BREAKING NEWS: Case against N.S. man convicted of murder dropped
Glen Assoun's family cried quietly today as the Crown dropped the case, effectively exonerating Assoun in the 1995 murder of Brenda Way.
David Lametti's decision says a federal inquiry determined "relevant and reliable information" was never provided to Assoun during his trial in 1999. Kirk Makin, co-president of the Innocence Canada legal group, said Lametti's decision represents the "next development in what we believe is an egregious wrongful conviction case."
Court heard Way's body was found with multiple stab wounds, her top had been pulled up and her throat was slashed. Earlier this week, the father of four told The Canadian Press he's always had hope he could show he is innocent of the crime. Assoun began fighting for his freedom while in jail, initially sending letters to American-Canadian boxer Rubin Carter -- who was wrongfully convicted of murder and exonerated -- and later having his case taken up by Innocence Canada lawyers.
The case began at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 12, 1995, when Way's partially clad body was discovered behind an aging apartment block in Dartmouth's north end. Court documents say she had been spotted earlier in the evening walking the streets and visiting a crack cocaine dealer. The Crown countered the alibi with testimony from Margaret Hartrick, a friend of Way's, who gave statements to police in 1996 and 1998 and testified at a preliminary hearing that she saw Assoun at 4:15 a.m. on the night of the murder.A prostitute and frequent crack cocaine user, Hartrick died before Assoun's trial began.
The trial judge, Suzanne Hood, reminded the jury there was evidence that Wise had used crack on the day he'd called Assoun in British Columbia from a pay telephone at the Dartmouth mall.
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