Murray Brown

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, a treaty Indian, was convicted of unlawfully hunting in a wildlife management unit contrary to provincial game laws.

He appealed, arguing that paragraph 12 of the Natural Resources Agreement guaranteed his right to hunt for food on unoccupied Crown lands or lands to which he had a right of access.

The Supreme Court of Canada allowed the appeal, holding that because limited hunting was permitted in the unit at certain times, Indians had a right of access to the land.

Consequently, the province could not unilaterally restrict their constitutionally protected right to hunt for food at all seasons.