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David Milgaard
Expert backs probe into
Milgaard conviction
Betty
Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix, Saturday, October 04, 2003
A criminologist who studied
the 1969 prosecution and wrongful conviction of David Milgaard
said he welcomes a public inquiry into the way the Gail Miller
murder case was handled.
"I think it's a very important
step. There are many questions, particularly questions relating
to the arrest of Larry Fisher in Winnipeg, Man., in 1970 and
the way in which that arrest was handled. I think those issues
have to be looked at in some detail," said Neil Body, a
criminology professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.
"I think it could very
useful to find out how and why this mistake was made so that
it won't happen again," Body said.
Milgaard was convicted in January
1970 for the rape and murder of 20-year-old nursing assistant
Gail Miller, whose body had been found one year earlier, in an
alley behind Avenue N South. He served almost 23 years in the
penitentiary.
In 1999, convicted serial rapist
Larry Fisher was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life
in prison.
Back in 1992, after years of
trying to attract attention to her son's case, Joyce Milgaard
and her Toronto lawyers, Hersh Wolch and David Asper, convinced
the Supreme Court to hear David Milgaard's appeal.
The lawyers included in their
submissions to the High Court, a February 1992 academic paper
written by Body and Kim Rossmo, a criminology PhD student. The
paper called Finding Justice: problems and prospects with the
Milgaard conviction, examined the possible guilt or innocence
of David Milgaard and of Larry Fisher.
Milgaard was released and the
Saskatchewan Justice Department stayed the charge. That year,
Milgaard, his family and supporters began demanding a full public
inquiry.
In 1994, Alberta Justice carried
out a seven-month investigation into 68 allegations of obstruction
of justice by Justice Department officials, who allegedly had
conspired to suppress evidence. The investigation cleared justice
officials.
In 1997 Milgaard was cleared
when DNA taken from semen on Miller's clothes did not match his.
He was later paid $10 million by the Saskatchewan and federal
governments, the largest criminal compensation ever in Canada.
The DNA matched that of convicted
serial rapist Fisher.
Fisher was convicted of Miller's
murder in 1999. His appeal of that conviction was dismissed last
week by the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. That decision was followed
by Saskatchewan Justice Minister Eric Cline's announcement of
the inquiry.
Body hopes the Milgaard inquiry
will answer questions about why Fisher, who was charged with
two rapes in Winnipeg in 1970, agreed to plead guilty to four
rapes in Saskatoon.
"It's very unusual that
somebody would confess out of the blue to rapes in another jurisdiction,"
Body said.
"Also why did Larry Fisher
plead guilty in Regina to the rapes instead of Saskatoon, the
city in which the rapes occurred?" he said.
Body also wants to know why
a former Saskatoon police detective misled him and Rossmo about
the fact he had been sent to Winnipeg to interview Fisher before
Fisher made the unusual admission and was sentenced in Regina
rather than in Saskatoon.
"When Fisher was arrested.
. . it seems quite likely that there was a perception that the
Milgaard conviction was an inappropriate conviction because of
the proximity of time and place and the similarity of the rapes
to which Fisher pled guilty to the Gail Miller murder,"
Body said.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
Cline calls inquiry
into Milgaard conviction
CBC Sep 30 2003
REGINA -Saskatchewan's justice
minister Eric Cline has called an inquiry into the wrongful conviction
of David Milgaard. He was convicted of the 1969 rape and murder
of Saskatoon nursing assistant Gail Miller.
Milgaard served 23 years in prison before the Supreme Court of
Canada reviewed his case and ordered a new trial. The province
stayed those charges and decided not to retry Milgaard.
Larry Fisher was later tried
and convicted of that murder.
SEPT. 29, 2003: Fisher taking
appeal to Supreme Court of Canada
On Monday the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal denied Fisher's request
for a new trial. Fisher's lawyer plans to ask the Supreme Court
of Canada to hear the appeal.
Copyright © 2003 Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation - All Rights Reserved
Milgaard finally gets
inquiry
Betty
Ann Adam, The StarPhoenix, October 1, 2003
The Saskatchewan government
will begin immediately with a full public inquiry into the wrongful
conviction of David Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for
a crime he didn't commit -- the 1969 rape and murder of 20-year-old
nursing assistant Gail Miller.
Justice Minister Eric Cline
announced Tuesday the government has already put the wheels in
motion to choose a judge or retired judge to act as commissioner
of the inquiry, which could begin hearing testimony five or six
months after the appointment.
"A judicial inquiry should
proceed as expeditiously as possible, that is, as soon as logistically
possible," Cline said.
On Monday the Saskatchewan
Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed an appeal by Larry Fisher,
the man who was convicted in November 1999 of the same crime.
He was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for
10 years.
While the decision opened the
way for the long-awaited inquiry, that process will be suspended
if Fisher is granted leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, Cline
said.
The Saskatchewan government
is getting started on the inquiry because the Appeal Court decision
was unanimous, making it unlikely the Supreme Court will hear
the case, he said.
Fisher has 60 days in which
to file an appeal. If he does, the Crown has 30 days to file
a response for the High Court's consideration.
The inquiry will look into
the police investigation into the January 1969 murder and the
prosecution and conviction of David Milgaard, then a 16-year-old
travelling through the city with friends.
The inquiry will also examine
actions of the Saskatoon police after information about Larry
Fisher's other rapes came to light.
While the terms of reference
have not been finalized, "it would be broader in scope rather
than narrower," to answer outstanding questions about the
case, Cline said.
Naming the commissioner and
establishing the terms of reference should be complete within
weeks, Cline said.
Fisher's 1999 trial heard that
he had raped two other women within a 12-block area and within
a year and a half of the Miller murder. Fisher also pleaded guilty
to a rape in Winnipeg, which bore striking similarities in method
to the Saskatoon rapes and the Miller rape and murder.
That "similar fact"
information was a large part of the case against Fisher but was
not considered by a court until 1992 when the Supreme Court recommended
a new trial for Milgaard.
The charges were stayed and
in 1997, DNA evidence cleared Milgaard. He was later awarded
$10 million, the largest criminal compensation ever paid in Canada.
The DNA, which matched Fisher's,
was also used in the Crown's case against Fisher.
Word of the inquiry was received
with joy by the Milgaard family.
"I'm just delighted. We're
really happy," said David Milgaard's mother, Joyce Milgaard.
"Our reaction is good,
basically. I'm glad for the Millers that they're not going to
have to wait and wait and wait. This should be finalized as soon
as possible," she said.
Milgaard repeated her wish
that if the inquiry reveals any wrongdoing on the part of police
or justice officials, that they be brought to justice.
"There should be some
accountability," Milgaard said.
Cline said the provincial government
cannot override the charter of rights, which protects people
who must testify at an inquiry from being charged based on their
testimony there.
Milgaard said she will seek
standing at the inquiry.
"I'm very, very happy
to hear about it and I'll be out there to see that they do it
right," she said.
The Saskatoon police want the
Milgaard family to get answers for their questions, said spokesperson
Insp. Lorne Constantinoff.
"I'm sure there are a
lot of unanswered questions for the Milgaard family. That is
the most important thing, that they have complete closure in
this," he said.
"The police department
always errs on the side of justice and what is right. If there
have been discrepancies or false accusations or if the justice
system has been at fault in any way, then the police department
is interested in making it right," he said.
Most of the officers who were
involved in the Milgaard investigation have retired and there
have since been many changes in the way the police service operates,
he said.
Changes include the use of
DNA evidence, computer programs to help manage investigations,
thereby preventing police from missing any angles of a case,
improved officer training in interrogation and investigation,
greater accountability of investigators to their supervisors
and different rules of evidence to be presented in court, Constantinoff
said.
"All of these things have
a much greater impact on the way we do investigations,"
Constantinoff said.
Elwin Hermanson, leader of
the Saskatchewan Party, approves of the inquiry.
"We've been concerned
for quite some time that there seem to be problems with Saskatchewan's
justice system. There's been a break down, either procedural
or handling of a number of cases," he said.
The Sask. Party would not object
to the inquiry if it should form government after the next provincial
election, Hermanson said.
It might even call another
inquiry into the justice system because there have been so many
problematic cases in recent years, he said.
"There were procedural
problems with the Latimer case, the Martensville affair, this
Klassen family, I guess, is the most recent issue to hit the
news. . . . As part of our overall review of government, we'd
certainly think the justice system should be part of that,"
Hermanson said.
© Copyright 2003 The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon)
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
