Eric Morgan was imprisoned for 3 and a half years, for a crime he didn’t commit. Although the evidence said he couldn’t have been the killer, the Peel Region police intimidated the eyewitnesses into incriminating an innocent man.
How everything started
Everything started in November 2006, outside the Malibu Marie’s nightclub in Brampton. Sasha Allison was waiting inside her car in the nightclub’s parking lot, as she saw two men going outside, killing Mervyn “Mikey” Spence.
The police investigation
Police interviewed Eric Morgan’s friends and some other people who were attending the club that night, including Brian Cox and Chris Murray, one of the DJs at the party. All of them said that Morgan was inside the club at the time of the shooting.
Sasha Allison
Being the closest one to the shooting, Allison became the strongest witness. Although she didn’t see their faces, the police insisted that she needed to identify the killer.
The interrogation room
The police officers put her inside the interrogation room and got her scared. Peel Regional Police Det. Thomas Doherty forced her into giving more information, by telling her to come clean.
Det. Thomas Doherty
She couldn’t identify the shooters, although she ruled out some of the men, including Eric Morgan. Using leading and suggestive interrogation tactics, Det. Thomas Doherty clearly had an agenda, as he forced Allison and the other witnesses to blame everything on Morgan.
The trial
Although Allison said that she didn’t saw their faces, Dawson used pressure that included threats of criminal charges, making a witness to back away from statements that proved Morgan’s innocence.
Brian Cox
At the beginning Brian Cox was 100% sure that Morgan was inside the club at the time of the shooting that happened in the parking lot, but after he was psychologically broken down in a talk with the detective that lasted 8 hours, Brian claimed that he wasn’t so sure about Morgan’s whereabouts.
Questioning tactics
The officer’s forceful questioning tactics were used to produce a false confession from scared people that led to Morgan’s sentence. He was charged with second degree murder, without any other physical evidence (no DNA, no gun, no fingerprints).
Going to prison
As a result Morgan spent 3 and a half years in prison, and he refused a sentence for a guilty plea as he didn’t admit to a crime he didn’t commit.
Eric Morgan was imprisoned for 3 and a half years, for a crime he didn’t commit. Although the evidence said he couldn’t have been the killer, the Peel Region police intimidated the eyewitnesses into incriminating an innocent man.
He lost everything
After the trial he lost his family, his business and everything he was working on. All of this because the detective decided to blame him.
The second trial
After the second trial, the lawyers proved his innocence, by showing the extent of the problematic police conduct in videos of the interviews. Allison also recanted her identification of Morgan on the stand at his first trial.
A free man
Morgan now is a free man and he is trying to piece back together his life. He also filed a $25 million lawsuit against the detectives who led the investigation