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    • 'It was amazing': Riverhawks clinch first playoff win in front of record-setting crowd

    Re/Max Field can be seen in this file photo from 2021. (CTV News Edmonton) Re/Max Field can be seen in this file photo from 2021. (CTV News Edmonton)
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    The Edmonton Riverhawks have made franchise history.

    The team bested the Bellingham Bells 3-1 Saturday night for the franchise's first post-season win.

    This is the first year the Riverhawks have qualified for the West Coast League (WCL) playoffs, thanks to a 33-22 regular season finish, and the team set a WCL playoff game attendance record with 7,848 tickets sold. 

    "It was amazing. A huge turn out from the community. A lot of people wanting to see good baseball," said Ryan Chan, Riverhawks fan experience coordinator.

    Chan said it was extra special to be able to celebrate the team's first post-season win at home with a fireworks show after the game.

    "Just put a bow on what was a really great night," he added.

    At the end of July, the Riverhawks set the league's single-season attendance record of 116,871 fans.

    Due to the growing fan base, Chan said the Riverhawks recently converted their general admission to reserved seating.

    "We did have, unfortunately, some fans who weren't able to find seats on Canada Day," he added. "Having everyone having their own seat (last night) made everything a smoother process."

    Chan said – if Saturday night's game was any indication – any subsequent playoff games will continue to draw big crowds.

    "(I expect) a packed house with very rowdy atmosphere. You know Edmonton sports fans like to get up for their teams," Chan said. "Such a community around this team has been amazing to see, and we hope to keep the party going."

    Game 2 and 3, if needed, will be held Sunday night in Bellingham, WA.

     With files from CTV News Edmonton's Brandon Lynch

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    A man who has brain damage has a murder conviction reversed after a 34-year fight

    A man who has brain damage and was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a shopkeeper in London had his decades-old conviction quashed Wednesday by an appeals court troubled by the possibility police elicited a false confession from a mentally vulnerable man. Oliver Campbell, who suffered cognitive impairment as a baby and struggles with his concentration and memory, was 21 when he was jailed in 1991 after being convicted based partly on admissions his lawyer said were coerced. “The fight for justice is finally over after nearly 34 years," Campbell said. “I can start my life an innocent man.” Campbell, now in his 50s, was convicted of the robbery and murder of Baldev Hoondle, who was shot in the head in his shop in the Hackney area of east London in July 1990. He had a previous appeal rejected in 1994 and was released from prison in 2002 on conditions that could have returned him to prison if he got into trouble. Defense lawyer Michael Birnbaum said police lied to Campbell and “badgered and bullied” him into giving a false confession by admitting he pulled the trigger in an accident. He was interviewed more than a dozen times, including sessions without either a lawyer or other adult present. His learning disability put him “out of his depth” and he was "simply unable to do justice to himself,” Birnbaum said. He said the admissions were nonsense riddled with inconsistencies that contradicted facts in the case. At trial, he testified that he was not involved in the robbery and had been somewhere else though he couldn't remember where. A co-defendant, Eric Samuels, who has since died, pleaded guilty to the robbery and was sentenced to five years in prison. At the time, he told his lawyer Campbell was not the gunman and later told others Campbell wasn’t with him during the robbery. Lawyers continued to advocate for Campbell that he wasn't the killer and his case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission which investigates potential injustices. The three judges on the Court of Appeal rejected most of Birnbaum's grounds for appeal but said they were troubled by the conviction in light of a new understanding of the reliability of admissions from someone with a mental disability. The panel quashed the conviction as 'unsafe,' and refused to order a retrial.

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