (architect), English architect and surveyor * James E. Lockyer, Canadian lawyer, law professor, and politician * James Lockyer (music ...

, and Alan Libman both prominent defence lawyers working with the

Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted Innocence Canada (formerly known as the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, AIDWYC), is a Canadian, non-profit legal organization. Based in Toronto, Innocence Canada identifies, advocates for, and helps exonerate individuals who have ...

. The ''Commission of Inquiry Into Certain Aspects of the Trial and Conviction of James Driskell'' began April 4, 2006. Commissioner was The Honourable Patrick LeSage, Q.C. The inquiry was completed, and the findings and recommendations of the Inquiry were provided to Attorney General of Manitoba, Dave Chomiak, on January 30, 2007. In 2008, Driskell was awarded over $4 million compensation.

External links

Globe and Mail article March 3, 2005Globe and Mail article March 3, 2005

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Driskell, James Driskell Inquiry 1959 births Overturned convictions in Canada Living people People wrongfully convicted of murder

The crime and prosecution

Later years

External links

See also

References