Williams Continues
Eugene Williams has been testifying at the inquiry this week. He was a former lawyer for the federal Justice Department who reported to the Justice Minister.
Williams explained that it was not his role to make any decisions about the cases that he reviewed. His task was to screen out the applications and pass on his thoughts and observations to the Minister. Thus, he could advise but ultimately he didn't have the final decision-making power.
Williams stated that Milgaard's first application under Section 690 of the Criminal Code was rejected because the Milgaard camp had questioned the conclusions of the forensic evidence; semen that had been found in the snow next to Gail Miller's body had been reanalyzed and Deb Hall, a girl who was at a party with Dave when he had supposedly confessed to killing Miller, had come forth saying that David was simply being silly and sarcastic that night and that no one had believed that he was involved. These two items were presented in the application as new evidence, which was needed in order to file the 690.
However, Williams was not satisfied with the conclusions of the forensic lab and intimated that the Milgaards had not prepared their original application as well as they could have. He also made it clear that he felt that the responsibility to prove that a potential miscarriage of justice had occurred was on Milgaard and his lawyers, not on the Justice Department.
Furthermore, Eugene Williams stated that the more pressure that the Milgaards put on the media, the more it slowed him and the Justice Department down. He complained that he had to spend additional time preparing responses for the Minister to deliver to the press and said: "The public's view is being shaped by a series of articles that didn't fully reflect the facts as I knew them and I was unable to correct that perception without violating the law as I understood it."
Sigrid Mac
Source material : Julie Saccone, Saskatchewan News Network
CVC.ca Saskatchewan
Williams explained that it was not his role to make any decisions about the cases that he reviewed. His task was to screen out the applications and pass on his thoughts and observations to the Minister. Thus, he could advise but ultimately he didn't have the final decision-making power.
Williams stated that Milgaard's first application under Section 690 of the Criminal Code was rejected because the Milgaard camp had questioned the conclusions of the forensic evidence; semen that had been found in the snow next to Gail Miller's body had been reanalyzed and Deb Hall, a girl who was at a party with Dave when he had supposedly confessed to killing Miller, had come forth saying that David was simply being silly and sarcastic that night and that no one had believed that he was involved. These two items were presented in the application as new evidence, which was needed in order to file the 690.
However, Williams was not satisfied with the conclusions of the forensic lab and intimated that the Milgaards had not prepared their original application as well as they could have. He also made it clear that he felt that the responsibility to prove that a potential miscarriage of justice had occurred was on Milgaard and his lawyers, not on the Justice Department.
Furthermore, Eugene Williams stated that the more pressure that the Milgaards put on the media, the more it slowed him and the Justice Department down. He complained that he had to spend additional time preparing responses for the Minister to deliver to the press and said: "The public's view is being shaped by a series of articles that didn't fully reflect the facts as I knew them and I was unable to correct that perception without violating the law as I understood it."
Sigrid Mac
Source material : Julie Saccone, Saskatchewan News Network
CVC.ca Saskatchewan
posted by Sigrid Macdonald @ 4:01 PM
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