 | | | Brief Biographies of the Presenters at the News Conference
DARRIN BURKE
Darrin was born in Hamilton in 1968, the younger son of Gerald Burke. Raised in Beamsville, Darrin graduated from Beamsville District Secondary School in 1986. He is self-employed and resides in St. Catharines.
PAUL BURSTEIN
Born in Winnipeg Manitoba, Paul completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto and attended Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1992.
Paul started his own practice in 1992 specializing in criminal and constitutional litigation.
Paul is the Acting Director of Osgoode Hall Law Schools Intensive Programme in Criminal Law, and a Co-Director of the Law School's Innocence Project. It was under his guidance and that of Director Professor Dianne Martin, that law students Colleen Robertshaw and Dean Ring discovered the incriminating memo in the Hamilton police files on October 30, 2000.
CHERYLYNN DENISON
Born and raised in Beamsville, Cherylynn moved to Smithville upon marrying Robert. She is a full-time mother and a part-time bookkeeper with a local company.
ROBERT DENISON
Born in Hamilton, Robert is the eldest son of Gerald Burke. He now resides in Smithville where he is a truck driver and a volunteer firefighter in the community.
SEAN DEWART
A graduate of Queens University, Sean Dewart completed his law degree at Osgoode Hall Law School and his Masters of Law at the London School of Economics, entering the Ontario Bar in 1986.
Sean's practice has been primarily in civil litigation. Following ten years with Blaney McMurtry, where he undertook pioneering work in Jane Doe v. The Metropolitan Toronto Police (the Balcony Rapist case), Sean has been with Sack Goldblatt Mitchell's Civil Litigation Department where, inter alia, he served as one of the lawyers for Kimberly Glasco in her case against the National Ballet of Canada.
Sean is certified as Specialist in Civil Litigation by the Law Society of Upper Canada.
HERMAN JANZEN
Herman is married and resides in St. Catharines. Presently retired due to injury, he was formerly a director of risk management in the trucking industry. For 15 years, he has been a close friend of Gary Staples and family.
JULIANA LUTZ
A former Fenwick resident, Juliana is a real estate assistant in St. Catharines where she currently resides with Darrin Burke and her three children.
DEAN RING
A second-year law student at Osgoode Hall Law School, Dean served with the Ontario Provincial Police from 1995-2000 as a Forensic Analyst - Special Constable, Investigation Support Bureau, Forensic Identification Services Section. He was responsible for the processing of exhibits recovered from crime scenes ranging from break and enters to multiple homicides.
Prior to 1995, Dean was a Child and Youth Care Worker with Youthdale Treatment Centers in Toronto and a Customs Inspector with Revenue Canada.
A graduate of the University of Toronto, Dean lives in Barrie, Ontario.
COLLEEN ROBERTSHAW
Colleen has been a resident of Hamilton since 1989.
Presently articling with Blake, Cassels & Graydon in Toronto, Colleen completed her three-year LLB degree at Osgoode Hall Law School this Spring and is currently doing the Bar Admission courses.
While a law student with the Innocence Project at Osgoode, Colleen participated with fellow law student Dean Ring in researching the Staples-Burke case during 2000-2001. She and Ring discovered the incriminating memo in the files of the Hamilton Police Department.
From 1991 - 1994, Colleen was an Official Court Reporter with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, located in Hamilton.
From 1994 - 1998, she served as a Case Administration Coordinator in the Office of the Crown Attorney in Hamilton.
GARY STAPLES
A life long resident of Dunnville, Gary is a welder by trade. He has been retired for several years due to health problems. For thirty years, he has worked relentlessly to clear his name.
MARIE STAPLES
Originally from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Marie moved to Dunnville in 1984. There she became the best friend and eventually the wife of Gary Staples. Together they raised her son and Marie worked as a part-time hairdresser. She spends a lot of her time helping Gary clear his name. |
