When the last gavel finally drops, they'll probably offer him $2M, after spending $10M talking about it. What a bunch of morons we have running our Justice system.CBC.ca said:
Poor David Milgaard!
- Thread starter Maury Beniowski
- Start date
we have a justice system??? 
And of course the Commission can't order the amount of compensation. It will be the government that decides what they'll offer, and they'll take into account the amount they've spent finding out that that they fucked up big time, that the cops were incompetent at best and corrupt at worse, suppressed evidence, and generally screwed up a poor guys life.Maury Beniowski said:
Tom
Don't feel too sorry for him. He already got $10M a few years ago. This inquiry has nothing to do with compensation, just in laying blame.
That was my thought too. I didn't know the amount, but I knew he received a compensation package (if one could call it that, given 1/2 his life was spent behind bars).
The enquiry is most like to determine why he was convicted and to prevent a repeat if possible. Given todays technology, specificially DNA, he never would have been convicted if this was available back then.
For what it's worth, there is probably many more in his situation largely due to the unrealibility of eye witness testimony which is often relied upon when there isn't much physical evidence, and if DNA wasn't present at the crime there's not much chance of getting released. For the innocent, DNA is a godsent.
The enquiry is most like to determine why he was convicted and to prevent a repeat if possible. Given todays technology, specificially DNA, he never would have been convicted if this was available back then.
For what it's worth, there is probably many more in his situation largely due to the unrealibility of eye witness testimony which is often relied upon when there isn't much physical evidence, and if DNA wasn't present at the crime there's not much chance of getting released. For the innocent, DNA is a godsent.
I don't think any amount of money is capable of erasing 22 years behind bars for something a person didn't do. His best years were taken away from him. I would say he left with trying to peice together some sort of life.stoneworker said:
I read the book about his ordeal and if a couple of highly anal retentive cops that hated anyone with long hair had not been investigating the rape and murder of Gail Miller then perhaps Milgaard would not have been railroaded.
Offhand there has been: Thomas Sophonow, Steven Truscott, Donald Marshall and Paul Morin. Who knows how many more wrongly convicted there behind bars and are unable to get their cases re-opened? Milgaard's mother, Joyce, once cited a US report that up to a third of all inmates were wrongly convicted. That's scary.
And whatever the faults of our penal system, at least someone on death row here who is innocent of the crime of which he has been convicted isn't executed and THEN the DNA evidence proves him innocent. The same can't be said of Florida and Texas where execution of prisoners is practically an assembly line operation. And both "kill 'em quick" states either currently or formerly governed by someone named Bush. Both of whom are quite vocal in professing their belief in the sanctity of life. Provided it's still in the womb, of course.
