I studied the Steven Truscott case in my third year youth criminal law class in university. The point of the study was to come to our own conclusions based on the evidence because, as that point, the case had not received its federal review yet. Truscott had gone through a jury trial a bazillion years ago, (1959) but the resonant arguments about evidence, rushed testimony, crappy lawyers and suspicious area drivers let us all participate in a real-life game of whodunit.
It was always important to me to remember that it was not a game, that, in fact, a boy had gone to jail and nearly received the death sentence as a result of the jury’s verdict. As a scholar, however, I found it incredibly interesting to dissect the clues, compare and contrast them with cases from today and dig deep into my own soul and moral code to decide for myself if I thought he had done it.
I definitely think the investigation is an excellent example of how not to run a murder investigation, the process was certainly rushed and clearly geared toward blaming someone—anyone—so the town of Clinton, Ontario could rest easy knowing the killer of 12-year-old Lynne Harper was being punished. Truscott, a boy himself at age 14, was put through a legal circus and clown court that today’s Greenspans would certainly tackle. He spent 10 years in jail and 40 on parole.
I can’t go into the details of the investigation (at least as far as the public knows them to be) only because they are too detailed and exhaustive for a blog entry. But the one clue that gives me the “reasonable doubt” our courts ask for is the necklace: How did Truscott know exactly where Harper’s necklace was hung up in the woods surrounding Clinton, after it had been ripped off of her? That one minute detail is my doubt. Everything else I’ve read and seen reassures me that guilty or not, Truscott did not receive justice in the academic sense of the word, and as our Charter defines it.
The justice department decided last year that the 1959 trial was a miscarriage of justice. The department did not clear his name or label him one of Canada’s wrongly convicted. Today Truscott received a $6.5 million settlement package.
Did he do it?
I definitely believe that unless someone else comes forth with clear evidence, or a confession, of killing Harper, only Truscott will ever really know if he did it.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080707/truscott_compensation_080707/20080707?hub=TopStories
More info: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/truscott/

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