James Driskell
“For 15 years I’ve been fighting for my life. That’s what this is about to me.”
James Driskell was arrested on October 23, 1990 and charged with the murder of his friend Perry Harder.
Key evidence used to convict Driskell were the following:
Evidence presented by two career criminals, Reath Zanidean and John Gumieny wo testified that Driskell told him of his plan to murder Harder who was going to testify against him concerning in a ‘chop shop’ charges he had acquired. Zanidean made it clear that he was not offered any favours for his testimony against Driskell.
Forensic (hair microsopy) evidence was presented by the Crown who argued that three hairs that were found in Driskell’s van belonged to Harder. The Crown theorized that Driskell had forced Harder into the van and then took him to the place where he was murdered.
Driskell was convicted of first degree murder in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 14, 1991 and received the sentence of life-25.
Driskell’s appeal was denied in December 1992.
Driskell reached out to AIDWYC, now Innocence Canada in 2002.
Innocence Canada convinced Manitoba Justice to perform DNA testing on the hair samples because new and better technology was now available. The results of the testing showed that the three hairs found in Driskell’s van did not belong to Perry Harder but to three different individuals.
It was also discovered that Zanidean and Gumieny were paid large sums of money for their testimony against Driskell and that the Winnipeg police were aware that Zanidean recanted his testimony after Driskell was convicted. Zanidean had been granted immunity on an arson charge. None of this information was disclosed to Driskell’s lawyer before, during or after his trial.
Innocence Canada proceeded in their attempt to clear Driskell’s name by submitted a ministerial review application to the Minister of Justice in October 2003.
Driskell was released on bail on November 28, 2003 to await the decision of the Minister concerning his applciation. On March 3, 2005, Justice Minister Irwin Colter quashed Driskell’s murder conviction. The Crown stayed proceedings.
A public inquiry looked into Driskell’s wrongful conviction.
Driskell was awarded compensation.
Driskell’s fifteen year fight to clear his name was at last over but the scars that are left from being wrongly accused and wrongly convicted are still healing.
Stuck in an already difficult life, James Driskell’s father was murdered at the age of 44. James and Perry were both arrested on various offences following the police discovering and searching their “chop shop,” where the two chopped stolen vehicles and sold its parts. On September 30, a train passenger happened to spot Perry’s body near the train tracks. Police believed that James was responsible for Perry’s death.
James would spend the next 13 years in prison for a crime that he did not commit. If the miscarriage of justice that James suffered had never come to light – which could easily have happened, as will be seen below – James would likely still be in prison as he would not be eligible for parole until 2016.
Perhaps the root cause was the “tunnel vision” on behalf of police and prosecutors, who were so determined to make their case against James that they resorted to unethical lengths to secure a conviction.
On March 3, 2005, Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler quashed James’ murder conviction. On December 7, 2005, the Government of Manitoba called a Public Inquiry into the causes of James’ wrongful conviction.