Error Made by Milgaard's Original Judge

Calvin Tallis, David Milgaard's defense lawyer during his 1970 trial, told the inquiry this week that he thought that it was a mistake for the jury to have heard Nichol Johns' testimony. Nichol was one of the two teenagers who was traveling with David during his fateful trip through Saskatoon in 1969. She told police that she had seen David stab Gail Miller but she only said that when she was held against her will for two entire nights in police custody and was taken to the scene of the crime by investigators and shown evidence of Gail Miller's clothes.

Tallis and "Bobs" Caldwell, the prosecutor, both agreed that Nichol's statements should not be heard before a jury because she never repeated her original allegation. Both during the preliminary hearing and the trial itself when Nichol was asked what happened on that frigid morning in Saskatchewan, she maintained that she couldn't remember.

Nichol was supposed to be a key witness for the prosecution, but her change of heart made her a very weak witness. Tallis was hoping that if Nichol was allowed to talk without the jury present, he could argue that she had been coerced into implicating her friend Milgaard by an overzealous police force.

However, Justice Alfred Bence ruled that the jury would remain in the room when Nichol spoke. Later on, The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled in agreement with Tallis and Caldwell and said Bence had erred. However, the Appeal Court declared that the error was not significant enough to reverse the verdict.

Johns' testimony was very damning to Milgaard, despite the fact that Justice Bence told the jury to disregard it and only to consider Nichol's statement at trial, which was that she could not recall what had occurred that morning.

Sigrid Mac