Friends and colleagues remember David Milgaard, a justice lawyer who died over the weekend.
The 69-year-old man, who was wrongfully convicted of murder, spent 23 years in prison before being acquitted.
Fighting for his own freedom, Milgaard became an advocate for those wrongfully convicted.
“He knew he was innocent,” said David Asper, a friend of Milgaard and his former lawyer. “He just refused to let the system own it.”
Milgaard was just 16 when he was indicted and then wrongfully convicted in 1970 of raping and killing Saskatchewan nurse Gail Miller. Following Milgaard’s release, a man named Larry Fisher was arrested, charged and convicted of murder.
“He was challenging,” Asper recalled. “He had a parole hearing … and I went to the hearing with him.”
“He kept telling me in our personal meetings that ” parole is for guilty people, I’m innocent. I’m watching. ‘”
Asper said he did not know what to expect.
He looked at the panel … and actually said, “Eh you, you and you.” He would not play their game. He would not show remorse or admit that he had committed the crime so that he could be released early, and he simply stood up defiantly and said, “I am innocent and that is it.”
A family member confirmed to CTV News Sunday, Milgaard – who was born in Winnipeg and lives in Calgary – has died at the age of 69.
“The great thing about David is his strength of character and his strength of spirit and his focus on making things right,” Asper said.
In the case of Milgaard, this happened only in 1992 after a review by the Supreme Court of Canada and acquittal by DNA evidence in 1997. It took years of tireless intercession by his mother Joyce on behalf of her son and much of his own resilience and resilience of Milgaard’s force before his release.
Milgaard continued to advocate for other wrongfully convicted people, and his photo is now on display at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights (CMHR) in Winnipeg for his work as a human rights defender.
“I think what really matters to David Milgaard is that he did it for himself, of course, advocating for his freedom and wanting to change the system. But once he was acquitted, he went back to that system and tried to change it for everyone, “said Isha Khan, CMHR’s chief executive.
He insisted on an independent commission to review the illegal sentences in Canada.
“The David Milgaard case has been a fundamental case in Canadian history and always will be,” said James Lockyer, a lawyer with Innocence Canada. “But more importantly now, he continued his work or began his work for the other wrongly convicted.”
Asper said the advocacy would continue from friends and colleagues in Milgaard’s honor.
“This is what David is working on,” Asper said. “That’s what the justice minister has on his desk now.”
David Lametti, Canada’s justice minister, said he was committed to setting up a new commission to review illegal sentences. The minister said he was deeply saddened to learn that Milgaard would not live to see that happen.
Asper said he and Milgaard would receive honorary doctorates in law from the University of Manitoba in June, and said the two were looking forward to seeing each other again.
Asper is now working on ways to honor his friend, whose life and advocacy continue to shape Canada’s justice system.
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