APTN News: Clarence Woodhouse from Pinaymootang First Nation in Manitoba is free after being acquitted of a murder he was convicted on 50 years ago.
Woodhouse was found guilty in 1974 of fatally beating and stabbing a restaurant worker in downtown Winnipeg in 1973.
“I’ll probably just relax; relax, play with my son,” he told reporters outside the courthouse when asked about what he’ll do now. “My grandchildren, too.”
Woodhouse was granted parole in 1983, and last year filed for a ministerial review of his conviction with the help of Innocence Canada, a non-profit team of lawyers. The federal justice minister ordered a new trial earlier this year.
In a Winnipeg courtroom Thursday, the Crown prosecutor acknowledged the case was a miscarriage of justice.
One example, was of a confession Woodhouse supposedly made in fluent English, although he primarily spoke Saulteaux.
Woodhouse testified at his trial that members of the Winnipeg Police Service coerced him into making a false confession, but the trial judge and all-White jury didn’t believe him.
Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of Manitoba Court of King’s Bench said systemic discrimination affected the police investigation and the prosecution.
Two other men convicted in the killing – Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse – saw their convictions quashed last year after a new trial was ordered and the Crown sought an acquittal. Joyal exonerated them, too.
Anderson served almost 11 years and was granted full parole in 1987. Allan Woodhouse served 23 years.
A fourth person, Russell Woodhouse, was also convicted. He died in 2011.
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James Lockyer, a lawyer and director with Innocence Canada, has said there needs to be an examination of homicide convictions involving Indigenous people over the last five decades in Manitoba.
Jerome Kennedy, another lawyer with the group, said outside court Thursday that Innocence Canada is also working on cases involving Indigenous men in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario that are moving toward a request for a review by the federal justice minister.
He said he’d like to see a national effort to take on wrongful convictions.
“There appears to be a deeper systemic issue that requires a targeted approach,” Kennedy said.
After court, the Woodhouse family was invited to the Manitoba legislature to receive an apology and gift from Premier Wab Kinew.
“A gift from the premier. I just love it,” Woodhouse said.
Manitoba Attorney General Matt Wiebe acknowledged the justice system failed Woodhouse.
“While nothing can be said that will bring back the years lost of freedom or the time away from family and friends,” Wiebe said in the Legislature, “as the Attorney General of Manitoba, I offer my heartfelt apologies to Mr. Woodhouse and his family.”
By Cierra Bettens
With files from The Canadian Press