Abstract
In The Lazier murder: Prince Edward County, 1884, Sharpe examines a community’s response to a murder case in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, in the nineteenth century. Sharpe weaves together the case using contemporary and archived newspaper accounts, describing the murder of Peter Lazier and the trial that followed. Sharpe observes that the justice system’s response to the Peter Lazier murder may have resulted in mistakes and wrongful convictions. As a prolific Osgoode Society author, academic, lawyer, and judge, Sharpe provides a unique perspective on Canadian law during this time period and the changes since then.
In the first chapter, Sharpe makes a compelling argument for the use of case studies that focus on ordinary people rather than well-known leading cases. He argues that this ordinary story provides a unique perspective on how the trials of individuals can be influenced by public opinions. It also draws attention to the reality that during this time period, an accused person could not testify on their behalf or appeal their conviction.
The second chapter provides context about the murder of Peter Lazier and the police response. Sharpe provides a solid perspective of police officers, as constables volunteering with very little to no training in actual police work. He maintains that informal structures and protocol led to the wrongful arrest of the first suspect based solely on footprints in the snow, the boots similar bottoms, and sizes measured by sticks.
The third chapter characterizes the inadequacies of the justice system during the nineteenth century. To best illustrate this point, Sharpe informs readers that constables were only paid their fees dependent upon securing arrests and convictions. Further, the author notes that the suspects were not questioned, and detectives used deceit attempting to recover a murder weapon. This chapter may be useful when critically evaluating current policing practices or making a case for improvements the system has made.
Chapter 4 contextualizes Prince Edward County and contributes to the literature by acknowledging the role that media has in publicizing crime. To that end, Sharpe examined the crime occurring throughout the country to backdrop the town’s reaction to the murder. Following this examination, the next chapter provides a short explanation of the process that coroners went through when requested at a murder scene, which further highlights the inadequacies leading to the wrongful conviction. Sharpe also emphasizes that coroners selected 12 jurors to examine the body at the scene.
In Chapter 6, Sharpe largely focuses on the beginning of the trial, public attendance at the trial, and the harsh prosecution’s interrogation of a key witness. Compared to the other chapters, the case details were difficult to follow because the author continually shifts to different character’s testimonies with little to no explanation, and character introductions were absent or brief, leaving readers to interpret which testimony or interrogation belonged to whom.
Chapter 7 describes, in vivid detail, the first 2 days of the trial. Sharpe strategically pieced together information to recount the happenings of the trial. The media and community’s influence are also illustrated. However, in Chapter 8, a substantial piece of evidence was identified that proved the suspects were wrongfully convicted. In particular, the evidence admitted demonstrated that it was impossible that the suspect was at the murder, during the time, it was committed. In response to this evidence, the judge claimed clocks were inaccurate. Following this chapter, Sharpe included several relevant and informative photographs (i.e., the murder location, shoes, courthouse, gallows, and several individuals involved).
The next chapter highlights more of the trial and the intense cross-examinations that witnesses were subjected to. Here, Sharpe provides a thorough representation of how confusing testimony can be among multiple witnesses and highlights that spouses of the accused could not testify.
The 10th chapter highlights the process of a jury in its deliberation. However, Sharpe argues that during this trial, the courtroom was full of community members urging for death and that the jurors only took an hour to deliberate, which illustrates the influence the community may have had on the verdict. After the verdict, the two men were sentenced to be hanged. Within Chapter 11, Sharpe presented the letter written by the presiding judge to the minister of justice. Although the lack of evidence was apparent throughout the monograph, this letter noted that “there was a large amount of evidence…no doubt of the successful identification” (p. 128).
Chapter 12 showcases the town’s response to this crime. Sharpe notes that a clergyman visited the men in jail, believed them, and began a petition for mercy on their behalf. The petition received 450 signatures and a letter by another county judge was sent to the prime minister detailing the mistrial. Despite pleas from community members and officials, the sentences remained. Chapter 13 details the harsh sentencing policies of the time period regarding forced burial at jail yards and untrained hangmen. Amplifying the need to examine wrongful executions, the hangman severely botched their execution. The final chapter of the monograph examines the community’s perspective following the two men’s execution. Supporting the notion of wrongful conviction, they felt that the community pressured the jury, evidence was fabricated, and that the witnesses were unreliable.
Overall, Sharpe provides a solid approach to exploring community responses to crime. In doing so, he provides readers with an informative piece about how the Canadian criminal justice system operated in 1884. This case study offers a detailed and unique perspective on wrongful convictions. To that end, this book would be useful to students, practitioners, and scholars. The length, readability, and content make it an excellent addition to any of the following undergraduate courses: law and society, legal history, history of policing, community justice, or a special topic wrongful convictions course. Further, this case study may be useful to lawyers and police officers to showcase how far the system has come or to learn from past mistakes. Lastly, scholars may also find this book useful as support for their own work on legal system history or wrongful convictions.