OTTAWA — Federal Justice Minister David Lametti ordered a new trial Thursday for two Indigenous men who were convicted of murder by an all-white jury in Winnipeg 49 years ago.
Lametti cited unspecified new evidence in his decision to order another trial for Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse, who were sentenced to life in prison in the death of Ting Fong Chan, a restaurant worker who was fatally stabbed in 1973.
"After a thorough review of Mr. Anderson and Mr. Woodhouse’s case, I am satisfied that there is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred," Lametti said in a news release.
Jerome Kennedy, a lawyer for the two men, said his clients were pleased with the news and he hopes the Crown now decides to not pursue a new trial.
"We expect that when they attend in court in Winnipeg over the next few weeks that the matter will be finalized," Kennedy said in an interview from St. John's, N.L.
"These two young men, who were 17 and 18 years old when they were convicted, have always maintained their innocence over that 49-year period. They've never given up hope."
The men appealed to higher courts shortly after their convictions but were denied.
In recent years, they submitted applications for a criminal conviction review by the federal justice minister, and were supported by Innocence Canada, an organization that has fought against wrongful convictions. Kennedy is one of the group's directors.
The men's convictions were based largely on a signed confession given by Anderson to police. But lawyers have said Anderson did not know what he was signing and English was not his first language.
On a U.S.-based podcast last year, Anderson said he signed a piece of paper that he thought was a receipt for his personal property that he had surrendered upon his arrest.
Anderson was released on parole in 1987 and Woodhouse in 1990. No dates have been set for when the two might next appear in a Manitoba court.
Lametti introduced a law in February that would make changes to how people who may be wrongfully convicted can have their cases reviewed.
The bill reached second reading in the House of Commons before MPs rose for the summer.
If the bill passes, advocates say it would make reviews happen faster by establishing an independent commission to decide when criminal cases should be sent back to the justice system.
Right now, a wrongful conviction review takes between two and six years to complete and the decision is up to the justice minister.
Anderson had submitted his application for criminal conviction review in 2019 and Woodhouse in 2020.
The proposed new system would aim to speed the process up by allowing more people to be dedicated to reviewing files.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2023.
— By David Fraser in Ottawa and Steve Lambert in Winnipeg.
The Canadian Press
