Eric Neufeld

The Governor in Council referred the question of whether David Milgaard's 1970 murder conviction constituted a miscarriage of justice to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Court heard fresh evidence, including recanted testimony from a key trial witness and evidence of a pattern of sexual assaults by another individual.

The Court established guidelines for determining a miscarriage of justice and concluded that the fresh evidence, taken together with the trial evidence, could reasonably be expected to have affected the jury's verdict.

The Court advised the Minister of Justice to quash the conviction and direct a new trial.

The appellant appealed a decision of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal that allowed the Crown's appeal from his acquittal on a charge of conspiracy to traffic in narcotics and ordered a new trial.

The Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, agreeing with the Court of Appeal's reasons that the trial judge erred in failing to consider whether the Crown had established an agreement to send narcotics as disclosed in the particulars.