Canada's Shame

"Guilty plea in Newfoundland
murder case
that sent an innocent man to jail."




The Man that beat the justice system!
________________________________________

An 11-year-old murder case that sent an innocent Newfoundland man to prison has been solved. Brian Doyle, 32, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to second-degree murder in a court room in St. John's. In 1991, Catherine Carroll was stabbed to death. Police arrested her son Gregory Parsons. He spent the next decade trying to prove his innocence.
The undercover officers told Doyle that first they needed to know everything about him, including how Catherine Carroll died. That's when Doyle told them everything. On New Year's Eve 1990, he went to Carroll's home, broke in through a basement window and stabbed and slashed her 53 times.

Gregory Parsons Her son was tried for murder and found guilty. But in 1998 DNA evidence cleared his name. Parsons is refusing to talk to reporters, but his older brother Todd is angry that the charge of first-degree murder against Doyle was reduced to second-degree. "If you look at how brutal this murder was, he walked into the bedroom, my mother's bedroom, totally naked with other intentions on his mind, and a brutal crime like that. And now he's falling back on the fact he was intoxicated."
On Wednesday, the court will finish watching a five-hour video of Doyle's police interrogation. He faces a minimum of 10 years in prison.

How to use Remote Assistance

Windows XP allows to send a request for assistance to another Windows XP system .
The system asking for help/ support ("Assistance") is called the "Novice", the system
giving help / support is called the "Expert" :

Such a connection to give assistance is possible via any connection, which supports TCP/IP :
- local area network (LAN )
- Wide area network (WAN)
- dial-in via Modem
- via the Internet
Notes:
- to be able to use "Remote Assistance", both the system of the Novice and Expert must have
Windows XP installed (if one of these systems is not running Windowsx XP, use NetMeeting ) !
- when connecting via a firewall , it is required to have an open TCP/IP port 3389.
Once the "Expert" has accepted the invitation and connects to the "Novice" system, he can see
on his screen the desktop of the "Novice", he is also (if allowed by the "Novice") take control
and use the mouse and keyboard on his "Expert" system to control the "Novice" system :

This is similar to the "Remote Desktop", only available in Windows XP Professional, but
while "Remote Desktop" allows to connect to a host-computer without any user action on the
host system, Remote Assistance requires a user to be present to accept an incoming connection.

---

Check the setup of Remote Assistance :

In the Control-Panel, select the
System icon:

(or right-click "My Computer" on the desktop
and select Properties)
Select the tab : Remote
By default, Remote Assistance is
activated. Please check the
"Advanced ..." settings
Note :
The other option on on this tab ,
Remote Desktop , is NOT available
for Windows XP Home Edition, it is
only available for Windows XP
Professional.

Define, whether you allow the "Expert" only
to view your activities or whether the "Expert"
can also take control, i.e. use his mouse and
keyboard to operate your system.
Define the maximum amount of time, an
invitation can remain open

---

Send an invitation for Remote Assistance

To send out a request for help / support,
to send an "Invitation for Remote Assistance",
select from the Windows Start-menu :
"Programs" / "Remote Assistance",
This starts up the Windows XP
"Help and Support Center" /
Remote Assistance page.
You can review the status of current
invitations , to send out a new invitation,
select "Invite someone to help you"

Remote Assistance : Pick how you want to contact your assistant :

There are 3 methods to send out an invitation :
- via Microsoft Windows Messenger ( but it is NOT a MUST to use it ! )
- via e-mail using Microsoft Outlook Express
- via "Save invitation as a file" (allowing other e-mail programs or even floppy disk transfer)
In this example, I "Save the invitation as a File" (using Messenger or Outlook Express is similar) :

Enter your name
define how long this invitation stays open
then "Continue"

For security, it is highly recommended
to define a password, which must be
used by the "Expert" recipient to
connect to your "Novice" system.
It is your job to advise the "Expert"
of the password, either by e-mail or
a phone call.
When selecting "Save Invitation", you will
be asked to define the location to save
the file (for example: to "My Documents" )

Remote Assistance give you some last
instruction.

You need now to get the invitation file
(default name : RAInvitation ) to
your "Expert", also advising hum/her
about the password !

Important note :
While waiting for the"expert" to connect, make sure that your TCP/IP address does NOT change !
That is especially important for Internet connections : do NOT terminate your modem , DSL or
ADSL connection (to connect later at a time agreed with your export again), because when
reconnecting you will get most probably a new / different IP-address and then your "invitation" is
invalid, because the IP-address does not match anymore !

---

Connecting from the Expert System to give Assistance :
Once the "expert" has received the Invitation on his/her Windows XP system, double-click on the
Invitation file , which opens the "Remote Assistance" Window :

If a password was defined, then enter it now. Continue with YES.
Your system is then connecting to the "Novice" system :

Once an "Expert" connects to a "Novice" system, a confirmation message will be displayed :

You must click on "Yes" to allow the "expert" to continue and to view your system.
You will then the "Novice" windows of "Remote Assistance" :

You can chat via keyboard (type under "Message Entry" ) or via "Start Talking",
of both the system of the "Novice" and the "Expert" are equipped with a sound-card
with speakers and microphone.

The "Expert" has a different Window for "Remote Assistance" :

On the left, the section for chat messages, send / received via keyboard.
On the right, the desktop of the "Novice" system.
On top, the tools for the "Expert" .
At this time, the "Novice" is operating the system, the "Expert" is just watching, while
they exchange information via :
- keyboard chat, displayed as messages
- voice communication via the network using microphone and speakers
- phone call using a separate line

if allowed in the settings of the invitation, the "expert" can take control
of the system of the "Novice" by selecting in the toolbar "Take Control".

When the "expert" like to take
control, a message will pop-up
on the screen of the "Novice"
informing about this request .
If you agree to this request,
accept it by clicking on "Yes".

Once the "Novice" accepted the
request,a message will pop-up on
the "Expert" system to advise
about having control and to press
"ESC" or any key sequence or
combination including the ESC-key
to return control to the "Novice".

The section "Chat History" of the
"Remote Assistance" will show,
that control has been taken by the
Expert.
The Expert uses now the mouse
and/or keyboard of the "Expert"
system to operate the "Novice"
system to identify the problem,
checking for example:
- Control-Panel
- Device-Manager
- Event Log

To terminate a "Remote Assistance" connection, both the "Expert" and the "Novice" can select
in their control-section to "Disconnect".
The "Expert" will be informed about a "Disconnection" from the system of the "Novice":

Indian Feathers

Classmates.com is Sued

Classmates.com Sued After Guy Realizes His Classmates Weren't Really Looking For Him
from the that-would-be-called-false-advertising dept

You may recall that Classmates.com was a website that first showed up in the 90s, and tried to do what Friendster and Facebook were later able to do. The problem was that Classmates.com's business model was to charge users for many of its features, including actually connecting with and contacting your classmates -- things that more recent social networks have always allowed for free. However, if you ever used Classmates.com for anything, you've probably been spammed with emails for years, each one claiming that your classmates are looking for you, or had recently viewed your profile. Nearly every email sent by the company (and they seem to come about once a week) has some enticing subject line that tries to suggest that something is happening with your profile and you're missing out if you don't upgrade to a premium account.

I've always ignored these emails, figuring that if any of my former high school classmates really wants to contact me, there are plenty of ways to do so that don't require me to pay up -- and naturally assumed that Classmates.com was exaggerating what was happening on the site. Some folks, however, believed the emails and upgraded. And, now, one of those who upgraded his account to see which classmates were trying to contact him, discovered (surprise, surprise) that Classmates.com was lying to him. His classmates weren't trying to contact him via the site, and so he's now suing the company for deceptive advertising, and demanding that the company refund subscription fees for everyone who was similarly duped.

Vista Sucks………….End of Story!

A week ago, I’ve upgraded from Windows XP SP3 to Vista x64 SP1. I already had been using Vista in early 2007 on a friens computer, but downgraded again due to its poor performance, bad driver support and many small annoyances. One thing that drove me nuts in 2007 already, is the new desktop search. While performance, driver support and so on have become much better since then, I still don’t like the new desktop search. Let me show you why.

Yesterday I wanted to search all files within
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\atlmfc\src\mfc for the string IOleInPlaceActiveObject. This folder and its sub-directories contain a total of 476 files. I browsed to this folder and the first problem arose: How do I search for file contents? There’s just this search box in the top-right corner. What do I enter there? The filename patterns I want to search for? The content I want to search for? Both? If both: in which syntax do I enter it? I decided to just enter IOleInPlaceActiveObject into this box and hit Enter.

The search was finished immediately, but didn’t find anything which I knew was wrong. But now Explorer displayed a link Search File Contents which I clicked. The search started again. I waited one minute. Still no file was found and the search was still running. I waited two minutes – no found file, search still running. Finally, after four minutes, the search was complete and now six hits were displayed. I couldn’t believe that searching 476 files for a specific string would take 4 minutes, so I started xplorer² and told it to search the directory again for the same string. It took less than 1 second and 19 files were found. This started to become interesting…

The first question that came to my mind was why Explorer finds 6 files and xplorer² 19 files. The answer is that xplorer² really searches all files while Explorer skips binary files. Okay, so Explorer tries to be smart and for most users skipping binary files indeed is a good idea. But not for me. Sometimes I want to search binaries for a specific content. How do I tell Explorer to not skip them then?

The second question was why does Explorer need about 240x the time that xplorer² needs although it doesn’t even search within binary files?? Yes, the directory is not part of my search index. But xplorer² doesn’t use any index either! What the hell is Explorer doing that it is so much slower???

So if you don’t want to miss any file no matter which directory on your hard disk you search, you’ll have to tweak the indexing service to include all directories and any file type or you’ll have died before the end of the search. But can the indexing service be tweaked to include binary files? I’m not sure and I won’t try it because indexing my whole hard disk would probably take a day or two and keeping this index current would probably put some nice extra load to my hard disk.

I also don’t understand why found files are not displayed before the end of the search. Imagine a search that will result in hundreds of hits, but take half an hour to complete. You have to wait 30 minutes, in which you already could work with the first hits, and then you get hundreds of hits at once. Yeah! Great!

For me the Vista desktop search is just crap. Its usability is poor, it is extremely slow as soon as the index can’t be used and it swallows hits. The search of Windows XP wasn’t that much better, but on XP you could activate the legacy search that was the default up to Windows 2000 and I always used this one.

So whenever I have to search something on my hard disk, I’ll start xplorer² and search it there. Let’s see what annoying things Windows 7 will introduce…

The Snipping Tool in Windows Vista

Before you start, you have to change some of your settings. Luckily, it's very easy to do, so let's get right to it! To begin, go to Start, Control Panel and click on the Programs link. Then under the Programs and Features section, click on the option that says "Turn Windows features on or off." Once you do that, a new window will appear with a list of all the features Vista has to offer. You'll see all kinds of things and some of them will be checked, while others are left alone.
Go ahead and scroll down until you find the Tablet PC Optional Components feature. Make sure that box is checked and then click OK. In order to be able to use the Snipping Tool, you must have that feature enabled. Otherwise, you won't be able to find it on your computer.
As you all probably know, the older versions of Windows mainly made use of the Printscreen button (PrtScr) on the keyboard to make screenshots. So, whenever you wanted to make a screenshot for yourself, you had to hit that button and then go into a photo editing program and crop it, sharpen it, etc. until it finally looked the way you wanted it to. Well, in Windows Vista, you can actually bypass a lot of that work.
Today, I'm introducing the Windows Vista Snipping Tool to you. This tool is so cool, I just know all of you are going to fall in love with it by the time you're done reading this tip. And I promise that if you have Vista on your computer right now, you're going to want to try it out ASAP! First of all, to open the Snipping Tool, go to Start, Accessories, Snipping Tool. (You can also access it by typing the word "snip" into the search box under the Start menu).

When it opens, you'll see a box with three commands in it. Those are: New, Cancel and Options. The New button is what you can use to decide what part of the screen you want to capture, the Cancel button can be used to cancel any action after you've already started a screen capture and the Options button is there to help you choose which way you want your Snipping Tool to work. The box with all of these choices will come up every time you want to do a screenshot.


When you're ready to take your screenshot, get the Snipping Tool open and click on the New button. From there, you can choose which type of shot you'd like to do. The choices are: Free-form snip, rectangular snip, window snip or full-screen snip. When you've decided which one you want to do, focus in on what you want to capture. You may have a photo you want to make a screenshot for or you might have part of a Web site that you'd like to send to a friend. Either way, make sure it's up on your screen so you can start to "snip" it.
To snip what you want, just drag your mouse until you've captured what you want. Once you've got it snipped, you can choose from different customizing options to add certain things to your image. For example, you can use a highlighter to highlight certain things in whatever color you'd like to use. You can use the pen tool to write in some colorful text and if you make a mistake, the eraser tool is always there to bring you back so you can start over. Now, if none of those tickle your fancy, you can click the Options choice to change your image around even more. This is what the Options window looks like:

 Now, when you're done with your screenshot, you can either save it or you can even send it to someone in an e-mail. To save it, go to File, Save and just save it to a folder on your computer. I always like to save mine to My Desktop and after saving decide where I want to move it, but it's up to you. If you'd like to send your screenshot in an e-mail, go to File, Send To and you can choose to send it in the body of an e-mail providing you have Windows Mail set up for this task or you can send it as an attachment. Then just type in your recipient's e-mail address and they'll be able to see all the snipping work you did!
I know this new tool might still be a little confusing to you, but you can't really get a good feel for it until you've tried it yourself. So, my recommendation is to go and experiment with it as much as possible. Once you do that, I think you'll find that there's so much you can do with the Snipping Tool and you'll be using it all the time. It really is a cool addition to Windows Vista and it's much easier than using the Printscreen button. With it, you're able to go past all the steps of editing and do it all in one quick swoop. Give it a try today!

Virgin Mobile is the worst cell phone ever!

Virgin Mobile which uses the OPTUS network turns 8 this year. Congratulations, due to your ability to rip of customers for 8 long years, you have maintained yourself in business.
Even thought you may have some of the most competitive rates between the four major carriers, you have the worst customer service and loyalty system available. Let me explain.
I signed up in June 07, on a 24month plan @ $44 + phone $5 i.e $49. My cap was $320 at the time, which was adequate. In July 1st 07, i went to Newfoundland for 3 months until October, during that time i made automatic payments via Credit Card, i could have suspended the service but i chose not too, hence i donated 3x49 = $147 to Virgin’s cause.
When i came back i began using their service, their reception was average when compared to Koodo and Telus (Rogers I hate and Bell should burn). In January 2008 i made a deposit of $211 into my Virgin account, around February Virgin not only stopped sending paper bills, but also introduced a surcharge on credit card payments. I did not mind the surcharge but the paper billing was their first mistake, this was discrimination against their own customers who aren’t computer-friendly. I didn’t argue my case at the time, but instead like a sheep just accepted it. Having not received a bill via mail for over 5 months, i had completely forgotten electronic billing, so when my $211 credit ran out my service was disconnected and i got stung with a $10 late fee. How unfair is THAT!!!!, i could have deposited my $211 into a bank and made interest on it, instead i deposited in Virgin and paid interest. STRIKE 1 VIRGIN.
The following month, due to excessively usage of the phone for work, i managed to exceed my $320 cap. Now we all know the reason we are on a Cap is so we know how much we spend, but guess what? Virgin allocates you a $500 Credit limit on each account, meaning if you exceed your $320 cap they allow you another $180, of which you have to pay dollar for dollar. This was absurd at the time and i was not going to stand for it, so i jumped on the phone and i argued my case, having won my argument and having them wave $90, i also demanded that my Credit limit for the future be reduced to $320, to match my cap, at the time the service representative agreed. However STRIKE 2.
Continuing to forget electronic billing i ended paying several late fee’s for the upcoming months, eventually my service got disconnected again, even thought i was making payments of $49-59 per month, when i called up again i found out that i had exceeded my cap by $50, the frustration i went through to explain to the representative that i had been re-assured, by a previous representative it won’t happen again, eventually i spoke both to the Team leader and debit department and investigation was launched into the recorder phone call, of which still i have heard nothing about from them, and YES!! I DID PAY THE EXTRA $50. STRIKE 3.
So now here is STRIKE 4, last month an unexpected charge of $60 appeared on my bill from data usage, personally i hardly use the phone for internet, if i do its always runs of W-lan. I explained that to the service representative, she could not assist me at ALL!!!, so i told here “i aint paying it, as i was not responsible for it”, you know what her resposnse was “Can i assist you with anything else Sir”, omg how can you assist me with something else when clearly enough your not there to assist. So on Tuesday they disconnected the service, so i made a payment of $49, and followed it by a phone call at 4.30pm, i spoke to customer service, gave her the receipt no. for the payment and she was going to transfer me to the credit department to reactivate my service, but guess what.... the freaking department was closed, like WTF!!! If your closed don’t pick up the phone, why torment your customers, the lady apologized to me but was unable to email, nor leave a message for them to call me back, apparently the credit department does not have an email address, like WTF its the 20th century, even my 7 year old nephew has an email address. So being unable to contact them on Wednesday via phone i send an email requesting i be contacted ASAP, nothing as of yet. My phone doesn’t make outgoing calls except ‘000’, nor can i call Virgin either. Seriously what a bad experience, i cant wait to go back to Koodo, they even offered to pay off my remaining 3 months. But thats not the issue, the issue is why should they always get away with it?

Damian McGinty- Bird Without Wings

Preston File Cabinet

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How to tile a Bathroom Wall

How to replace a faucet

Home Improvement Links

http://thewoodwhisperer.com/episode-19-assembly-table-stand/

http://www.buysell.com/
http://www.doityourself.com/power/enlargingaholeinone.htm
http://www.prowellwoodworks.com/index.htm
http://www.askthebuilder.com/215_Building_Stairs.shtml
http://www.handymanwire.com/articles/3wayswitch.html
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/
http://www.hometips.com/
http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/framing/frame_4.htm#wall
http://www.jackofalltradescanada.ca/
http://www.newcanadianslumber.com/
http://www.benjaminmoore.com/wrapper_pcv.asp?L=owner&K=intproj&N=intproj
http://doityourself.com/patch/repairhomeplaster.htm
http://www.bestdecksite.com/introStairsPg1.html

http://www.plansnow.com/tenon.html
http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/pages/hvt034.asp

http://www.woodworkersuk.co.uk/
http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/start_page.php

http://www.rockler.com/index.cfm
http://www.redtoronto.com/Toronto_Search.aspx?&adid=1256662&ain=1
http://www.newyankee.com/index.shtml
 http://www.cabinetmaking.com/pages/hardware.htm
http://www.google.ca/search?q=removing+cigarette+burn+from+wood&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

http://www.constructioncanada.com/
http://www.apexfilms.ca/solyx.htm
http://www.newyankee.com/index.shtml
http://www.sears.ca/gp/product/B0012RXYXK?searsBrand=core

Http://www.philipadavis.deviantart.com/gallery/

 http://books.google.ca/books?id=1VgUpQfPEuYC&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=hinge+jig&source=web&ots=Ozh_tXiuIs&sig=o8v6uRWBqX2Pvtp_aNvlewiu0VU&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPP1,M1

For the Brentnall Brothers

We tried so hard to make things better for our kids that we made them worse. For my nephews and nieces , I'd like better.I'd really like for them to know about hand me down clothes and homemade ice cream and leftover meat loaf sandwiches. I really would. I hope you learn humility by being humiliated, and that you learn honesty by being cheated. I hope you learn to make your own bed and mow the lawn and wash the car.And I really hope nobody gives you a brand new car when you are sixteen.It will be good if at least one time you can see puppies born and your old dog put to sleep.I hope you get a black eye fighting for something you believe in.I hope you have to share a bedroom with your younger brother/sister. And it's all right if you have to draw a line down the middle of the room,but when he wants to crawl under the covers with you because he's scared, I hope you let him. When you want to see a movie and your little brother/sister wants to tag along, I hope you'll let him/her.I hope you have to walk uphill to school with your friends and that you live in a town where you can do it safely.On rainy days when you have to catch a ride, I hope you don't ask your driver to drop you two blocks away so you won't be seen riding with someone as uncool as your Mom.If you want a slingshot, I hope your Dad teaches you how to make one instead of buying one. I hope you learn to dig in the dirt and read books.When you learn to use computers, I hope you also learn to add and subtract in your head.I hope you get teased by your friends when you have your first crush on a boy\girl, and when you talk back to your mother that you learn what ivory soap tastes like. May you skin your knee climbing a mountain, burn your hand on a stove and stick your tongue on a frozen flagpole. I don't care if you try a beer once, but I hope you don't like it. I sure hope you make time to sit on a porch with your Grandma/Grandpa and go fishing with your Uncle. May you feel sorrow at a funeral and joy during the holidays I hope your mother punishes you when you throw a baseball through your neighbour's window and that she hugs you and kisses you at Christmas time when you give her a plaster mold of your hand. These things I wish for you - tough times and disappointment, hard work and happiness. Appreciate life. Written with a pen and sealed with a hug.

Love unlimited Uncle Roderick
September 2006

The Bows and Wows of Newfoundland

Before 1832 Newfoundland was governed by non-elected officials, usually naval governors, appointed by the British Parliament. Agitation had been growing during the early decades of the 19th century for the granting of representative government to Newfoundland as it had been to other North American colonies. The fight for representative government was led by Dr. William Carson, a Scottish-born medical doctor, and Patrick Morris, an Irish-born merchant, both of whom had been living in St. John's for many years. Through public speeches, pamphlets, letters to the newspapers and petitions to the British Parliament, they encouraged the people of Newfoundland to support the cause. In January 1832 a committee of local residents went to London to lobby for the establishment of an elected assembly. They were finally successful: a bill approving a representative assembly for Newfoundland was passed by the British Parliament in the summer of 1832.
The lobbying efforts of the Newfoundland representatives and their supporters in Britain did not go unnoticed in London. Articles appeared in the press both in favor and opposed to the idea. One person who took a particular interest in the subject was the noted caricaturist who signed his work HB.
HB was the pen name for John Doyle (1797-1868), who had been born in Dublin and trained as a miniaturist and portrait painter. Unable to make a living in his chosen profession, even after moving to London, he soon took an interest in lithography. This led to the series of caricatures for which he became famous. During the years between 1829 and 1851 he produced over 900 drawings, usually of the prominent British politicians of the day, including Wellington, Disraeli, O'Connell and Melbourne. His work was highly acclaimed for both his "excellent likenesses and gently satiric pencil." His drawings were produced as broadsheets and over 600 are preserved in the print room of the British Museum.

Newfoundland's new legislative assembly became the subject of one of Doyle's caricatures. It was entitled New Legislative Assembly. Newfoundland. (The Speaker Putting the Question.) It pictured a meeting of the House of Assembly with the Speaker in powdered wig and black robe presiding in the chair, and members on both sides. They are not represented as people, however, but as Newfoundland dogs. The Speaker puts the question: "As many as are of that opinion say ...Bow! Of the contrary ...Wow! The Bows have it." For many years it was thought that this cartoon was published in Punch but that magazine was not established until 1841 and there is no record of the cartoon appearing in its pages. The drawing was actually printed in broadsheet by Meifred Lemercier and Co., Leicester Square, and published by Thomas McLean, 26 Haymarket, London, on March 30, 1832. It is identified as "HB Sketches No. 187."
It was assumed for many years that the drawing caricatured the Newfoundland House of Assembly after it had opened, as in its early years debate was rowdy, often acrimonious, and the members might be taken for a pack of unruly dogs. However, it would seem that no one took note of the date of publication and compared it to the dates surrounding the establishment of that first House of Assembly in Newfoundland. The bill granting the assembly did not pass the British Parliament until the summer of 1832, the first election of members did not take place until November 1832 and the first House of Assembly did not open until Jan. 1, 1833. Therefore, Doyle's cartoon, published March 30, 1832, was not descriptive, but prescriptive, a prediction of what he thought would happen, before the fact; an interesting commentary on Newfoundland in Britain.

Jamie Nelson was Innocent Cathy Fordham is Guilty.......The Law is an ass

TORONTO -- In the end, justice came quickly for Jamie Nelson.Five-and-a-half years after being found guilty of a rape he did not commit and spending 3 1/2 years in prison, three Ontario Court of Appeal Justices took less than five minutes to overturn his conviction yesterday.After reading documents submitted by his appeal lawyer and a lawyer for the Crown -- both of whom asked for an acquittal -- Justices John Laskin, Stephen Goudge and Janet Simmons said they didn't even need to hear submissions. It was clear Mr. Nelson deserved an acquittal.
"We've read the material, and discussed this," Judge Laskin said. "We're in agreement. We propose to set aside the convictions and register acquittals."

Jamie Nelson emerges from the Ontario Court of Appeal in Toronto yesterday after his conviction for a sexual assault was overturned. Mr. Nelson spent 3 1/2 years in prison and said his day of justice 'feels good, but it doesn't give me back one of those days I spent in prison.'

He then endorsed the appeal file. As the judge did so, Mr. Nelson sighed and silently shed tears while sitting perfectly straight in the front row of courtroom 10 of Osgoode Hall.With the stroke of a pen, Mr. Nelson, 34, who is from Ottawa but now lives in Stratford, Ont., was given his life back.He now joins the list of the justice system's embarrassments -- falling in company with David Milgaard, who was wrongfully convicted of a Saskatchewan murder and served 23 years before a DNA test cleared him, as well as Donald Marshall and Guy Paul Morin. Mr. Nelson is an innocent man wrongfully convicted, and he wants people to learn from his plight.
"What happened today is what I've been waiting for since the day I was arrested," he said. "I can't put into words what I feel right now. What do you say when nobody believes you, you go to prison, you get treated like a rapist, then all of a sudden, people believe you.
"I told the truth all along. Sometimes I thought I was going crazy. I am innocent of this, and I can't believe this happened, but I have to. I lived it. Justice went right off the rails in my case, and it didn't have to. Wrongful convictions happen for a reason. Maybe by looking at my case, people in the justice system will learn, and it won't happen to somebody else.
"This feels good, but it doesn't give me back one of those days I spent in prison."
A civil action he is planning against the Ottawa police, the attorney general's office, and Corrections Canada may ease the pain, he said, but this is not about money, this is about respect and clearing his name.Mr. Nelson's case is a shining example of how things can go wrong when people are prepared to manipulate the justice system.In the mid-1990s, Mr. Nelson was involved in a bitter child-custody battle with his former girlfriend, Christine Thompson.

Cathy Fordham, 30, told police Mr. Nelson had viciously raped and beat her.Ms. Thompson was friends with Cathy Fordham who took an active role in the battle.Twice, when Mr. Nelson won more access rights to his son in family court, Ms. Fordham accused him of crimes against her. First she said he assaulted her.

Ms. Thompson was friends with Cathy Fordham, 30, who took an active role in the battle.Twice, when Mr. Nelson won more access rights to his son in family court, Ms. Fordham accused him of crimes against her. First she said he assaulted her. After a trial, he was convicted and sentenced to 120 days in jail.After he was released in 1995, he won access to his son on weekends and one night a week. But every time over five weeks that he showed up to collect his son, Ms. Thompson said the child wasn't there.
The last time, Mr. Nelson told Ms. Thompson they were going back to court. When he did this, she produced the child.That Sunday when he pulled into his driveway with his son in tow, he was arrested at gunpoint by police. It was April 30, 1996. The day before, Ms. Fordham told police Mr. Nelson had viciously raped and beat her two months previously in her Vanier apartment.She said she waited so long because she was afraid of Mr. Nelson.
The truth is, Mr. Nelson did no such thing. He was at home on the night in question. But the allegations were so brutal he was deemed a threat to society and denied bail.His trial took place over seven days. Assistant Crown attorney Mark Moors prosecuted. Ken Hall defended Mr. Nelson. Ontario Court Justice Hugh Fraser presided without a jury.Ms. Fordham was the Crown's main witness. She took the stand and gave details of the rape. She cried often. Mr. Nelson took the stand and denied the allegations.
Several others were called to establish an alibi for him.In the end, Judge Fraser found Ms. Fordham was telling the truth, Mr. Nelson and the other defence witnesses were lying and convicted him of sexual assault, forcible confinement and uttering death threats.
On Nov. 14, 1996, after six months in jail awaiting his fate, the judge sentenced Mr. Nelson to 3 1/2 years in prison. He served every day until his statutory release date. His refusal to participate in sexual deviancy counselling landed him in solitary confinement for a total of 15 months.While he was trying to stay alive in prison, Ms. Fordham set her self up as a leader of a group home for men caught in the court system.
A later police investigation, the results of which were part of Mr. Nelson's appeal, showed the home was a snake-pit of drugs, alcohol, and sex.Here, she refined her skill at using the justice system as her weapon of choice. She reported breaches of court orders when there were no breaches. This landed several men in jail.
In January 1998, Andre Emile Masson, 26, got the same treatment as Mr. Nelson -- a rape allegation with almost the same details. This led to his arrest.In August 1998, Ms. Fordham accused Allan Kamen and Phillippe Francois of brutally assaulting her while she was praying at a grotto in Vanier. Ottawa police Sgt. Paul Turner investigated, but after the men produced solid alibis, and Ms. Fordham refused a polygraph, she was charged with public mischief for making a false complaint.This touched off the police investigation that exposed Ms. Fordham as a calculating liar willing to abuse the courts.
She was found guilty of public mischief last summer after a trial in which she also accused Mr. Kamen of sexually assaulting her while Mr. Francois watched.Cathy Fordham's credibility was shot. The charges against Mr. Masson were dropped. Others proceedings were discontinued. However, Mr. Nelson was still in prison.
He was paroled in March 1999 and successfully completed this in early 2000.During this time, Ms. Fordham was charged with making a false police complaint again and threatening to kill a former boyfriend. These charges are still before the courts.In his appeal, lawyer Todd Ducharme relied heavily on new evidence of Ms. Fordham's character, and how Judge Fraser, who noted Ms. Fordham's testimony at trial wasn't "prefect," misjudged her credibility.
Mr. Hall at trial, the appeal said, raised many issues that should have raised a reasonable doubt Mr. Nelson was guilty.So compelling was yesterday's appeal, Scott Hutchison, a seasoned Crown attorney, did something he'd never done before -- asked for an acquittal. Afterwards, he shook Mr. Nelson's hand.
"The right thing happened today," he said.
Mr. Ducharme called yesterday one of the most rewarding days of his career.
"It is a cautionary tale," he said. "People make false allegations, and they make false allegations about serious crimes like sexual assault. I hope it makes people remember why people accused of crimes are presumed innocent."
Yesterday, after being informed Mr. Nelson was acquitted, Ms. Fordham held to her story. "I had no idea this was even going on," she said. "If I had known about this, I would have done something to try and fight it. I would never accuse anybody of anything they didn't do."