Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jan 2016
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2016 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Mike McIntyre
Page: B2

TOO LATE TO TRY TO WIPE CONVICTION: COURT

He wanted to turn back time and find a way to undo the sins of his past.

But the Manitoba Court of Appeal has rejected a former Winnipeg man's 
bid to reopen his drug conviction - saying almost two decades is too 
long to have waited to make a move.

Curtis Fraser pleaded guilty in March 1991 to possession of cocaine 
for the purpose of trafficking. He received a federal penitentiary 
sentence, then moved to the United States following his release.

Fraser applied for a pardon in 1999 and was successful. He now claims 
to have been made to mistakenly believe a pardon was the same thing 
as an appeal. Fraser insists he was innocent of the crime but simply 
pleaded guilty because of pressure from his co-accused brother and 
bad legal advice.

However, Fraser waited until 2010 to file a notice of appeal, 
outlining these grounds. He said it wasn't until he was applying for 
permanent residency status in the U.S. that he realized the 
conviction hadn't been wiped away. However, no date for a hearing was 
set, and it was considered "abandoned" months later.

Fraser took no further action until last fall, when he asked the 
Court of Appeal to finally hear his arguments. His application was 
denied in a written decision released this week.

"The unusual aspect of this motion is the length of time that passed 
between the conviction and the original motion (in 2010), as well as 
since the abandonment of the original motion," Justice Jennifer 
Pfuetzner wrote.

Pfuetzner said she is "very sympathetic" to Fraser's position given 
his lack of legal training, but there is no reasonable explanation 
for such a delay. As well, she said, the chances of a successful 
appeal are slim.

"A total of 19 years elapsed from the time of conviction before the 
applicant raised his claim of factual innocence. Any transcripts of 
his plea and sentencing have been destroyed. In the circumstances, it 
is difficult to see that there is arguable merit to the proposed 
ground of appeal," the judge said.
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