MINISTER OF JUSTICE REFERS MURDER CASE TO ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL  

OTTAWA, July 17, 2007 – The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced he has referred the murder conviction of William Mullins-Johnson to the Ontario Court of Appeal, under the conviction review provisions of the Criminal Code.

Minister Nicholson said he is satisfied there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in Mr. Mullins-Johnson's 1994 conviction. 

Mr. Mullins-Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his four-year-old niece Valin Johnson. An appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal was rejected.

In September 2005, Mr. Mullins-Johnson's counsel applied to the Minister of Justice for a review of the murder conviction pursuant to sections 696.1-696.6 of the Criminal Code.  A judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted Mr. Mullins-Johnson bail pending the Minister's decision.

University of Ottawa law professor David Paciocco was appointed to investigate the case and on October 19, 2005 issued a preliminary report. However, the Ontario Attorney General asked Professor Paciocco before completing his investigation to await the results of a further review of the pathology evidence in the Mullins-Johnson case being conducted by an independent panel reviewing a number of cases involving Dr. Charles Smith. Mr. Mullins-Johnson agreed to this request.

After recently receiving Professor Paciocco's final report, Minister Nicholson concluded that “there is now significant new evidence that was not available at the time of Mr. Mullins-Johnson's trial that casts serious doubt on the correctness of his conviction for murder.”

For an application for ministerial review to succeed, the Minister of Justice must be satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.  If this requirement is met, the Minister may grant one of two remedies – a direction for a new trial or a referral of the matter to the court of appeal to be heard as a new appeal.

As well, the Minister has the legal authority at any time prior to his decision to refer a question about an application to a Court of Appeal for its opinion.

The Minister made his decision to refer the case to the Court of Appeal to be heard as a new appeal after reviewing the Investigation Report and advice of Professor Paciocco, the submissions

of counsel for Mr. Mullins-Johnson and the Attorney General of Ontario, and the recommendations of Mr. Bernard Grenier, his Special Advisor on the criminal conviction review process.

When rendering a decision on an application for ministerial review, the Minister is not making a finding of guilt or innocence, as he has no legal power to make such a finding. The Minister is simply returning the matter to the courts in circumstances where there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.  Ultimately, the courts will decide the issue of the applicant's guilt or innocence.

Further information about applications for ministerial review and the conviction review process is available at the CCRG website (http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/ccr/index.html).

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For more information:

Geneviève Breton
Director of Communications
Minister's Office
613-992-4621

Media Relations
Department of Justice Canada
613-957- 4207