RUBIN "HURRICANE" CARTER

Mr. Carter passed away last week at age 76. My source for this posting is last week's CBCnews.ca . Rubin Carter was one more in a long litany of wrongfully convicted citizens who spent years in jail based upon little or no evidence. It was almost a "driving while black" style offence that got him arrested. A triple murder had occurred and Mr. Carter's car was described as being similar to one seen leaving the crime. Also Mr. Carter and the perpetraters shared a skin colour which seemed to be ample evidence for the all white jury in 1966. A decade later after witnesses had recanted their testimony, one of them then reaffirmed his original testimony and Mr. Carter and colleague were convicted a second time for a triple murder. Finally in 1985 a federal judge ruled that Mr. Carter's and his colleague Mr. Artis's convictions were based "upon an appeal to rascism rather than reason and concealment rather than disclosure." The Crown being unsatisfied with a general lack of real evidence had also suppressed evidence favourable to the defence.

Also interesting is that Mr. Carter being a man of principle found it necessary to break ties with the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted when they did not object more strongly to the appointment of prosecuter Susan Mclean to the Ontario Court of Justice in 2004. Ms. Mclean had been involved in the wrongful and improper conviction for murder of Guy Paul Morin in Ontario. It is good to know that police, prosecuters and judges are just as incompetent, lazy and biased here in Ontario as well as throughout Canada and the U.S.. Our "justice" system doesn't need a tweak, it needs a top to bottom overhaul. Too many satisfied and vested interests have long blocked overdue reform.