Monday 26 October 2020

'Selfless Warrior' Joyce Ride: Gloria Killian, an utterly innocent person who spent more than 16 years wrongfully in prison was telling the truth when she protested from the outset that she knew nothing about the horrifying crime. She had been caught in a web of lies spun by an addict who implicated her in order to protect his wife from being prosecuted for her role in the crime. None of the 'real' evidence in the case implicated Gloria. But she had been convicted, lost her appeal, and lost hope, resigned to spending much of the rest of her life behind bars. It was game over - the rest of her life likely in prison - until "a petite white-haired woman with piercing blue eyes" came along. It was Joyce Ride. A truly 'Selfless Warrior.'



THE CRIME: Brutal home invasion. As we learn from  Gloria Killian's book (co-authored by journalist Sandra Kobrin),  'Full Circle': A True Story of Murder, Lies and  Vindication,'  a young, promising law student's  nightmare begins the night Sacrament California coin dealer and his wife Grace are hogtied, shot execution style and left to die in their home. The robbers flee with six suitcases filled with silver and gold.  The investigation leads to two local men who are arrested tried and convicted. In an attempt to gain leniency,  one of them falsely implicates her, claiming she was the mastermind behind the crime.  The prosecutor then goes  after her with a vengeance  - abusing his power in the process -  and she is tried, convicted and sentenced for  a brutal  crime of which she knows nothing, of which she is utterly innocent. She loses her appeal. 

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THE REALITY: Gloria Killian, an innocent person who spent more than sixteen years in prison was telling the truth when  she protested from the outset that she knew nothing about the horrifying crime. She had been caught in a web of lies spun by an addict who implicated her in order to protect his wife from being prosecuted for her role in the crime. None of the physical evidence in the case implicated Gloria. It was the weakest of cases. In my  experience, when cases are this weak, police and prosecutors will  often make secret  deals with unsavoury witnesses, who in many cases are  prisoners seeking very special treatment such as reduction of their sentences,  in order to get a conviction (a powerful incentive to lie) and  crucial exculpatory evidence will be wrongfully concealed from the defence -  all of which happened in this troubling case. 

GLORIA KILLIAN'S FATE: After losing her appeal, spending years in prison, Gloria Killian had lost hope, feeling that there was no way out - still in prison because of a violent, horrific  crime  she knew nothing about until she watched a news report of the crime on television with her roommate who had known the victims. "Disturbed by the newscast, Gloria shook her head," Killian tells us in her book, using the third person.  "Awful," she reiterated. She couldn't imagine how Virgil (the roommate) must have felt. She tried to imagine  what it would be like to know the victims of such a heinous crime and she shivered - not just from the nighttime chill. Lately there had been a rash of crimes in Sacramento. The city was beginning to feel unsafe".  Killian had another good reason for abandoning hope. Her prosecutor,  Christopher 'Kit' Cleland,  for whatever reason, had  been pursuing her with a vengeance, much, it seemed to me, like the legendary  prosecutor Javert in Les Mis,  and  appeared to want to convict her at any cost.  All things considered, Gloria was looking at spending much of her life in prison for a crime of which she had no knowledge, in which she had therefore played utterly no role. (My conception, in a loose sense,  of what Franz Kafka's 'The Trial' was about.)  There was no hope - at least no hope until Joyce Ride,  who Killian describes as "the petite white-haired woman with piercing blue eyes" came along.

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THE 'SELFLESS WARRIOR.'  Joyce Ride was always troubled by the plight of abused women ended up in prison having been forced into crime or have killed their abusers,  losing their freedom forever. After her husband died she was able to spend more time on her prison visits, in which her mission had nothing to do with guilt or innocence. It was to help the women get through their  difficult lives. However, Killian writes that a year went by before  the petite white-haired  woman with piercing blue  eyes blurted out, "Just why the hell are you in here anyway?"  Gloria spilled it out, Joyce believed her, realised immediately that Gloria need a thorough investigation,  got the name of a  well-recommended private investigator (Darryl Carlson)  -   and broached the subject with Gloria, who later wrote:  "The next time the two women met, Joyce quickly got to the point. "Would you mind if I hired an investigator to look into your case?" she asked  Gloria. Gloria was stunned. Here  was a stranger offering to help when in six years even her mother  had not come to visit her." Gloria told Joyce that an investigator who had done  some work for her after her appeal  had found absolutely nothing. "Don't waste your money," Gloria told her. "I don't understand why this happened, but here is nothing to investigate." Joyce listened politely and, as was her want, and then went off and quietly did exactly what she intended to do in the first place. She called the investigator." The rest, as they say, is history.  As the National Registry of Exonerations entry notes, referring to Gary Masse, who had already  been convicted of the murder: "Ten years later, after a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus had been filed, defense investigators discovered evidence of Masse’s agreement with the prosecution, including a letter Masse sent to the prosecutor soon after Killian was sentenced. In the letter, Masse said, “I lied my ass off for you people.” The letter, as well as two others Masse wrote that detailed the resentencing agreement, (the deal to reduce his sentence if he incriminated Killian) were never disclosed to the defense by the prosecution. At a hearing on the petition, Masse admitted that much of the evidence he gave was false, including his testimony that he had not made a deal with the prosecution in exchange for testimony, and that Killian was the mastermind behind the robbery.   In March 2002, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Killian’s conviction ruling that her conviction was based on false testimony by Masse. Killian was released in August 2002 and the prosecution dismissed the charges against her a month later."

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JOYCE RIDE: AN EXTRAORDINARY  MOUNTAIN OF SUPPORT: 

I  am awestruck by  Joyce Ride, "the petite white-haired woman with piercing  blue eyes," within whom a fire was burning  to help Gloria Killian get through her struggle for exoneration because, in Joyce's memorable words, "Injustice annoys me." Once she learned about Gloria's case, Joyce devoted her life to securing her freedom  and seeing her exonerated, which is precisely what these 'Selfless Warriors' tend to do. For a start, she recognised the importance of obtaining an investigator, found the investigator (Darryl Carlson),  hired him, and then used his report - containing the secret letters which proved that she had been framed by Masse and convicted because of prosecutorial conduct -  to personally hire a lawyer,  (William Gennego) , who could take this explosive evidence and secure her freedom in court. She paid for a co-counsel to help stay on top of the many issues posed by this complex case, and hired an additional investigator to track down a crucial witness. Killian writes that Joyce spent  close to $100,000 of her own money on Killian's behalf over a three year period. However, she contributed to Gloria's journey back to freedom in many other ways, as she inspired Gloria and the members of the defence team to keep going, in spite of some major setbacks in both the state and federal courts.  As Gloria puts it, "She referred to herself at the beginning of the case as "annoyed by injustice. She was now mad as hell." Near the end of the lengthy ordeal, after  Gloria had effectively won her court battle  but had to remain on bail pending the prosecution's decision as to whether or not to try to continue the case, Gloria says Joyce told her, while she was still in prison, that in light of the  recent death of her mother she was considering inviting Gloria to live with her in her three bedroom home, and, in the process, ease the loneliness that she, Joyce,  experienced.  It came to pass.  When Gloria got the good news of her  court victory, after speaking to her lawyer, the first person she called was Joyce, On the day of her release on $200,000 bail (which could be paid once she was out) , Joyce drove to the prison to  pick Gloria up. She had brought a favourite song to play on the way home: A classic rendition of  Don't fence me in.' Joyce, who is now 96-years old,  not only signed as a surety for Gloria's bail, and provided her a with a home, she rallied her church group to help assemble the $200,000 cash. 

COMMENTARY: In this short post, I have been able to relate a sliver of the diabolic scheme used to entrap an utterly innocent person in a violent crime she didn't know anything about until watching television one night. There is much more that could be told about the heavy-handed efforts by Gloria's prosecutor to see her convicted, which resulted in his being admonished for withholding  such crucial exculpatory evidence from her and violating her basic constitutional rights.  There is so much more I could say about Gloria Killian, who was a 'Selfless Warrior' in her own right, who spent much of her time in prison using the knowledge she had amassed  in law school to help  many of the women she was locked up with  resolve  the injustices they faced in the courts and behind bars - and who continued this noble work after she was released, through an organisation she set up: 'The Action Committee for Women in Prison.' There is so much more  I could say about Gloria's top-notch committed investigator, Darryl Carlson, and lawyer, William Gennego, and others who provided help and support to Gloria.  However, you will find  that and more in 'Full Circle'  which is listed below in the 'reading material' section. I will give Gloria the last word. A few days ago, during a phone interview, I asked her to give me an update on Joyce. "She's 96 years-old," Gloria replied, "She's sleeping in the next room."   I then asked her what struck her most about Joyce. Without skipping a beat, she replied: "She saved my life." A'Selfless Warrior' indeed.

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.

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NATIONAL REGISTRY OF EXONERATIONS ENTRY: MAURICE POSSLEY: 

"On December 9, 1981, two men disguised as telephone repairmen entered the home of an elderly couple in Rosemont, California. Ed Davies was fatally shot. His wife, Grace, was shot in the head, but survived. Six suitcases full of silver were stolen. 

On December 14, an anonymous telephone call to authorities identified the perpetrators as Stephen DeSantis and his cousin, Gary Masse. When officers attempted to find Masse, they spoke to his wife, Joanne, who said that a woman named Gloria planned the robbery. Masse surrendered to police on December 17, 1981, the same day the police arrested 35-year-old Gloria Killian, a former law student with no prior criminal record. After a preliminary hearing, the charges against Killian were dismissed.

Masse went on trial in Sacramento County Superior Court and in May 1983, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Almost immediately, Masse contacted the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department to try to make a deal. After he was assured that the prosecution would be willing to assist in a sentence reduction, Masse implicated DeSantis and Killian. Masse’s sentence was vacated at the request of the prosecution.

Killian was re-arrested in June 1983 and, along with DeSantis, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, burglary and conspiracy to commit robbery. The conspiracy charge alleged that sometime prior to the robbery, Killian went to the door of the Davies’ residence in an unsuccessful attempt to gain entry for Masse and DeSantis. 

Killian and DeSantis were tried separately. DeSantis went first, took the stand in his own defense and denied involvement. He also denied that he had ever met or heard of Killian. DeSantis also testified that Masse had told him about a prior aborted attempt to rob the Davies family in which Gary’s wife, Joanne, went to the front door of their home and asked to use their phone. 

Masse testified at Killian’s trial in February 1986 and his testimony was the only direct evidence against Killian. Grace Davies testified and described how a woman had come to the door of the house some time prior to the robbery, but she could not identify Killian as the woman.

Masse told the jury that he had no deal or arrangement with the prosecution. He said that Killian was the mastermind of the plot to rob the Davies and that after learning of the robbery and murder, she called to demand her share of the robbery proceeds. 

On February 26, 1986, Killian was convicted and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison. Masse’s sentence was reduced from life without parole to 25 years.

Ten years later, after a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus had been filed, defense investigators discovered evidence of Masse’s agreement with the prosecution, including a letter Masse sent to the prosecutor soon after Killian was sentenced. In the letter, Masse said, “I lied my ass off for you people.” The letter, as well as two others Masse wrote that detailed the resentencing agreement, were never disclosed to the defense by the prosecution.

At a hearing on the petition, Masse admitted that much of the evidence he gave was false, including his testimony that he had not made a deal with the prosecution in exchange for testimony, and that Killian was the mastermind behind the robbery.  

In March 2002, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Killian’s conviction ruling that her conviction was based on false testimony by Masse. Killian was released in August 2002 and the prosecution dismissed the charges against her a month later.

The prosecutor in Killian’s case, Christopher Cleland, was later admonished by the California State Bar for his conduct in the case. 

After her release, Killian co-authored a book about her experiences and became executive director of the Action Committee for Women in Prison, an organization that works to improve conditions of female prisoners."

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CHRONOLOGY: (From National Registry of Exonerations entry).


DECEMBER 9, 1981:

Two men disguised as telephone repairmen entered the home of an elderly couple in Rosemont, California. Ed Davies was fatally shot. His wife, Grace, was shot in the head, but survived. Six suitcases full of silver were stolen. 

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DECEMBER 14, 1981:

On December 14, an anonymous telephone call to authorities identified the perpetrators as Stephen DeSantis and his cousin, Gary Masse. When officers attempted to find Masse, they spoke to his wife, Joanne, who said that a woman named Gloria planned the robbery.


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DECEMBER 17, 1981, Masse surrendered to police on December 17, 1981, the same day the police arrested 35-year-old Gloria Killian, a former law student with no prior criminal record. After a preliminary hearing, the charges against Killian were dismissed.

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MAY 1983:

Masse went on trial in Sacramento County Superior Court and in May 1983, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Almost immediately, Masse contacted the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department to try to make a deal. After he was assured that the prosecution would be willing to assist in a sentence reduction, Masse implicated DeSantis and Killian. Masse’s sentence was vacated at the request of the prosecution.

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JUNE 1983:

Killian was re-arrested in June 1983 and, along with DeSantis, was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, burglary and conspiracy to commit robbery. The conspiracy charge alleged that sometime prior to the robbery, Killian went to the door of the Davies’ residence in an unsuccessful attempt to gain entry for Masse and DeSantis. 

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FEBRUARY 1986: 

Masse testified at Killian’s trial in February 1986 and his testimony was the only direct evidence against Killian. Grace Davies testified and described how a woman had come to the door of the house some time prior to the robbery, but she could not identify Killian as the woman.

Masse told the jury that he had no deal or arrangement with the prosecution. He said that Killian was the mastermind of the plot to rob the Davies and that after learning of the robbery and murder, she called to demand her share of the robbery proceeds. 

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March 1996:

Ten years later, after a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus had been filed, defense investigators discovered evidence of Masse’s agreement with the prosecution, including a letter Masse sent to the prosecutor soon after Killian was sentenced. In the letter, Masse said, “I lied my ass off for you people.” The letter, as well as two others Masse wrote that detailed the resentencing agreement, were never disclosed to the defense by the prosecution.

At a hearing on the petition, Masse admitted that much of the evidence he gave was false, including his testimony that he had not made a deal with the prosecution in exchange for testimony, and that Killian was the mastermind behind the robbery.  

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March 2002:

In March 2002, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed Killian’s conviction ruling that her conviction was based on false testimony by Masse. Killian was released in August 2002 and the prosecution dismissed the charges against her a month later.

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READING MATERIALS:

Full Circle: A True Story of Murder, Lies and Vindication. By  Gloria Killian and Sandra Kobrin. Published by  New Horizon Press. 

National Registry of Exonerations:  (Maurice Possley);

Excellent CNN story:

Death Row Stories: (Description of episode (March 16, 2014): "Ride, the mother of Sally Ride, America's first female astronaut, becomes intrigued by the case of former Sacramento law school student, Gloria Killian who has no prior criminal record and was found guilty of a brutal home invasion and murder. (May not be currently available on Netflix).

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Monday 19 October 2020

The 'Selfless Warrior' - My salute to a 'Selfless Warrior' - a mother who's name I don't even know. Her son: Nelson Cruz: Brooklyn...Not in a position to get the investigation he needed to establish his alibi for the murder, he turned to his mother for help, directed her investigation from the prison, and she found new evidence which could open the door to yet another appeal. (Nelson Cruz is still in prison after more than 22 years behind bars - and his case cries out innocence, I will be following developments on my companion Log - The Charles Smith Blog. Link below. HL);


QUOTE ONE OF THE DAY: 

"Cruz, having retained a lawyer, had come to the station house voluntarily. “I had nothing to hide,” Cruz said of his appearance at the precinct. “End result: I’ve been in prison 22 years.”

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PASSAGE ONE OF THE DAY:

"Cruz, with limited resources, said he sent his mother to comb the public housing projects on Pitkin Avenue to find his alibi witnesses. His mother died in 2009, but not before she’d had some success. “She played investigator, hit the streets,” Cruz said. “She got me a lot of phone numbers.” Cruz eventually got affidavits signed by witnesses to the shooting and other people who were having birthday drinks with him the night of the killing. He argued this amounted to new evidence, and thus it might persuade a judge to consider yet another appeal. "

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Last Monday (October 11, 2020) I focused on  Joyce Milgaard, a 'Selfless Warrior' who, with the help of her other children, set out to become an expert on murder (which she did), to secure the exoneration of her  16-year-old son David  (which she did) and to track down the real killer of Nursing aide  Gail Miller, (which she also did). A consummate self-trained investigator (who once worked as a switchboard operator helping reporters track down people at The Toronto Star), she became commonly known as 'The Gumshoe Mom.' Several days later, I was surprised to come across the story of another mother who also could have also earned the "Gumshoe Mom" moniker for the  search for alibi witnesses she carried out under the direction of her son who she believed was innocent, and had been locked up for decades. The mother's name does not appear in the ProPublica article by Reporter Joe Sexton, which can be found in the 'Reading Materials' section of this post. The son is Nelson Cruz,  who claims he is yet another victim of tainted New York Detective Louis Scarcella. I will be focusing on the Cruz case during the next few weeks, all being well, on the companion site of this Blog - The Charles Smith Blog, except to say that Reporter Saxton's story shows how Sexton's hopes for exoneration were dashed when the judge, known for fairness and her willingness to give second  chances, became ill with Alzheimer's disease. For now, I will focus on the story within this disturbing story - the role played by this  since-deceased unnamed mother who I'm sure would never have dreamt that some day she would be scouring the streets of her Project in Brooklyn to find alibi witnesses who  would establish her son's alibi on a charge of murder.

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THE STORY WITHIN THE STORY:

As Reporter Saxton tells us, Nelson Cruz, a high school sophomore,  was only 45 minutes away from his 17th birthday on March 28, 1998,  when he and several friends went out for Chinese food and alcohol to celebrate. Gunfire erupted. People started running. Several hours later, while he is still celebrating , his mother contacts him on the pager to tell him that there are detectives at the house. The gunfire had left a local "tough' dead, on the street.

 "The gunfire that night had left Trevor Vieira, a local tough guy in his mid-20s with a record as a stickup artist, dead on the street. A patrol car was already on the block, and within seconds, Eduardo Rodriguez had been arrested. Rodriguez, the cops said, had been ordered to drop the 9 mm gun he had in his hand. Rodriguez, a convicted felon, was soon interrogated at the 75th Precinct. Inside the station house, Rodriguez would eventually convince detectives he wasn’t the gunman. He identified Cruz, a kid he’d known for years, as the killer. He said Cruz shot Vieira after an altercation and dropped the 9 mm running away. The gun police said he was holding when he was arrested, Rodriguez alleged, belonged to Cruz. Andre Bellinger, an older man from the neighborhood with his own criminal past, walked into the precinct an hour or so after Rodriguez had given his account. He said he’d seen the shooting and later picked Cruz out of a lineup. Cruz, having retained a lawyer, had come to the station house voluntarily. “I had nothing to hide,” Cruz said of his appearance at the precinct. “End result: I’ve been in prison 22 years.”

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A SUSPECT CASE FOR GUILT:

Nelson Cruz felt that whatever the strength of the case for his innocence, the case for his guilt was suspect. His fingerprints weren't found on the gun. (The gun hadn't been tested at all. Rodriguez, the man arrested with the gun had convinced the police that Cruz was the shooter. (Rodriguez was out on parole and had an obvious motive to lie.) Rodriguez never testified at trial.). The one eywitness who did testify, Andre Bellinger,  had  laid out a detailed but far from fully substantiated  version of the murder.

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HERE'S WHERE NELSON  CRUZ'S MOTHER COMES IN TO THE PICTURE:
As Reporter Joe Sexton reports in ProPublica: "Cruz knew he had more to work with. While his defense lawyer called no witnesses on his behalf, Cruz still remembered who he’d hung out with that night and who could establish his alibi. Also, during his time in prison, Cruz said he’d run into another neighborhood man who had seen the shooting, who knew Cruz hadn’t done it and who could undermine the testimony offered by Bellinger. Cruz’s witness said that he’d been with Bellinger after the shooting, and that Bellinger had never indicated he’d either seen the violence or knew who the killer was. Cruz, with limited resources, said he sent his mother to comb the public housing projects on Pitkin Avenue to find his alibi witnesses. His mother died in 2009, but not before she’d had some success. “She played investigator, hit the streets,” Cruz said. “She got me a lot of phone numbers.” Cruz eventually got affidavits signed by witnesses to the shooting and other people who were having birthday drinks with him the night of the killing. He argued this amounted to new evidence, and thus it might persuade a judge to consider yet another appeal."
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YET ANOTHER STORY WITHIN THE STORY:  (The 'Actual Innocence Group' - state prison:  Auborn.)
In addition to the valiant help from his mother, Nelson Cruz also received support from a group  consisting of   four inmates - himself and three others - who met once a week in the prison library to discuss the different ways in which they could prove their innocence and regain their freedom. As reporter Saxton tells on his his superb ProPublica piece: "They divided up work on their cases, developing specialties of one kind or another, as they pressed their claims of innocence. They researched precedent, filed motions, obtained police files, sought evidence of mistakes or misconduct. “I was the crime scene artist,” Nelson Cruz said in a recent interview. Derrick Hamilton was another of the four. Convicted of murder, he’d spent two decades developing his skills as a jailhouse lawyer. He liked what he saw in Cruz: a quiet determination, a sense of loyalty, a commitment to the work. “He had a head on his shoulders,” Hamilton said of Cruz. “Always asked questions. Always said he was innocent.” The group made a pledge: If one of them got out, he wouldn’t forget the others. Cruz made Hamilton pledge to him personally. “Don’t go home and forget about me,” Cruz told Hamilton. “Come for me.” Hamilton had been convicted of a 1991 killing in Brooklyn. A single eyewitness had helped lead to his imprisonment. That witness later recanted, and Hamilton claimed a Brooklyn homicide detective named Louis Scarcella had framed him. 
In 2015, after Scarcella had been named by multiple people behind bars as a serial manufacturer of forced confessions and phony evidence, the Brooklyn DA’s office looked into Hamilton’s case. The office did not fault Scarcella, but it determined the lone witness’s testimony had been “patently false.” The office asked a judge to vacate Hamilton's conviction, and Hamilton walked out of court a vindicated man.  Hamilton would not forget Cruz."
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COMMENTARY: I wish I knew more about Nelson Cruz's mother (especially her name).  Like Joyce Milgaard, she showed the  selflessness and resilience, and innate intelligence, curiosity, and knowledge of human nature,  necessary to carry out the investigations required to  help free their sons. They make me wonder if there is something special in the mother/son relationship  which impels mothers to sacrifice much of their lives to defend  children they know are innocent  from the state which is intent to locking them up - often for lengthy periods of time. In the meantime,  I will continue following Nelson's case on 'The Charles Smith Blog', and am grateful  to have had the opportunity to salute his late mother - whose name I don't even know - as a 'Selfless Warrior.'
Harold Levy: Publisher. The Selfless Warrior Blog.
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READING MATERIALS:

https://features.propublica.org/judge_alzheimers/brooklyn-federal-judge-mental-illness/


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The Charles Smith Blog:

smithforensic.blogspot.com.

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Sunday 11 October 2020

Joyce Milgaard: Saskatchewan/David Milgaard: In an introduction to her mother's 'memoir,' Joyce Milgaard's daughter Susan describes her mother as a 'housewife in a small town' who was transformed into, "a dynamic, articulate, courageous, articulate woman" who, with the help of her other children, set out to become an expert on murder (which she did), to secure the exoneration of her son (which she did) and to track down the real killer, (which she also did). A consummate self-trained investigator (who once worked as a switchboard operator helping reporters track down people at The Toronto Star), she became commonly known as 'The Gumshoe Mom.'


INTRODUCTION:

As you will see from the opening quotes below, this weeks post is centered around the theme of mother's and sons,  in which the mother, in the spirit of this Blog, is  a 'Selfless Warrior' - an exceptional individual who has been ripped out of his or her ordinary life by an inability to stand by in the face of a glaring miscarriage of justice. The son is David Milgaard who was  sentenced, at age 16 to life imprisonment in 1970 for the 1969 murder of 20-year-old Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller - and the mother is Joyce Milgaard, the  first Canadian 'Selfless Warrior' in this series, who, sadly,  passed away earlier this year.  Read on,

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OPENING QUOTES:

"We all have mothers, but even the most devoted and loving of mothers would not continue their crusade for 22 years if there was any doubt in her mind."

 Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney - referring to Joyce Milgaard.

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"God and my Mother  were the two strongest hopes that I clung too, and they still are."
David Milgaard: 

From "A Mother's story," by Joyce Milgaard, with my long-time Toronto Star and colleague Peter Edwards,  a very fine, highly regarded   journalist and author. 

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"Ms. Milgaard told The Globe and Mail in 1997 that she may have had “just a flicker of uncertainty” at first, but once she knew he and his friends had no money for drugs or alcohol at the time, she was convinced of his innocence.  “I never doubted my son,” she said then. “A mother knows, and I knew. I just knew.”

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THE 'SELFLESS WARRIOR':

Joyce Milgaard was depicted as the symbol of a mother's relentless, unapologetic fight for their child, by Globe and mail reporter Jane  G. Pruden, in a Globe article on her death published on March 21, 2020.

 "At the beginning of her memoir, Joyce Milgaard recalls the moment two police detectives arrived at her home late one afternoon in May 1969 and asked her, “Are you David Milgaard’s mother?”  the article  begins.

"It was the beginning of a saga that would come to define both their lives, making David Milgaard one of the country’s most famous wrongful convictions, and Joyce the very symbol of a mother’s unceasing fight against injustice for her child," it continues.

"She would devote the next 30 years to winning his freedom, and then fighting for his exoneration and compensation; a tireless battle that included reinvestigating the case herself and identifying the real killer, and ultimately, holding justice officials and government to account. Primly dressed with neatly coiffed hair and eyeglasses, Ms. Milgaard seemed – as one news story noted – “more like the average grandmother” than a crusader. But those who underestimated her did so at their peril. Her singsong voice could harden with steely resolve when she talked about her son, and she was single-minded, relentless and unapologetic in her fight for him. While those qualities won her few fans in the systems she accused, she earned the respect and admiration of many more around the country, and changed forever the life of her son and other wrongfully convicted. “Joyce Milgaard fought everyone for me,” David Milgaard said, in an interview with The Globe and Mail in May 2019. “Without her, I would still be in prison rotting away.” As a Globe editorial had noted a decade earlier, “Joyce Milgaard did everything to free her son David from prison in Saskatchewan but dig a tunnel for him with her bare hands.” Ms. Milgaard died Saturday afternoon, lawyer James Lockyer told the Globe and Mail. She leaves her children, David, Chris, Susan and Maureen. Joyce Milgaard was born in Ontario in 1930, the youngest of four children in a sometimes-troubled family. “I would probably have been considered an abused child by today’s terms because my father used to beat me when he was drunk,” she said, in A Mother’s Story: The Fight to Free My Son David, co-written with reporter Peter Edwards and published in 1999. “All I would have to do then was say the slightest thing wrong and I would get a beating.” Ms. Milgaard started working at 11, lying about her age to get a full-time job at a weaving mill. In her teens, she found work as a switchboard operator at a hospital and then on the phones at the Toronto Star, where she sometimes helped reporters find people and convince them to talk – skills that would later prove valuable in the fight to free her son. Ms. Milgaard said she had a wild streak in those years, describing herself as “a hard drinker and a real party-goer” who smoked two packs a day, and “could swear and drink with the best of them.” She was engaged multiple times before settling down with her husband, Lorne Milgaard, in Winnipeg. Her lifestyle changed when she became a Christian Scientist after a colleague appeared to cure her migraine with prayer, and she remained devout throughout the rest of her life, including training and practising as a Christian Science nurse. The family was living in Langenburg, Sask. in 1969, when David, then 16, was arrested and charged with the murder of nursing assistant Gail Miller. Ms. Milgaard told The Globe and Mail in 1997 that she may have had “just a flicker of uncertainty” at first, but once she knew he and his friends had no money for drugs or alcohol at the time, she was convinced of his innocence.

While her son awaited trial, Ms. Milgaard moved to Saskatoon to be near him, at one point living at the Y, and working nights at a restaurant so she could take him comic books and food in the mornings. "I never doubted my son ... A mother knows, and I knew. I just knew." He was convicted in January 1970, and while Ms. Milgaard immediately began working to have the decision overturned, her efforts escalated significantly when he was shot by police in 1980, after escaping from custody while out on a pass. Ms. Milgaard later said the shooting was a turning point for her, the moment she gave up hope in the protections of the police and justice system and realized that to free her son, she’d have to find the real killer herself. "I just felt so helpless with David not being able to walk, that I just wanted to get in there and do something," she said. "And I think it helped me to get out and really try, because I felt like a failure of a mom. I really did." Ms. Milgaard, who previously worked in sales and as a property manager, now became a detective. She offered a $10,000 reward for information, and started aggressively hunting down witnesses and conducting new interviews with them, even as she learned police were telling people not to talk to her. After receiving a tip about violent sexual offender Larry Fisher, Ms. Milgaard tracked down and approached both his mother and ex-wife, as well as six other women who had been sexually assaulted by him. “I’m doing what I have to do,” Ms. Milgaard told The Fifth Estate in 1990. “If they’d done a proper investigation in the first place none of this would be happening today.” She put everything she had into the fight, selling her car and her home, spending her vacations at the prison, sometimes so consumed she forgot to eat. Maureen Davis once estimated her mother spent 99 per cent of her waking moments working on the case. Ms. Milgaard got prominent defence lawyer Hersh Wolch onside after showing up at his office with her last $2,000 and an offer to give him her fur coat, the only possession she had left of any value. Mr. Wolch gave the file to David Asper, then a young lawyer, who took on the case. Joyce Milgaard said she found inspiration in the story of David and Goliath, and hers was truly such a tale: one person persevering in the face of a system stacked against her, believing, as she said in 1992, “If I just keep looking, we would find the thing that freed David.” But while she gathered reams of evidence calling his conviction into question – including false witness statements, another suspect, and questions around the time frame of the attack – convincing officials to look at the evidence she had gathered proved a significant hurdle. In one highly-publicized exchange in 1990, Ms. Milgaard tried unsuccessfully to give a report about the case to then-justice-minister Kim Campbell, who brushed by and refused to accept it. The scene only escalated Ms. Milgaard’s efforts. That night, she wrote a song, Please Madame Minister, which she performed and sent to radio stations across the country. The perceived “snub” received coverage around the country, which Ms. Milgaard later said helped galvanize public opinion on her side. At a hastily arranged vigil outside meetings Brian Mulroney was attending about Meech Lake in Winnipeg in 1991, the then-prime minister stopped to speak with Ms. Milgaard. He told the Winnipeg Free Press later that the meeting inspired him to take a closer look at the case. 

“There was just something so forlorn but very loving about a woman standing alone on a very cold evening on behalf of her son,” he said then. “We all have mothers, but even the most devoted and loving of mothers would not continue their crusade for 22 years if there was any doubt in her mind.” While Ms. Milgaard would later correct the former prime minister’s recollection – they met at noon on a hot and sunny day – the meeting clearly had an impact. David Milgaard was released from prison in 1992, after Ms. Campbell ordered a Supreme Court review of the case. Ms. Milgaard did not stop there. Instead, she then turned her attention to the fight to have her son exonerated and compensated, and demanded a full inquiry into the case “for all the future David Milgaards.” Mr. Milgaard was exonerated through DNA testing in 1997, and he received $10-million in compensation. The inquiry into his wrongful conviction concluded in 2008. While the final report of that inquiry was, at points, critical of Ms. Milgaard’s efforts – including accusing her of releasing inflammatory information, and hurting the reputation of justice officials and the justice system – Ms. Milgaard was unconcerned and unapologetic. "I did what I felt was necessary at the time and it got the results that we wanted," she told reporters. She went on to work for other wrongfully convicted, including joining the fight to free Guy Paul Morin in the 1990s, after being approached by Mr. Morin’s mother. Ms. Milgaard was one of the founders of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, now Innocence Canada, which has so far helped exonerate 23 wrongfully convicted people in Canada. “She was called ‘the mother of Canada’ for a long time, and so she was—she was a strong, devout...powerful, beautiful woman,” lawyer James Lockyer, one of the group’s founding directors, said Saturday. “She had a presence to her that really was exciting and also stunning, and just made you feel that if you were going to be in her presence, you had to be a good person…Goodness was all around her.” Mr. Lockyer said he can vividly recall the day that they received the DNA results that would ultimately exonerate Mr. Milgaard. Joyce was flying at the time, and Mr. Lockyer and Guy Paul Morin "drove like the wind" to get to the airport to meet her when her flight landed. “Guy Paul told her the news, and I was right there when it happened," Mr. Lockyer said. "It was quite something." On Saturday, Mr. Lockyer said that he believes her legacy will be one of “how one person can chance the course of justice in a country, through belief and determination, perseverance and power. She had that power. That’s her legacy to me.” “I feel uncomfortable when people say that I am a heroic person,” Ms. Milgaard wrote in her memoir. “Circumstances create heroes, and David’s ordeal forced me to grow up. … I learned to do my very best and leave the rest to God, so that I could wake up fresh every morning, ready to start again."

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COMMENTARY: 

 Joyce Milgaard writes in her memoir that she feels uncomfortable when people refer to her as a "heroic' person, wisely noting that "circumstances create heroes" and that "David's ordeal forced me to grow up."  Like other 'Selfless Warriors' in the series thus far, she started out believing the the justice system would do its best to protect the innocent, learned otherwise, and then turned to her own devices to ensure that justice would be done. A truly great mother - motivated by a truly powerful bond with her son, her story is also  an excellent example of the extent to which wrongful prosecutions  strike to the core of entire families, as it did with the Milgaard's, and take away their right to grow freely, in a normal way, as other families do. At the same time, it shows how how families can rise above the inevitable sadness, confusion and bitterness which abounds when one of the members is falsely accused, to  bond together to fight and vindicate one of their own. Also worth noting, Joyce writes that her experience with David made her sensitive to the plight of other innocent people who are caught up in the criminal justice system - and that explains her years of involvement with the Association in Defence of The Wrongfully Convicted (AIDWYC)  now called 'Innocence Canada. True, Joyce Milgaard did not regard herself as a hero, But in my books, she was not only a heroic person, but also a 'Selfless Warrior."

Harold Levy: Publisher: The 'Selfless Warriors' Blog.'

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READING MATERIALS:

A Mother's Story: The fight to free my son David, By Joyce Milgaard with Peter Edwards. Published by Doubleday Canada Limited.

When Justice Fails: The David Milgaard Story:  By Carl Karp and Cecil Rosener: Published by McClelland and Stewart Inc.

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CHRONOLOGY: (CBC NEWS): 

"In 1970, 16-year-old David Milgaard was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1969 murder of 20-year-old Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller. After 23 years in prison, the Supreme Court of Canada set aside his conviction. Five years later he was cleared by DNA evidence and awarded $10 million. In the same year, Larry Fisher was found guilty of the rape and stabbing death of Gail Miller. 

Jan. 31, 1969
Body of nursing aide Gail Miller, 20, found in a Saskatoon snowbank. Milgaard is travelling through Saskatoon the morning the body is found. 

May 30, 1969
Milgaard, 16, is arrested and charged with murder.

Jan. 31, 1970
Saskatchewan Court convicts Milgaard of murdering Miller; He is sentenced to life in prison.

Jan. 31, 1971
Saskatchewan Court of Appeal rejects Milgaard's appeal.

Nov. 15, 1971
Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear Milgaard's appeal.

Dec. 28, 1988
Milgaard's lawyers apply to have the case reopened.

May 14, 1990
Federal Justice Minister Kim Campbell brushes past Milgaard's mother Joyce, who tries to hand her a report from a Vancouver forensic pathologist that could clear Milgaard. Campbell says it could jeopardize any future review if she sees the report.

Feb. 27, 1991
Campbell turns down Milgaard's request to review his case.

Aug. 14, 1991
Milgaard's lawyers file second application to Minister of Justice to have the case reopened.

Nov. 29, 1991
Campbell directs the Supreme Court to review Milgaard's conviction.

April 14, 1992
Top court says Milgaard should have new trial. He is freed after Saskatchewan decides not to prosecute him again. He is not formally acquitted.

July 18, 1997
Milgaard's team announces that more sophisticated DNA tests in Britain prove Milgaard did not commit Miller's murder. That same day, Milgaard receives apology from the Saskatchewan government for his wrongful conviction.

July 25, 1997
Larry Fisher arrested in Calgary for the rape and murder of Gail Miller.

May 17, 1999
Milgaard and his family receive $10 million compensation package from federal government.

Oct. 12, 1999
Fisher's trial opens in Yorkton, Sask. His lawyer successfully argued to have the trial moved from Saskatoon to avoid potential juror bias.
Nov. 22, 1999
Larry Fisher convicted of rape and murder of Gail Miller.
Jan. 4, 2000
Fisher sentenced to life in prison; parole eligibility to be decided by National Parole Board.
April 15, 2003
Saskatchewan Court of Appeal hears Fisher's case for a new trial.
Sept. 29, 2003
Saskatchewan Court of Appeal dismisses Fisher's appeal of his first-degree murder conviction.
Sept. 30, 2003
The Saskatchewan government announces inquiry into how Milgaard was wrongly convicted for the murder of Gail Miller.
Aug. 26, 2004
The Supreme Court of Canada refuses to hear Fisher's appeal. The decision clears the way for the inquiry to proceed sometime in 2005.
Jan. 17, 2005
The public inquiry into the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard opens in Saskatoon. Mr. Justice Edward MacCallum is expected to hear from more than 100 witnesses – including David Milgaard and Larry Fisher – over the course of a year . A list of high profile potential witnesses includes former prime ministers Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell and former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow.
April 20, 2005:
The first phase of the Milgaard inquiry ends. During 41 days of testimony the inquiry hears from nearly 50 witnesses, all of whom were involved in the 1969 investigation of Gail Miller's murder. The commission also heard from a number of women who were sexually assaulted by Larry Fisher in the months before and after Miller's murder.
Nov. 21, 2005:
David Milgaard agrees to testify at his wrongful conviction inquiry if the judge finds he is medically fit. Commission counsel appeared before Justice Edward MacCallum to inform him of talks with Milgaard's lawyer, Hersh Wolch. Wolch initially wanted Milgaard excused from testifying for medical reasons. They decide Milgaard's testimony will be necessary to some parts of the inquiry.
Jan. 16, 2006
David Milgaard's lawyer, Hersh Wolch, asks the court if his client can testify in writing. Milgaard said last year the thought of testifying made him physically ill and he wouldn't do it, which infuriated inquiry judge Edward McCallum. 
Jan. 27, 2006
A private investigator says there's circumstantial evidence that Milgaard was the victim of a police coverup. Paul Henderson, who investigates wrongful convictions for a U.S.-based organization, says he got a retraction from a key Crown witness. Henderson said the witness admitted that police threatened to charge him with the murder if he didn't implicate Milgaard.
Feb. 7, 2006
The original defence lawyer at Milgaard's trial, Calvin Tallis, tells the Saskatoon-based inquiry that his client would not have been a good witness because he had a drug history and had been in trouble with the law. 
Feb. 8, 2006
The judge rules that Milgaard must testify but may do so on videotape and all lawyers have agreed. The judge's decision was made to reduce the stress of the event for Milgaard.
Feb. 11, 2006
Milgaard's defence lawyer criticizes a judge's decision regarding the questioning of a star witness for the prosecution at his client's murder trial. Nichol John's testimony was a crucial element at Milgaard's original trial.
Feb. 20, 2006
David Asper, the lawyer who represented Milgaard for years while Milgaard fought to be released from prison, says he wants funding and official standing at the Saskatoon inquiry into Milgaard's wrongful conviction. Asper is scheduled to testify at the inquiry. Standing would allow him to participate in the proceedings and cross-examine witnesses. 

Feb. 22, 2006
David Asper, who helped Milgaard get out of prison will have limited standing at the inquiry and be allowed to have his own lawyer present. This means his lawyer can cross-examine witnesses during a portion of the inquiry - but he won't receive public money to cover his costs. 

March 2, 2006
Media baron David Asper is granted funding for some of the legal expenses he incurred while appearing at the inquiry looking into Milgaard's wrongful conviction. The public hearing is adjourned until April 17.
April 24, 2006
Milgaard's videotaped testimony is played at the inquiry into his wrongful conviction. The tape shows Milgaard trying to recall the events that led to his conviction. He says his memory is cloudy, though, from years spent in prison. He says he began to doubt his own innocence after being misdiagnosed with so many different psychological problems while in prison.
May 2, 2006
Joyce Milgaard abruptly leaves the inquiry after her son's lawyer, Hersh Wolch, is denied the right to be the final questioner of Paul Henderson. The various lawyers involved in the inquiry argued about who should be allowed to question Henderson last. Justice Edward MacCallum eventually ruled against David Milgaard's lawyer and gave the right to a lawyer for the Saskatoon Police Service. Joyce Milgaard complains to reporters outside the courtroom, saying the ruling was unfair to her son.
May 3, 2006
Joyce Milgaard's lawyer apologizes to the judge for her client's comments to the press about the unfairness of the inquiry. Justice MacCullum says, "She has been warned before that if she wishes to be a part of the inquiry as a party with standing, she is not to subvert it by going out in the hall and casting broadsides against the work of the commission. That is her right to do so as a private citizen, and if she wishes to persist in that, she will do so as a private citizen, and not as a party with standing." 

The Milgaard inquiry is set to reconvene on May 8, 2006, when Joyce Milgaard is scheduled to take the stand. 
May 8, 2006
Joyce Milgaard tells the inquiry she began her fight to free her son with the assumption that the police "twisted the facts into what they were not to put him behind bars." She says she regrets not starting sooner to prove David Milgaard's innocence.
Aug. 28, 2006
The Milgaard inquiry resumes public sessions, and expects to hear from key government and RCMP witnesses before wrapping up in September 2006. The commission of the inquiry is to find out why David Milgaard was wrongfully convicted of a 1969 rape and murder, and spent 23 years in prison before being exonerated.
Dec. 11, 2006
Final oral submissions are to be heard in the inquiry in Saskatoon into the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard.

Sept. 26, 2008
The inquiry report is released. It found that police received a tip in 1980 that could have lead to the real killer, 12 years before Milgaard was released from prison. "The criminal justice system failed David Milgaard," concludes Justice Edward MacCallum, the Alberta judge who headed the inquiry. 
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: In addition to being blessed with his 'Selfless Warrior'  and the other members of his immediate family, David was helped by some very fine, committed trial and appellate criminal and civil lawyers over years such as  David Asper, James Lockyer and the late Hersh Wolch. He had the support of organisations such as Centurion Ministries (Reverend Jim McCloskey and investigator Paul Henderson) and AIDWYC. (Joyce  Milgaard was also supported by many fellow Canadians who were disturbed by  the case.)  I personally want to pay tribute to former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, who became one of my heroes after personally looking into the Milgaard case, communicating compassionately  with Joyce Milgaard as one human  being with another, and ensuring that David  would have a hearing before the Supreme Court of Canada - in spite of the seemingly cold-hearted resistance of then Justice Minister of the day Kim Campbell to taking action on the case. Bravo Mr. Prime Minister!