Last Updated Mon, 28 Jun 2004 16:42:26
TORONTO - A Halifax man who spent nearly two decades in jail
trying to clear his name in a murder case was freed on bail on Monday.
Rodney Cain was released from a Kingston, Ont., jail.
Cain had been convicted of second-degree murder of a man in a 1986 Toronto
after-hours club shooting.
Cain, a 45-year old former drug dealer, has always maintained he acted in
self-defence. He spent years calling politicians, lawyers and private
investigators trying to track down witnesses to back his claim he wasn't
guilty.
Upon his release, Cain said: "It felt like I was drowning and nobody
would help. I've written so many different people hoping that they would
listen to me. I explained to them all that the witnesses had lied against me.
Nobody wanted to believe. But as time went on, everybody started to see some
truth."
Last month, Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler ordered a new trial after
witnesses came forward with new evidence supporting Cain's self-defence claim.
An Ontario court is expected to decide on July 19 whether to proceed with a
new trial, or to simply free Cain altogether.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Rodney Cain
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/06/28/canada/cain040628