David Milgaard's mother says she's trying to be positive about a long-awaited report into her son's wrongful murder conviction, but admits it's difficult after so many years.

The 800-page report to be released Friday by an Alberta judge has been in the works since an inquiry into Milgaard's case concluded in Saskatoon nearly two years ago.

"I guess one's inclined to get cynical after all the time it's taken," Joyce Milgaard said from her home in Winnipeg.

"I'm hoping there'll be some good in it."

David Milgaard spent 23 years in prison for the rape and murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller. Her partially clad body was found in a snowy alley on Jan. 31, 1969. She has been raped and stabbed to death.

The Supreme Court threw out Milgaard's conviction in 1992 and he was released from prison after the Saskatchewan government decided not to hold a new trial. He was exonerated in 1997 through DNA tests.

Milgaard received an apology and $10 million in compensation from the provincial government in 1999, the same year DNA evidence helped convict serial rapist Larry Fisher of the crime.

The inquiry, which cost an estimated $10 million, lasted two years and heard from 114 witnesses.

Milgaard's lawyer, Hersh Wolch, argued throughout that police and prosecutors in the case had "tunnel vision" and focused all their efforts on convicting Milgaard instead of finding the real killer.

Earlier this week, Wolch said he hopes Justice Edward MacCallum will agree with that perspective.

But more important, said Wolch, will be any suggestions from MacCallum on what may need to change.

"My main hopes are focused on recommendations to prevent this sort of thing from happening again," he said.

Milgaard's mother said she believes what's necessary is an independent system, similar to the one in Britain, to investigate and evaluate wrongful convictions.

In Canada, the only way to have a conviction overturned is through an application to the federal justice minister -- and that can only come after all court appeals have been exhausted.

Several Canadian judges reviewing other wrongful convictions have already recommended the federal government form an independent panel.

"That's one of the major hopes I have," said Joyce Milgaard. "Even if the report came out with that, I would feel like we've done some good."

Saskatchewan Justice Minister Don Morgan received an advance copy of the report, said a government spokesperson.

Saskatoon police spokeswoman Alyson Edwards said no one from the force would be commenting on its contents until it is fully reviewed.

Lawyers representing police and prosecutors admitted during the inquiry that mistakes were made in the case, but argued there was never any intent to convict an innocent man.

Milgaard, now 56, lives in Calgary with his wife and two young children, a six-month-old girl and a two-year-old boy, said his mother.

He wants to stay out of the limelight as much as possible, she added.

"The way it is now, David is not recognized on the street," she said. "He's doing well, and I'd like to see him have his privacy."

Joyce Milgaard, who worked tirelessly for years to have her son exonerated, now works with the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.