'He knew he was innocent': David Milgaard's lawyer remembers his fight fight for freedom
Friends and colleagues are remembering David Milgaard, a justice advocate who died over the weekend.
The 69-year-old, who was wrongfully convicted of murder, spent 23 years in prison before his exoneration.
In fighting for his own freedom, Milgaard became an advocate for the wrongfully convicted.
“He knew he was innocent,” said David Asper, Milgaard’s friend and his former defence lawyer. “He simply refused to let the system own him.”
Milgaard was only 16 when he was charged and then wrongfully convicted in 1970 for the rape and murder of Saskatoon nursing aid Gail Miller. Following Milgaard’s release, a man named Larry Fisher was arrested, charged and convicted in the murder.
“He was defiant,” Asper recalled. “He had a parole hearing…and I went to the hearing with him.”
“He kept telling me in our private meetings…‘parole is for guilty people, I’m innocent. Watch.’”
Asper said he didn’t quite know what to expect.
“He looked at the panel…and he basically said, ‘eff you to you, you and you.’ He was not going to play their game. He was not going to show contrition or admit that he committed the crime so that he could get parole and he just stood defiant and said, ‘I’m innocent and that’s it.’”
A family member confirmed with CTV News Sunday, Milgaard – who was born in Winnipeg and had been living in Calgary – died at the age of 69.
“The overwhelming thing about David is his strength of character and his fortitude and his focus on setting things right,” Asper said.
In Milgaard’s case, that didn’t happen until 1992 following a review by the Supreme Court of Canada and an exoneration by DNA evidence in 1997. It took years of tireless advocacy by his mother Joyce on her son’s behalf and plenty of Milgaard’s own resilience and strength before he was freed.
Milgaard went on to advocate for other wrongfully convicted people and his photo is now featured in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg for his work as a human rights defender.
“I think what’s really important about David Milgaard is he did it for himself, of course, advocating for his freedom and wanting to change the system. But then once exonerated, he went back into that system and tried to change it for everyone,” said Isha Khan, CEO of the CMHR.
He had been pushing for an independent commission to review wrongful convictions in Canada.
“David Milgaard’s case was a seminal case in Canadian history and always will be,” said James Lockyer, a lawyer with Innocence Canada. “But more importantly now, he carried on his own work, or he started his work for the other wrongly convicted.”
Asper said that advocacy will continue by friends and colleagues in Milgaard’s honour.
“That’s what David was working on,” Asper said. “That’s what the Minister of Justice has on his desk now.”
David Lametti, Canada’s Justice Minister, said he’s committed to establishing a new commission to review wrongful convictions. The minister said he was profoundly saddened to learn Milgaard would not live to see it happen.
Asper said he and Milgaard were set to receive honorary doctorates of law from the University of Manitoba in June and he said they were both looking forward to seeing each other again.
Asper’s now working on ways to honour his friend, whose life and advocacy continues to shape the Canadian justice system.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, injuring over a dozen
An apartment block partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least 19 injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were also likely deaths.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Swiss fans get ready to welcome Eurovision winner Nemo back home
Swiss Eurovision fans were getting ready Sunday to give a hero's welcome to singer Nemo, who won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest with "The Code," an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer’s journey toward embracing a nongender identity.
Flash floods and cold lava flow hit Indonesia's Sumatra island. At least 37 people were killed
Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano's slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island triggered flash floods that killed at least 37 people and more than a dozen others were missing, officials said Sunday.
'I felt I wasn't alone': Ottawa's Mental Health Gala gets the conversation going
A personal experience has turned into one of Ottawa's biggest fund raisers to get the conversation going to remove the stigma of mental health in our community.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
'It was violent': Police tear down U of A pro-Palestinian encampment Saturday morning
Multiple people at the protest camp torn down at the University of Alberta campus Saturday say police's actions against protesters were "violent" and "disproportionate."