Romeo Phillion loses bid to sue Ottawa police for wrongful conviction

TORONTO – A man who spent decades behind bars on a wrongful murder conviction has lost his bid to sue the police involved.

In a recent decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a $14-million lawsuit for damages filed by Romeo Phillion.

The defendants included two Ottawa police officers and Ontario’s attorney general.

In his suit, Phillion alleged “malicious, reckless and negligent conduct” led to conviction for the 1967 murder of an Ottawa firefighter.

In 2009, Ontario’s highest court quashed the conviction and the Crown later withdrew the charge.

The officers’ lawyer says it would have been unfair to allow the suit to proceed given the amount of time that has passed since the original events occurred.