Steven Truscott and the battle to clear his name
No teenage ever thinks that it could be possible that one day they could get accused of murdering someone and then a few months later being sentenced to be hanged for a crime that you did not commit. This happened to Steven Truscott, first he was wrongfully convicted for trying to be nice to a girl he knew, next he was sentenced to be hanged and then they changed it to life in prison, and then after fifteen years after they let you go and expect you to live a normal life again. In the end everyone admits they were wrong and give you money, like that will give you back all those years wasted in prison.
Steven Truscott was born on January 18th, 1945 in Vancouver but lived his
childhood in Clinton, Ontario, he went to A.V.M. Hugh Campbell school and that is from where he knew Lynne Harper . He was arrested for the murder of his classmate Lynne
Harper, when he was only fourteen years old. The trial took fifteen days and on
September 30th he was found guilty. He was to be hanged on December 8th, 1959 but it was postponed and then after his punishment turned into life in prison. Steven
Truscott spent 10 years in prison and served another 5 on parole, he lived in Kingston, and Vancouver while he was on parole. Finally on November 12th, 1974 Steven
Truscott was free to start a whole new life. He settled down in Guelph, Ontario, changed his name, got married, had children and started a whole new life with his new family. In
2000 he went to do an interview and in the end his case was reopened, Lawyers fought that it was an unfair trial and in August 2008 the court acquitted Steven of the murder, the next year he was compensated with 6.5 million.
STEVEN TRUSCOTT AND THE BATTLE TO CLEAR HIS NAME
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The event that happened that day shaped Steven’s life forever because he was sentenced to be hanged and then ultimately to spend life in prison. He could no longer go back to school, he would be seen as the worst of people for raping and murdering a little girl. After people start finding out that you were convicted of first degree murder they will look at you very different. Steven spent 15 years in jail, he never got to really experience his teenage years or even get to finish his school just because he was convicted of murder. In the end he was compensated 6.5 million because he was wrongfully convicted, but 6.5 million does not give him back those 15 years spent in a cage and it also does not give him a chance to go back and experience the best years of his life.
Steven Truscott was made famous because he was the youngest person ever on death row, when he was convicted of killing Lynne Harper when he was just 14 years old. He was tried as an adult and was to be hanged just a few months later, this caught everyone’s and ultimately they reduced his sentence to life in prison. This even helped
Canada change their death penalty act, which they soon after got rid of, there are no death sentences in Canada anymore. The category of the crime that was committed was Indictable because he was convicted for murder. According to the Criminal code of
Canada now Steven Truscott would have been charged under section 231 (2) (Grant,
D., & O’Leary, D. (2002)
All about law exploring the Canadian legal System, fifth edition.
Toronto: Nelson Thomson) Murder of the first degree when it is planned and deliberate because if it did turn out that he actually killed Lynne Harper it would seem deliberate that he raped and murdered Lynne.
STEVEN TRUSCOTT AND THE BATTLE TO CLEAR HIS NAME
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The trial began on September 16, 1959 and ended September 30,1959, it lasted
15 days. The whole trial is very weird because Jocelyn Gaudet (Steven’s girlfriend) said that Steven had invited her on a secret date on the same day the crime happened
where
