Wrongfully convicted man failed to prove negligence but awarded$75,000: judge

HALIFAX – A Nova Scotia judge has ruled that a man wrongfully convicted of statutory rape in 1970 has failed to prove that the miscarriage of justice was the result of negligence.

But Judge James Chipman of the province’s Supreme Court is awarding Gerald Barton $75,000 in general damages, saying the plaintiff’s life was profoundly and negatively affected by the wrongful conviction.

Barton launched a lawsuit against the RCMP in Digby, N.S., for negligent investigation.

He testified that at the time he was charged he never gave a statement to the Mounties and did not plead guilty at a trial, even though that’s what the record shows.

Barton, who now lives in Edmonton, was wrongfully convicted of raping a 14-year-old Nova Scotia girl in 1969.

In January 2011, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal admitted fresh DNA evidence that proved Barton was not the father of the child born to the girl, who has since died.