Man Tried for Murder Twice Sues for Wrongful Conviction
Mark Edward Grant spent more than 10 years behind bars for a crime he may not have committed.
The retrial of Mark Edward Grant, who was accused of second-degree murder in the death of 13-year-old Candace Derksen in Winnipeg over three decades ago, recently concluded with an unexpected turn of events.
During his closing argument, Crown prosecutor Brent Davidson made a surprising admission, conceding that some of the DNA evidence against Grant may not be reliable, and urged Justice Karen Simonsen not to consider it.
Davidson acknowledged the potential unreliability of certain DNA evidence but emphasized that other DNA tests excluded 99.9 percent of the population, leaving Grant as a viable suspect. He argued for a guilty verdict, highlighting Grant’s alleged opportunity and means to commit the murder that occurred in late 1984.
On the other side, defense lawyer Saul Simmonds challenged the validity of the DNA samples presented against Grant. He argued that the minuscule size of the samples could make them inconclusive, suggesting that they could have originated from one of the numerous individuals who had accessed the industrial shed where Candace’s frozen body was found. Simmonds underscored the fact that the shed…