Milgaard is back!

All of you people who have been suffering through my posts on unrelated topics will be glad to know that the Milgaard Inquiry has resumed. In fact, it will be going on much longer than anticipated.

Originally, the Inquiry was supposed to finish this year and to cost approximately $2 million. However, according to the Globe and Mail, the Inquiry will now extend well into 2006 and may cost an estimated $7.7 million.

I have no idea how much money it cost to keep David behind bars for almost 23 years nor do I know what it cost in legal fees to take his case up to the Supreme Court. All I know is how much misery the family endured and how devastating it was for Dave to lose the better part of his life and youth.

Mistakes are costly. Let's hope that the results of the hearings are influential and persuade politicians to vote for an independent judicial panel. It would also help to train police officers to think with more of an open mind about a case. We know that the Paul Bernardo case was completely sidetracked by police chief Bevan's insistence on following one particular lead about the type of car that the attacker was supposedly driving. Turned out that Bernardo was driving an entirely different model of car; thousands of dollars and hours were wasted.

No one is perfect. We understand that cops, lawyers and judges will make mistakes. That's why it's so important to have a check and balance system to minimize the chance of that occurring and to allow the falsely accused other options for appeal.

Sigrid Macdonald