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Romeo Phillion, who spent more than three decades in prison for a murder he insisted he never committed, has died.
According to a post on the website of the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted, Phillion was admitted to hospital on Sunday and died at about 9:25 a.m. on Monday. Phillion, who was in his late 70s, had been in failing health for many years and suffered from emphysema.
Phillion spent more than 31 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder in 1972 for killing Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy five years earlier. He was the longest-serving former inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction overturned.
Phillion, who confessed to the crime and then quickly recanted, was sentenced to life in prison.
Phillion maintained his innocence and never sought parole, insisting it would be akin to an admission of guilt.
The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the conviction in 2009, finding that a jury may have reached a different verdict had they known about a possible alibi, never disclosed to Phillion’s lawyer, that would have put Phillion in Trenton at the time of the killing.
“Romeo will never be forgotten for his fighting spirit, sense of humour, support of other wrongly convicted and for his boyish and captivating charm,” said a post on the AIDWYC website. “He attended all AIDWYC functions despite having to use a scooter and having to carry oxygen with him. Romeo did what he could to draw attention to the devastation that a wrongful conviction imposes on the innocent individual and their family. We are extremely grateful to him for his commitment to make a difference regardless of his personal challenges and losses.”
Phillion filed a $14-million lawsuit against police and prosecutors. The suit, which had been tied up in appeal courts for years, was allowed to proceed in February when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a Crown appeal of a lower court decision that said the case should be allowed to go ahead.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
aseymour@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
According to a post on the website of the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted, Phillion was admitted to hospital on Sunday and died at about 9:25 a.m. on Monday. Phillion, who was in his late 70s, had been in failing health for many years and suffered from emphysema.
Phillion spent more than 31 years in prison after being convicted of second-degree murder in 1972 for killing Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy five years earlier. He was the longest-serving former inmate in Canada to have a murder conviction overturned.
Phillion, who confessed to the crime and then quickly recanted, was sentenced to life in prison.
Phillion maintained his innocence and never sought parole, insisting it would be akin to an admission of guilt.
The Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the conviction in 2009, finding that a jury may have reached a different verdict had they known about a possible alibi, never disclosed to Phillion’s lawyer, that would have put Phillion in Trenton at the time of the killing.
“Romeo will never be forgotten for his fighting spirit, sense of humour, support of other wrongly convicted and for his boyish and captivating charm,” said a post on the AIDWYC website. “He attended all AIDWYC functions despite having to use a scooter and having to carry oxygen with him. Romeo did what he could to draw attention to the devastation that a wrongful conviction imposes on the innocent individual and their family. We are extremely grateful to him for his commitment to make a difference regardless of his personal challenges and losses.”
Phillion filed a $14-million lawsuit against police and prosecutors. The suit, which had been tied up in appeal courts for years, was allowed to proceed in February when the Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear a Crown appeal of a lower court decision that said the case should be allowed to go ahead.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
aseymour@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/andrew_seymour
查看原文...
