MINISTER OF JUSTICE REFERS MURDER CASE TO ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL  

OTTAWA, August 23, 2006 – The Honourable Vic Toews, Q.C., Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced he has referred legal questions regarding the 1972 murder conviction of Romeo Phillion to the Ontario Court of Appeal, under the conviction review provisions of the Criminal Code.

Mr. Phillion was convicted of non-capital murder in Ottawa on November 7, 1972 in the killing of Leopold Roy in August 1967. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole for 10 years. Appeals to the Ontario Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada were unsuccessful.

In May 2003, Mr. Phillion’s counsel completed an application to the Minister of Justice for a review of the murder conviction pursuant to sections 696.1-696.6 of the Criminal Code.  In July 2003, a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted Mr. Phillion bail pending the Minister’s decision.

Mr. Phillion’s application for ministerial review related to an alleged alibi he had at the time of the killing, information which he claimed was not disclosed by the Crown and new expert reports related to the reliability of the confession he made to police.

For an application for ministerial review to succeed, the Minister of Justice must, by law, be satisfied, as a threshold requirement, that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred.  If this legal 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.

In the Phillion case, the Minister concluded “there are certain issues that in my view merit a review by the Ontario Court of Appeal and I believe it is necessary to seek the court’s opinion before I make my decision.”

Accordingly, pursuant to section 696.3(3)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Code, the Minister is referring two questions related to Mr. Phillion’s case to the Ontario Court of Appeal:

• Would the new information concerning the non-disclosure of certain material be admissible on appeal to the Court of Appeal?
• Are the recent expert reports on the reliability of Mr. Phillion’s confession admissible on appeal to the Court of Appeal?

If the Court of Appeal answers either of the questions in the affirmative, the Minister will ask the Court to hear the case as an appeal by Mr. Phillion against his conviction.

If the Court of Appeal answers both of the questions in the negative, the Minister will consider that opinion in making his final decision on Mr. Phillion’s application.

The Minister made his decision after reviewing the Investigation Report and advice of outside agent John Briggs, the submissions of counsel for Mr. Phillion 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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Ref.:

Mark Quinlan
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Justice
(613) 992-4621

Media Relations
Department of Justice
(613) 957-4207