This week, Federal Justice Minister David Lametti concluded that the conviction of the man of BC. Project manager Tamara Levy says she and the two lawyers who handled the case reached Klassen by phone to tell him the news. “He was as happy as you can imagine,” Levy told CBC. “But it has been a long time and – of course – better than ever, but he spent 26 years in prison for a crime that never happened. So, of course, he wishes this result had been achieved from the beginning.”

“He offered her a walk home”

The result is the second big win for the Innocence Project. In 2020, Lametti ordered a new trial for another of the program’s subjects – a father convicted of killing his two sons in 1983. Gerald Bernard Klassen spent more than 26 years in prison for a murder he claims he did not commit. The Minister of Justice ordered a new trial. (Shutterstock)
The defendant in that case – Tomas Yebes – was acquitted after a brief retrial in which the Crown did not provide evidence. A spokesman for the BC Prosecutor’s Office said Klassen’s case was being considered to determine the next steps. But Levy said it expects the case to likely follow a similar course. According to court documents, McLeod’s partially clothed body was found in December 1993 at the base of a boat launch ramp on the south shore of Lake Nicola, near Merritt, BC. Klassen said he had sex with Mcleod and admitted that the couple had an argument that ended with him pushing her away and Mcleod falling and hitting her head on the boat ramp. “He denies there was anything other than consensual sex and denies that Ms. McLeod was partially dressed when she left the scene,” BC Supreme Court Justice Catherine Wedge said in 2020 when Klassen applied for bail pending outcome. of his appeal to Lametti. . “Mr Klassen says that when he left the boat ramp, Mrs McLeod was alive and abusing him. He offered to take her home, but she refused.” Despite Klassen’s protests, a court found him guilty of causing her death through sexual assault. The BC Court of Appeal rejected his appeal and his case was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Canada. Wedge released Klassen after examining new views from both defense experts and Crown experts who challenged a physician at the trial who insisted McLeod suffered multiple stroke injuries and that her death was due to assault and acute intoxication. The physician has since “softened” his view of the causes of the young woman’s death, and expert reports have found that “the head injury could have been caused by an accidental fall or voluntary force, but forensic science could not determine which ».

“A classic Catch 22”

A first-degree homicide charge comes with the possibility of release after 25 years. But like most inmates holding their innocence behind bars, Klassen did not receive full release. “He was a compliant, hard-working inmate,” Weetz said. “However, he has repeatedly denied being transferred to the minimum security; even after serving a mandatory 25 years for first-degree murder, he has been denied full release because he has consistently asserted his innocence. This, in my view, is a classic Catch 22 . “ A BC Supreme Court tribunal has convicted Gerald Bernard Klassen of first-degree murder in 1995 for causing the death of a young woman through sexual assault. Klassen has always argued for his innocence. (David Horemans / CBC)
Levy said eight students worked on the case along with members of the BC bar who took Klassen on for free. He says it takes eight to 12 years for a case of unfair conviction to work in the system. Last year, a former Ontario Court of Appeals judge and a former Quebec Court judge reported to Lametti, recommending the establishment of a new, independent panel to investigate miscarriages of justice. “We hope that this commission will take place and take on more of this work to ensure that it is done faster than in the past,” Levy said. “It certainly is not a very effective process right now and we would like to see this change.”