PREFACE: FROM INNOCENCE CANADA ACCOUNT: David Milgaard and his mother Joyce, with the help of Innocence Canada (formerly AIDWYC), were able to enlist forensic scientific techniques that had not been available at earlier stages of the process. On July 18, 1997, DNA testing results confirmed that the semen found in Gail’s clothing could not possibly have been David’s. Rather, it was Larry Fisher’s. David now had conclusive proof that he was innocent. The Saskatchewan government has since provided $10 million of compensation to David and his family for their horrific, decades-long ordeal. Fisher, meanwhile, was at long last convicted of the rape and murder of Gail Miller, on November 22, 1999.
GIST: "Wounds that Innocence Canada Cannot Heal: David spent 23 years in prison, where he suffered physical abuse, sexual assault, a near-fatal gunshot wound (during his eminently understandable escape attempt), and psychological scars that will never heal.[28] In 1995 – only a few years after his release from prison – David gave a poignant interview about his experiences there and subsequent adjustment to life in the outside world. In this interview, David made the following comments. I’ll never forget being a prisoner. In my own way I still consider myself a prisoner. My situation is such that I am never going to forget it. I would like to do more to help prisoners, because I remember what it was like sitting inside a penitentiary. You die a little bit each day you spend in a penitentiary. Coping with being free after 22 years is hard. When I first came out I was a bit lost. Everything seemed so much faster, everybody was bouncing around. People seemed so busy. People didn’t seem to find time to just be kind of quiet, to take it easy. And I still find it like that, but I do take the time. Sometimes I just go camping and fishing or swimming and find my own time and pace. I hope that as time goes on I’ll feel a bit more comfortable." We hope that David has been able to find some measure of the peace that he so richly deserves."
The entire Innocence Canada account can be read at:
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More from this indomitable man, from the interview: "The Social Journal of prisoners on prisons; Vol 6. No. 1. (1995)
"A speaker at the AIDWYC conference was talking about how after you finally get a bit of justice they expect you to say thank you, thank you for helping me out. They have never helped me out. All they have done is bastardize what is suppose to be justice. That's all they have ever done, the government and the officials. For years and years and years they have played the "up the hill, down the hill" thing with me, with my mother and my family hoping something would be done, getting close and then the state pulled away. My mother went across the whole country, talked to witnesses, spent all of her money, all her savings, everything she had. Then after finally getting things moving, we presented a clear black and white picture that showed there was no possible way I would have committed the crime. The Justice Minister, Kim Campbell, laughed! We were all sitting there waiting for things to unfold. We were hopeful and thought "something is going to finally happen". David Asper [Dave's counsel] comes down to the hole in the disciplinary area that I was in and I could just tell by looking at his face that he was screwed up, messed up, right. I said, "what's up"? He replied, "Kim Campbell's decision isn't any good. Basically she said there's absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing that can be offered". That was it for me. Passing over all my dreams. I am sure everyone felt terrible. My mum did not give up. I felt pretty bad, but I didn't give up. I didn't feel too good about it but it wasn't long before something else was happening; organized protests, city support groups. Then strictly because of public opinion, they had to do something. That's how we got into the Supreme Court. That's why I will keep fighting back."
.http://jpp.org/documents/forms/JPP6_1/Response.pdf
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CBC NEWS (REPORTER MEGHAN GRANT) ON HIS PASSING:
STORY: "A life 'defined by something he didn't do': David Milgaard, wrongfully convicted of murder, dies at 69," by CBC News Reporter Meghan Grant, published on May 15, 2022.
SUB-HEADING: "He was a 'loving, caring and gentle person,' says friend."
GIST: "David Milgaard, a man who spent 23 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit, died in a Calgary hospital this weekend, sources close to the family have confirmed.
He died after a brief hospital stay from complications related to pneumonia.
Milgaard, 69, who had been living in Cochrane, leaves behind two children in their teens.
Those close to Milgaard describe him as a gracious man who did not hold onto anger or animosity.
Milgaard worked in recent years, to prevent similar miscarriages of justice from happening to others.
'Defined by something he didn't do'
"He wanted to live life to the fullest with the time that was available to him and not carry a grudge," said Dr. Patrick Baillie, a psychologist who testified on Milgaard's behalf at the Saskatchewan inquiry into his wrongful conviction in 2006.
"His life was always defined by something he didn't do and he wanted the opportunity to define his life on the basis of the things that were important to him."
In 1969, the Winnipeg man was 16 years old and passing through Saskatchewan with friends when Saskatoon nurse Gail Miller's body was found in a snowbank.
A year after Miller was killed, Milgaard was convicted of her rape and murder, and incarcerated from the ages of 16 to 39.
Over the years, lawyers have accused police of having "the worst kind of tunnel vision" during the investigation of the case.
His mother Joyce, who died in 2020, never doubted her son's innocence and together, they spent more than 20 years fighting to prove his innocence.
Without Joyce, Milgaard believed he would have been left to rot in prison and always credited her for helping secure his freedom.
He was released from prison in 1992, but it took several more years before he was exonerated.
David
In 1997, the emergence of new DNA evidence linked notorious rapist Larry Fisher to the murder.
Fisher was convicted of the crime eight years later and sentenced to life in prison. He died in 2015 at the age of 65.
Milgaard received a multi-million dollar compensation package from the federal government in 1999.
A 'gentle person'
Greg Rodin was one of the lawyers who secured that compensation, but their relationship grew over the years and the two became close friends.
Rodin described Milgaard as a "loving, caring and gentle person."
"All those who knew and loved David are in a state of shock and great sadness," said Rodin in an email to CBC News. "I will miss my friend greatly."
Milgaard's life work, said Rodin, was his continued advocacy for prison reform.
"He showed us that we are all vulnerable to being wrongfully convicted," said Rodin.
Desire for 'a quiet existence'
Milgaard, said Rodin, believed the current penal system would be greatly improved if it was designed to resemble an Indigenous justice model.
Most recently Milgaard was working closely with Federal Justice Minister David Lametti to establish a commission which would investigate cases where wrongful conviction was claimed.
Milgaard did this even though his advocacy kept his wrongful conviction front and centre to his public identity.
When Baillie testified at the wrongful conviction inquiry, he told Justice Edward MacCallum that Milgaard would always be forced to carry the weight of the wrongful conviction.
"David wants to be a father to his children, David wants to be married to his wife, David wants to have just a quiet existence," Baillie told the inquiry.
"But even if David became prime minister, the day that David dies, the first line of his obituary is going to be 'David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a wrongful conviction and later went on to become Prime minister."
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
