CORRECTION: The story below originally stated the judge awarded Gerald Barton $75,000 in damages based on the text of the court decision, but there was, in fact, no money awarded to Barton.
HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia judge has ruled that a man wrongfully convicted of statutory rape in 1970 has failed to prove that the miscarriage of justice was the result of negligence.
Judge James Chipman of the province’s Supreme Court said the plaintiff’s life was profoundly and negatively affected by the wrongful conviction, but did not award him any damages (earlier reports indicated a $75,000 award).
Barton launched a lawsuit against the RCMP in Digby, N.S., for negligent investigation.
He testified that at the time he was charged he never gave a statement to the Mounties and did not plead guilty at a trial, even though that’s what the record shows.
Barton, who now lives in Edmonton, was wrongfully convicted of raping a 14-year-old Nova Scotia girl in 1969.
In January 2011, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal admitted fresh DNA evidence that proved Barton was not the father of the child born to the girl, who has since died.
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