INTRO
There has been 7 public inquires held by the provinces in the last 20 years that have examined wrongful convictions
The justice system is organized with many rules and procedures that make it supposedly difficult for a wrongful conviction to occur
-recognition of the falibiulity of the Canadian criminal justice system
-serious implication
-trust in the justice system erodes and innocent people suffer.
Commission names
The Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall, Jr., Prosecution
The Commission on Proceedings Involving Guy Paul Morin
The Inquiry Regarding Thomas Sophonow
The Commission of Inquiry into Certain Aspects of the Trial and Conviction of James Driskell
The Lamer Commission of Inquiry Pertaining to the Cases of: Ronald Dalton,
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-vagueness of what constitutes a wrongful conviction (Roach,2012)
-additionally, cannot simply produce a numeric representation of wrongful convictions because when wrongful convictions occur they usually remain unnoticed for various reasons.
-many accused to plead guilty in court. Those that decide to plead guilty might actually be in fact innocent.
-in some scenarios the accused faces lengthy sentences if they proceed with trial and are found to be guilty.
-Consequently, defendants usually plead guilty to receive incentives from the prosecution. Incentives a defendant may receive from the prosecution might be a reduced sentence or early parole.
-additionally, some accused realize despite their factual innocence the prosecution has a strong case against them with many ill-informed witnesses, police documents, and other evidence.
Prosecution has vast resources from the state. Whereas, accused has limited resources.
-realizing that the chances of receiving a not guilty verdict is nearly impossible despite being innocent the accused pleads
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-Anthony an Ontario man was convicted for the assault of a teenage girl.
-however, Anthony did not commit the crime. Despite not committing the crime Anthony plead guilty.
-Anthony was given a plead bargind by the crown. The plead bargain Anthony received was that if he confessed a plead guilty he would serve two years less a day in a provincial jail. Under the advice of his lawyer Anthony plead guilty to a crime he did not commit.
-years later in the Ontario court of appeals Anthony was exonerated.
-the infamous Scarborough rapist Paul Bernardo and confessed to the