TORONTO - After spending more than half his life trying to clear his name, Romeo Phillion will finally learn Thursday if the Ontario Court of Appeal will exonerate him of a murder that occurred more than 40 years ago.
Phillion was arrested in January 1972 for an alleged robbery and told police he had murdered Ottawa firefighter Leopold Roy five years earlier.
He almost immediately recanted -- claiming he lied about the confession because he wanted to look "big" and impress his gay lover -- but was sent to trial and convicted in November 1972.
His lawyers are now arguing that an unearthed police report states emphatically that Phillion could not have committed the murder, but the Crown never mentioned the report at his trial. They also want the Appeal Court to consider a report by British psychologist Gisli Gudjonsson, who concluded Phillion's confession was likely false.
Phillion spent 31 years in prison before a review of his case was ordered in 2003 to determine whether a miscarriage of justice had occurred.
Not once did Phillion apply for parole while in jail because he believed it would have been perceived as an admission of guilt.
"Parole is for the guilty, not the innocent," Phillion, now 69, said in an interview Tuesday.
"I served time for something I didn't do. I did a lot of years."
Phillion said his lawyers haven't told him whether he should be optimistic or pessimistic, just that he should be "ready for anything."
Phillion said his days since being released from prison have been a mix of good and bad. He's enjoyed his freedom but still carries the stigma of his conviction, and is now suffering from emphysema.
With a hint of bitterness, Phillion said he wants vindication once and for all and an acknowledgment that his conviction was unjust.
"They've got to face the music -- and I don't mean country music, I mean rock 'n' roll."
Last November, three justices with the Ontario Court of Appeal heard arguments in Phillion's case and reserved their decision.
Phillion said if the Appeal Court doesn't acquit him outright, he wants the court to order a new trial -- even though his lawyers and the Crown agree there would be no point in trying him again for a murder that took place more than 40 years ago.
However, his lawyers say such a decision would at least force the Crown to decide whether to stay or withdraw the charges.
Phillion had previously been denied appeals by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1974 and by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1977.
Court has heard Phillion was born in Cobalt, Ont. and was one of nine children. His childhood was troubled and his father was an alcoholic who often beat his wife and children. When he was 10, Phillion was sent to a Christian school where he suffered physical and sexual abuse.
He eventually became a "petty hoodlum" -- a term used by Phillion's own lawyer -- and had numerous run-ins with the law for armed robberies, traffic violations and pimping his common-law wife.
"I was no angel," Phillion said during November's hearing. "But I was no killer."
