The Newfoundland man whose conviction in the deaths of his twin daughters was overturned last week by the Supreme Court of Canada will not face a new trial, after prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to re-try him. But while Nelson Hart will soon be free, his lawyer says he will "emerge from prison with nothing."
Hart had been serving a life sentence in the 2002 drowning deaths of his three-year-old girls. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the confession Hart gave to detectives in the case was inadmissible because of the way it was given during a so-called Mr. Big sting.
Crown prosecutors in Newfoundland and Labrador announced Tuesday that without Hart's confession, there was not enough evidence to order a new trial. Donovan Molloy, director of public prosecutions, says the decision means that Hart, now 45, will be released from prison shortly.
Hart's ex-wife Jennifer Hicks showed no emotion as the decision was announced and declined to speak to reporters outside court.
Hart was found guilty in 2007 of first-degree murder in the drowning deaths of three-year-old Karen and Krista at Gander Lake. Hart insisted that the deaths were accidental, but police said he changed his story several times during their investigation.
Hart's lawyer in Corner Brook, N.L., Jamie Merrigan, said Tuesday that Crown prosecutors made the right decision in not ordering a new trial.
"There was simply no evidence of there being a murder committed," Merrigan told CTV News Channel.
Hart initially told police that Krista fell off a pier into a lake and that he didn't jump in because he couldn't swim. His trial heard that while Hart had a cellphone, he left his other daughter behind at the lake and drove 11 kilometres to get his wife.
When police arrived on scene, one girl was already dead; the other died in hospital.
During the Mr. Big sting, Hart told undercover officers posing as mobsters that he had deliberately pushed his daughters into the water. While he was convicted at trial, Hart's lawyers successfully argued at appeal that the confession should be inadmissable.
The Supreme Court agreed with an appeal court's decision to overturn the conviction, arguing that Hart's confession was not reliable since it was made under emotional duress and Hart may have been induced to confess with financial incentives.
Merrigan says his client now has to try to rebuild his life but has suffered greatly during his years in custody.
"He's struggled emotionally. He knows what happened. He's been branded a murderer and that's been very hard to live with. He's had a tough time in prison," Merrigan said.
Merrigan said the courts have noted that Hart is a "simple man" with only a Grade 5 education and without a strong social network.
"He had very little in his life, and that's what made him so vulnerable to this. And now [all these] years of custody later, he has no friends, he has no sources of income, his long incarceration and the allegations against him have shattered his marriage," Merrigan said.
"…He really does emerge from prison with nothing."
