James Lockyer Appointed to the Order of Canada!

James Lockyer, a legal stalwart of Innocence Canada since Day One, will be awarded the Order of Canada in 2019 in recognition of a remarkable career spent helping exonerate the innocent.  The announcement was made by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Julie Payette, Governor General of Canada, on December 27th, 2018.

A founding director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted when it was established in 1993, James has played a pivotal role in many of Innocence Canada's 22 exonerations.  In addition, James led a series of cases arising from the unreliable expert testimony of pathologist Charles Smith, which resulted in Innocence Canada's most recent exoneration of O'Neil Blackett in October of this year. In total, Innocence Canada's exonerees spent more than 190 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. 

In a joint statement, Innocence Canada co-presidents Kirk Makin and Ron Dalton commented "Innocence Canada has a record number of cases currently under review for possible exoneration, in no small part thanks to James' legal leadership."

Please join the Innocence Canada team as we celebrate James' most recent accomplishment!