Canadian authorities agreed to review a 45-year-old...

Canadian authorities agreed to review a 45-year-old death sentence case against a 14-year-old found guilty of raping and murdering a classmate. Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said Steven Truscot's case would be refered to the Ontario Court of Appeal which, in turn, would decide whether to uphold the conviction or order a re-trial.
Truscott had always denied raping and murdering Lynne Harper. He was at at first sentenced to death by hanging but this was lifted after four months, though he spent 10 years behind bars.
Since then, Truscott had lobbied for a review of the case.
Cotler told reporters: "There is a reasonable basis to conclude that a miscarriage of justice likely occurred in this case.
"By way of remedy, I'm referring the case to the Ontario Court of Appeal."
Truscott's lawyers claimed that police bungled the investigation and that there were serious flaws in the trial process.
Truscott's death sentence was commuted to life jail and he was eventually paroled in 1969.
In June 1959, Truscott offered Harper a ride on his bicycle handlebars. He told police he dropped her off at a highway intersection and saw her climb into a car.
Harper's naked body was found in a nearby forest two days later.
Truscott's case was taken up by the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.