Inclusion Daily Express -- Latimer Arrives In Capital After Four-Day Unsupervised Leave

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Latimer Arrives In Capital After Four-Day Unsupervised Leave
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
March 18, 2008

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--Robert Latimer didn't even get out of the Ottawa airport Monday before he stopped to speak to reporters.

Latimer, who has been convicted by two separate juries of second-degree murder for deliberately killing his daughter because of her disabilities, made it clear that he believes a third jury would clear him.

Latimer is serving a mandatory minimum 10 years of his life sentence for gassing to death 12-year-old Tracy, who had cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities, in 1993. Last month, an appeals panel of the National Parole Board granted him daytime parole, and allowed him to transfer from a British Columbia minimum-security prison to Ottawa until he is eligible for full parole in December 2010.

The 55-year-old farmer flew into the nation's capital without police escort. The panel had allowed him to take a four-day unsupervised trip to his hometown in Saskatchewan -- for "compassionate reasons".

Latimer has said he hopes to clear his name for the crime, not because it was illegal, but because he believes he was right and the laws and the courts were wrong. He ran out of appeals in early 2001 when the Supreme Court of Canada upheld an earlier conviction and sentence.

While polls show that much of Canadian society sympathizes with Latimer, legal experts -- including some of Latimer's supporters -- say there is little chance for him to be granted a third jury trial. Instead, they suggest he lobby to change the mandatory sentencing laws that do not allow judges to impose lesser sentences in certain situations.

In the meantime, Latimer continues to refuse to apply for a pardon, saying he should never have been convicted in the first place.

On Sunday, October 24, 1993, while the rest of the family went to church, Latimer took Tracy out to his pickup truck, placed her inside the cab, and then watched her through the window while the vehicle pumped deadly exhaust inside. After two days of denying that he killed her, Latimer confessed, saying he did it because he did not want to see her continue to suffer from her cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and hip pain.

The Supreme Court noted later that, at the time of her death, Tracy was scheduled for surgery designed to relieve her hip pain.

Disability rights groups have criticized the mainstream media for portraying Mr. Latimer as the victim in this case. Many see the death of Tracy Latimer, and her killer's support, as an example of society's intolerance of disabilities.

Related:
"Latimer wants new jury trial" (Leader-Post)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0318c.htm
"Legal options few for Latimer, despite his vow to continue fight" (Canadian Press)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/2008/red/0318d.htm
"Tracy Latimer's Death -- Mercy or Murder?" (Inclusion Daily Express Archives)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/crime/latimer.htm

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