Supreme Court Hears Latimer Appeal

Robert Latimer's long legal saga wound its way back to the Supreme Court today with his lawyer arguing Latimer killed his disabled daughter out of love. Edward Greenspan said Latimer acted to save his daughter, who had severe cerebral palsy, from the agonizing pain of yet another operation.

He said Latimer and his wife, Laura, both believed doctors were going to "torture" and "mutilate" their little girl. "It is an unforgivable suggestion that Bob and Laura ever acted out of anything but love for their daughter," he told a packed courtroom.

Latimer, who has been convicted twice of killing Tracy, is challenging a Saskatchewan Appeal Court ruling that he serve the mandatory life sentence with no chance of parole for 10 years for second-degree murder. Today's hearing is the second time the case has come to the high court. The first time, the court threw out Latimer's original murder conviction because the Crown interfered with the jury. The Supreme Court must now decide whether Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer, should serve the mandatory sentence or get a constitutional exemption from the sentence because of the circumstances. As Greenspan spoke, advocates for the disabled looked on from the gallery.

Outside, a handful of Latimer supporters marched in a steady drizzle carrying signs. Deltry Zollmann from Pakenham, near Ottawa, said Latimer is being crucified for doing something that "any father would do if he loved his children." Miriam Edelson, a Toronto mother with a severely disabled 10-year-old son, said she supports Latimer. Edelson said she believes Latimer's actions were driven by "love for his daughter."

But critics warn it will set a dangerous precedent that will put vulnerable people in jeopardy if Latimer is excused from the mandatory sentence. Greenspan told the court that's not true.

The case "does not say that the lives of the disabled are in any way of diminished value," he said. "It is not a case of open season on the most vulnerable in society."

Latimer, who is free pending the outcome of the Supreme Court hearing, maintains he killed his 12-year-old daughter in 1993 to spare her any more pain.

Tracy Latimer had severe cerebral palsy, which left her unable to walk or talk. She had endured several agonizing surgeries and was scheduled for another operation which Latimer believed would worsen her pain. Latimer placed Tracy in the cab of his pickup truck and piped in exhaust fumes. She died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

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