Donald Marshall Jr (September 13, 1953 to August 6, 2009) was a Nova Scotian Mi'Kmaq who was wrongfully convicted, in what would be one of Canadas most racist murder cases.
Donald then a 16-year old Mi'Kmaq was accused of the May 28th 1971 stabbing and death of a friend, black youth, Sandy Seale, in Sydney, Nova Scotia. He would be sentenced to life imprisonment, however after 11 years a re-exanimation of the case found him innocent, as he had said throughout. Marshall refused parole because that would leave the murder charge on his record- instead he continuely fought it throught his jail time. Rob Ebsary was convicted of manslaughter and Marshall acquitted in May 83'. His incarceration for a crime he did not commit, and his battle with provinical and federal government for compensation attracted massive media and public attention, it motivated groups and organizations to fight the reinstatement of capital punishment. September 1987 a royal inquiry into Marshall's case began, and later proved that Marshall was failed by the justice system "at every turn" and that racism was a major factor in his wrongful conviction. Donald Marshall Jr. was then awarded ~$200,000 and a lifetime pension.
His exoneration brought a sweep of changes involving racism to the Nova Scotian justice system, "He put a big dent in systemic racism in this province. Unfortunately, he didn't cure it by any means. It's still quite pronounced in many respects" Mi'kmaq historian Dan Paul said to The Star newspaper. More specificly his conviction induced changes to the Evidence Act of Canada, which amended ensured any evidence used was avalible for the defense to examine, whereas before his case the Crown Attorney's would determine if the evidence was pertinent to the case.
REFERENCES:
WIKIPEDIA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Marshall,_Jr.
Provided a starting point for the research, and confirmed the information using other resources
CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/08/06/donald-marshall-wrongful-conviction-dies342.htmlWas heavily informative of the aftermath and his life after his exoneration,
http://archives.cbc.ca/society/crime_justice/clips/12858/
DANIEL PAUL:
http://www.danielnpaul.com/DonaldMarshallJr.-1971.html
Had information on his life afterwards and his struggle against Racism in the Justice system, and for the rights of Natives in Nova Scotia
The STAR:
http://www.thestar.com/news/obituary/article/677514--donald-marshall-jr-55-fought-racism-made-history
This article was more focused into his fight against racism after his wrongful conviction.
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