Justice advocate David Milgaard, a person who was wrongfully convicted of homicide and spent greater than 20 years in jail, has died.
On Sunday, a member of the family confirmed with CTV Information that Milgaard had handed away, however declined to remark additional. Milgaard was 69 years outdated.
Milgaard, who was born in Winnipeg, had been dwelling in Calgary together with his son and daughter.
Milgaard had change into a justice advocate after he was wrongfully convicted in 1970 for the rape and homicide of Gail Miller in Saskatoon. Milgaard and two pals had been on a highway journey, driving by the town when the homicide occurred. A yr later, on the age of 17, Milgaard was convicted of Miller's homicide and handed a life sentence.
He spent 23 years in jail earlier than his launch in 1992 following a evaluation of his case by the Supreme Courtroom of Canada, and exoneration by DNA proof in 1997.
"It was essentially the most horrible, horrible moments in my life when the justice division simply messed issues up so terribly for me," Milgaard informed CTV Information whereas in Winnipeg in 2020 talking on a panel on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights about wrongful convictions.
“Getting out of jail for an individual that is been in there some time shouldn't be a simple factor to do.”
On the time, Milgaard informed CTV Information Winnipeg he hoped his presence would encourage and encourage different wrongly convicted folks to by no means surrender their struggle to show their innocence and regain their freedom.
Milgaard maintained his innocence all through his time in jail. His mom Joyce Milgaard, who died in 2020, tirelessly advocated on her son's behalf. Within the a long time since his launch, Milgaard had spoken publicly, calling for adjustments in how Canadian courts evaluation convictions.
His image is now included within the Canadian Journey's gallery on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Isha Khan, the museum's CEO, mentioned Milgaard was a human rights defender.
"He's somebody we all know, and the rationale we all know is as a result of he was capable of inform his story, and it takes a particular type of individual to proceed to attempt to join with folks," she mentioned, including his work shouldn't be over.
"There are folks throughout this nation in correctional establishments who've been wrongfully convicted, who want a voice and do not have a voice that David Milgaard did for no matter cause it could be, and it's our job to hear and to search for these tales."
Milgaard had lately been pushing for an unbiased evaluation board to stop miscarriages of justice.
"David was a marvellous advocate for the wrongly convicted, for all of the years he is been out since 1992. We will miss him lots. He was a beautiful man," James Lockyer, a Toronto-based lawyer, informed CTV Information Channel on Sunday.
Lockyer, a founding director of the Affiliation in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, joined Milgaard's case following his launch in 1992 and helped him by the method to get DNA testing completed. Lockyer mentioned because of the DNA proof, a person named Larry Fisher was arrested, and charged with the rape and homicide. Fisher died whereas serving a life sentence.
"David Milgaard's case was a seminal case in Canadian Historical past, and at all times can be. However extra importantly now, he carried on his work, or he began his work, for the opposite wrongly convicted," Lockyer mentioned.
"I really feel like I'm carrying on David's work and I wish to keep it up doing that – it's a testomony to David that we're going to hold working for his trigger."
-With recordsdata from CTV's Jill Macyshon, Kevin Inexperienced and Mason DePatie
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