Eddie Greenspan, Canada’s most famous criminal lawyer who dominated every courtroom in which he appeared, died in his sleep Wednesday in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 70.
Greenspan, a man of fierce intellect, drew much notoriety for defending high-profile clients, including former theatre tycoon Garth Drabinsky, ex-media baron Conrad Black and German financier Karlheinz Schreiber.
But he was also a life-long supporter of human rights and played a major role in educating Canadians about the death penalty.
In the late 1980s Greenspan temporarily stopped practising law to help lead a country-wide campaign against a movement to restore the death penalty, which was abolished in Canada in 1976.
As usual, he won his case.
A free vote in the House of Commons under the Progressive-Conservative government of Brian Mulroney was held in 1987 but it was voted down.
Greenspan also gained national exposure as host of CBC’s radio series The Scales of Justice in the 1980s and the TV series in the 1990s. He won a Gemini Award in 1993.
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