Imagine spending years in prison for a crime you did not commit. Unfortunately for Guy Morin he does not have to. An innocent man was falsely convicted for murdering his nine year old next door neighbor, Christine Jessop. He was put on two separate trials and was released during the first trial, but later was convicted during the second trial.  He was only released years later due to DNA evidence discovered by the technological advancements in science. In the spring of 1985, Guy Paul Morin was falsely convicted of murder only for the pressing fact that he had a curious behavior, and also due to the lack of evidence. In every case it is important to know the facts of the murder, and of course it is good to know who was involved with the conviction. Of course every action has consequences, both long term and short term, which will be laid out. We are also going look the evidence that set him free in both trials. Evidently Guy Morin’s personality and behaviour is what got him convicted which will be looked at. Guy Paul Morin was falsely arrested and convicted in 1985 because he was peculiar, also due to the lack of evidence.
In order to elaborate and defend the client, the facts of the case must be stated. The main people involved with this case are Guy Paul Morin, Christine Jessop, and the law enforcement. First there is Guy Paul Morin, the falsely accused and the falsely convicted. He had a grade 12 education, and has a slightly off putting eccentric personality. Then there’s Christine Jessop the nine year old next door neighbor, who unfortunately was the victim of this crime. The people in law enforcement were the ones who convicted Guy Paul Morin. Here’s how the timeline of how Christine’s murder case went.  Christine was abducted after school on October 3rd 1984, and was possibly murder on or after the day of the abduction. Her body was later found dead on December 31, 1984. The body was possibly assaulted evident from the sperm found on her clothes . Later Guy Paul Morin was arrested April 22, 1985 and was released due to evidence not tying him to crime during the first trial. The trials did not just stop there, because there was a second trial ordered by the Ontario Court of Appeal in the summer of 1987, which was approved a year later. It was this very trial which had convicted Mr. Morin of first degree murder. He was later released January 23, 1995 on the base of DNA evidence which did not correspond with Mr. Morin’s DNA. This false conviction case was important because it was not the first false conviction case in Canada and had called into question many tactics used to try to solve Christine Jessop’s murder. The false conviction of Guy Paul Morin had admittedly called into question many things both during and after the event, some short term, and some long term.
The following will be looking at the short term and long term effects, starting with the short term effects. After closing Morin’s conviction trial the second time around, an inquiry was called to look into the proceeding of the Jessop murder case. The inquiry that was called forth lasted from September 3, 1996 to February 10, 1998 . Anger and frustration had also been built up about the negligence from the Canadian Law System and how they not only convicted an innocent person, but failed to find the real killer. The real killer of nine year old Christine Jessop could have been found in the time span that the two lengthy trials had taken place. Distrust of the law system had also temporally taken place because how can a person trust the law system after not only Morin but David Milgaard had both been convicted of a crime they had not done? The government had also given the Morin family $1.25 million as an apology for all they had been through, however that money can not last forever. Now the long term effects that had taken place had been more permanent and long lasting.
The aftermath of this case had taken hold for some more permanent effects for not only for Morin family, but also for the Jessop family and the people involved. After this event Guy Paul Morin will never again fully trust law enforcement. News articles written years after the trials have stated that the real killer was never found. Allowing the Jessop family to wonder and grieve for answers that will never be found. Guy Paul Morin had also missed 10 years of his life which he’ll never get back due to this whole case. A quote from Morin Freed by DNA says “He felt like he was ‘raped’ of life […]” . This quote indicates that Morin feels betrayed and that he’ll never get back what he has lost. After the inquiry people on the police department were fired or suspended for failing to follow the Code of Conduct. One of the contributing factors to the conviction and the effects is the evidence or more likely the lack of.
The case held against Guy Paul Morin contained close to no evidence that tied him to the murder, and all evidence found showed the Guy Morin was in fact not involved with the case. January 19 1995, Morin was acquitted  only due to a DNA result -which originated from the sperm found on the victim’s clothes- that did not match Morin’s DNA.  Even though this evidence set Morin free years after the crime took place, it shows that the police were quick to condemn Morin on circumstantial evidence. There was a strand of hair matching the colour of Morin’s hair but back around the first trial there was not a DNA test that can properly conclude it was his own hair . Both of this evidence shows that police were fixated on Morin not because of evidence but because of his personality. It just does not stop there, when police were investigating where Morin was around the time of the murder, they found Morin had an alibi . His alibi can fully state that Morin was at work during the time of Christine’s kidnapping and murder. Even with Morin’s alibi he was still convicted, further proving that police had a fixation on Morin’s abnormal behaviour. There were at least seven other suspects but the police chose to focus on Morin despite the lack of evidence. Even with the evidence proving Morin’s innocence he was still falsely prosecuted on false pretenses. However the evidence is not the only thing that suggests fixation, but it was also Morin’s personality that was at play for getting him imprisoned.
Morin’s behavior was not only another reason for his conviction, but also the reason for the fixation on him by the authorities. Morin was seen as boyish, and spontaneous which could have raised eyebrows, even after the whole event he still managed to keep that side of him very much alive. His personality could have initially prompted the investigation into his background and made him the prime suspect.  One police officer even wrote down “a weird type guy” down in his notebook when interviewing Morin, which violates the Code of Conduct.  This evidence suggests that police mainly had suspicion about Morin because he was a bit off.  Also Morin had missed Christine Jessop’s funeral only because “he had never been to funeral and thought he had to be invited” .  In the eyes of the police not showing up to the funeral could have suggested remorse or guilt.  Morin’s background and hobbies can also be seen as a bit questionable. Guy Morin had a grade 12 education, kept bees, was in a local band, did home renovations, and did auto upholstery.  Morin’s hobbies are admittedly curious however, one’s hobby is no excuse to arrest and convict a person. Guy Morin’s personality could have caused a blinded and a bias view of the Jessop murder case. This furthers proves that Morin’s behaviour was peculiar and proves that he was simply arrested for his strange personality.
Guy Paul Morin was falsely convicted and put on trial two separate times, once in 1985, and again in 1992-which led to the conviction-, both for the same crime because he was eccentric, and also due to the lack of evidence connecting him to the crime. The evidence used to convict Guy Paul Morin did not connect him to the crime but the evidence used to convict him was virtually non-existing. Guy Morin’s personality had also not only caused a fixation on him by the police, but also got him convicted. Yes, it’s understandable why police would focus on Morin; however it’s no excuse for not considering the other suspects as well. Also if the police had not focused on Morin would they have caught the real killer? Or would they have falsely convicted another innocent person?