Wrongful Convictions Culminating Activity - Steven Truscott An Overview of the CaseOn June 9, 1959, near Clinton, Ontario, 14-year-old Steven Truscott took his classmate Lynne Harper, 12, rides his bike from their school to Highway 8 (Ontario Legal Education Network's timeline of events regarding the Steven Truscott affair). This single event would change his life forever. The next day, Lynne's body was discovered near Lawson's bush (near the area he had dropped her off in) where she had been strangled, sexually assaulted and then killed. That day, Agent Hobbs conducted a seven-hour long interview with young Steven Truscott during which he asked him for a number. He then changed his name, married and had children. Decades later, in 2001, AIDWYC (Association for the Defense of the Wrongly Convicted) became actively involved in the case and called for its reopening. After retired Judge Fred Kaufman reviewed the case and submitted a 700-page report, Judge Irwin Cotler concluded in 2004 "that there was a reasonable basis for concluding that a miscarriage of justice had probably occurred” (Chronology of the case). Truscott Case Truscott Chronology). Additionally, Irwin Cotler forced the Ontario Court of Appeal to rehear the Truscott case as if it were new, with new evidence. In 2006, the Court of Appeal heard from witnesses who said they saw Truscott with Harper on his bike crossing a bridge toward Highway 8 years ago, on the day of the murder in 1959. After the lawyers of Truscott pleaded to prove his innocence in the Ontario Court of Justice Appeal, on August 28, 2007, after approximately 48 years of life as a convicted murderer, Steven Truscott was finally acquitted of murder (Roberts). He received news of a phone call with his attorney while he was on Highway 401, during which they told him, "You're free." No more parole. You have been acquitted by the court” (Swan 140). With that verdict in place, they officially apologized and said that what happened to Truscott was in fact a crime. While researching this case, I came across many others and became aware of how many people have suffered the injustice of being found guilty. While reading portions of the book "Real Justice: Fourteen and Sentenced to Death the Story of Steven Truscott," I learned that the police played a significant role in 14-year-old Truscott's decision to be convicted of murder . The book showed that they forced witnesses to change their stories to further "prove" Truscott's guilt in the crime. This led to the conclusion that in this case (as in many others), the police were uniquely and unfairly targeting a