A judge on Tuesday acquitted two Indigenous people who were convicted 50 years ago of murdering a restaurant worker in Winnipeg.
When Court of King’s Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal told Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse that they were innocent and should be acquitted, the courtroom audience erupted in joy.
Prosecutor Michelle Jules had told the court earlier that the Manitoba Public Prosecution Service acknowledges that Messrs. Anderson and Woodhouse had been the victims of a miscarriage of justice in this case.
She also told Judge Joyal that “systemic racism impacted the investigation and prosecution,” and that the justice system failed to give them a fair trial.
It should never have happened
Federal Justice Minister David Lametti in June ordered a new trial for the two men, citing unspecified “new evidence”.
Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse had been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of restaurant worker Ting Fong Chan, who was stabbed in 1973.
The two men had appealed shortly after their conviction, but they have always been unsuccessful. Mr. Anderson was paroled in 1987 and Mr. Woodhouse in 1990.
It’s unimaginable to be accused of something you didn’t do
Tuesday, before Chief Justice Joyal, they again proclaimed their innocence and recounted the repercussions of this miscarriage of justice on their lives and those of their loved ones.
Brian Anderson, now 68, said the conviction had a huge impact on his family. “It should never have happened,” he told the judge.
Allan Woodhouse, 67, said he spent 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. “It’s unimaginable to be accused of something you didn’t do,” he told the court. I broke ties with my family because I didn’t want them to see me while I was in prison. »
Miscarriage of justice
On June 22, Minister Lametti wrote in a press release that he had reasonable grounds to conclude that a miscarriage of justice had “probably occurred” in this case.
Manitoba Justice Minister and Attorney General Kelvin Goertzen also said Tuesday he believes a miscarriage of justice has occurred. He apologized to both men and their families, while admitting that “nothing that can be said will bring back the years of freedom lost or the time spent away” from their loved ones.
Minister Goertzen added that this miscarriage of justice also had repercussions for the family of the victim, who have been demanding justice for fifty years.
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Vice-Chief Kim Beaudin believes that systemic racism did indeed play a key role in these miscarriages of justice. “Provincial and federal governments should pay attention to these cases to see the results of racism, prejudice and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in prisons,” he said.
The conviction of the two men was largely based on signed confessions by Brian Anderson to the police. However, lawyers have already pointed out that Mr Anderson did not know what he was signing, as English was not his first language.
In an American podcast last year, Brian Anderson explained that he believed the document he was signing was actually a receipt for his personal items given during his arrest.