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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Drug Related (Possession or sale) |
Sentence: |
4 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
0.25 |
Year Crime: |
2017 |
Year Convicted: |
2017 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Canada |
County or Region of Crime: |
Nova Scotia |
City of Crime: |
Kemptown |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Duncan Charles Todd Mullin was wrongly convicted on February 21, 2017 of possessing cocaine in Kemptown, Nova Scotia, Canada. The prosecution of Duncan Mullin was based on the allegation that three days earlier, on February 18, 6.8 kilograms of cocaine was found in a gym bag in the trunk of the car he had borrowed from the car dealership where he worked to drive with his 8-1/2 months pregnant former wife Melissa Anne Comeau and his two year old son to see his ill grandmother. The car Mullin was driving slid into a ditch and it was searched when RCMP officers came upon the scene. A field test of the bags was positive for cocaine. Mullin told police he had no knowledge of the contents of the gym bag that was in the car when he borrowed it. Police told Mullin that if he didn't pled guilty Comeau, who had also been charged, would be prosecuted, and their two-year-old son would be taken by the State and placed in child protective services, but if he pled guilty the charges would be dropped and their son released into her custody. Mullin pled guilty, The charges against Comeau were dropped and she was released. Mullin was sentenced to four years in a federal penitentiary. After Mullin was imprisoned the substance in the gym bag was tested by Health Canada, and it was discovered that none of it was an illegal substance. Some it was Lidocaine and some was Phenacetin, neither of which is an illegal substance under Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. On March 27, 2017 Mullin's lawyer Jim O'Neil (who was a different lawyer than the one who handled his guilty plea) filed a notice of appeal to withdraw his guilty plea and vacate his conviction. On April 26 O'Neil sent an email to the Appeal Court's registrar in which he wrote: "It is clear this man is innocent and there are disturbing circumstances." On May 25, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal set aside Mullin's guilty plea, quashed his February 21 conviction, and entered an order for his acquittal. The Court's ruling stated that allowing his conviction to stand would result in "a miscarriage of justice." Mullin was not released from custody, because he had unrelated pending theft and forgery charges." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Inaccurate field test positive for cocaine, and police and prosecutor misconduct of pressuring Mullin to plead guilty or his pregnant former wife would be charged and prosecuted." |
Innocence Proved By: |
"On May 25, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal set aside Mullin's guilty plea, quashed his February 21 conviction, and entered an order for his acquittal. The Court's ruling stated that allowing his conviction to stand would result in "a miscarriage of justice."" |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
35 |
Age When Released: |
35 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Man's drug conviction quashed after tests showed he didn't have cocaine: Duncan Charles Todd Mullin served time in prison after conviction, but was later acquitted, By Sherri Borden Colley, CBC News, July 21, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/drugs-conviction-cocaine-court-prison-lidocaine-phenacetin-1.4214293 |
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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org