‘JUSTICE HAS FAILED MY CHILD’ Quinn acquitted of murder in the death of Matthew Martins
TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2010
POUR SOME FLAVOUR Put the wine glass away and cook 22
Sandra Martins-Toner and her husband, David, leave court Monday in New Westminster. They vow to continue their fight for victims’ rights despite the verdict. ❚PHOTO/Sharon Doucette
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Tom ZYTARUK Staff Reporter
SURREY — A Surrey mother who was accused of urging her boyfriend to kill a teenaged boy at the Surrey Central SkyTrain station has been acquitted of second-degree murder. Gasps of elation from the accused’s side, and horror from the victim’s, filled the packed courtroom in New Westminister as B.C. Supreme Court Justice Wendy Baker delivered her verdict Monday after reading her 59page reasons for judgment. The accused, 27-year-old Katherine Quinn, gasped, put her hand to her mouth and burst out in tears. She then hugged her friends and family while Sandra Martins-Toner, the mother of the victim, appeared emotionally demolished on the other side of the room. The judge was met with scoffs and “yeah right” when she said she hopes the victim’s family will see “justice had prevailed.” Asked if his client will make a statement, Quinn’s defence lawyer Jim Millar replied “I hope not.” Outside court, a small sea of reporters swamped Martins-Toner. “I feel as though we failed our son,” she sobbed. “Justice has failed my child and it will fail KATHERINE QUINN many more children.” The Crown’s case centred on the testimony of witnesses, some of whom cannot be identified because of a publication ban, who’d testified they’d heard Katherine Quinn, 27, tell her boyfriend Robert Forslund, “If you love me, you’ll kill him,” among other recollections. Baker took two hours to explain her decision, which essentially boiled down to her finding a reasonable doubt as to Quinn’s guilt because she could not rely on the accuracy and reliability of the witnesses’ recollections because of inconsistencies in their testimony. “I must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt,” Baker said. This is Quinn’s second trial on the matter. She had been convicted of second-degree murder in the stomping death of 16-year-old
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