By Canadian Press

Court case seeks details of how Nova Scotia man wrongfully convicted of murder

Jul 2, 2019 | 8:13 AM

HALIFAX — A court case is underway today over the release of key evidence explaining what led to the wrongful murder conviction and imprisonment of a Nova Scotia man who spent almost 17 years in jail.

The Canadian Press, CBC and the Halifax Examiner are asking Justice James Chipman of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court for access to federal documents with details of how 63-year-old Glen Assoun was improperly convicted of second-degree murder on Sept. 17, 1999.

It’s a case where Canada’s minister of justice has already declared there was “reliable and relevant evidence” that wasn’t disclosed during criminal proceedings.

On March 1, after a two-decade struggle by Assoun to overturn his conviction, a judge found Assoun innocent in the 1995 knifing death of 28-year-old Brenda Way.

A lawyer with Innocence Canada, a group that works to free the wrongfully convicted, has said police didn’t disclose key evidence before Assoun’s unsuccessful appeal in 2006.

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The struggle to release the information goes back to 2014, when the Justice Department determined in a preliminary report there may have been a of miscarriage of justice and Assoun was released on bail.

At the time, Chipman refused a media request to see the report, and sealed the hundreds of pages of information.

The Canadian Press