Royal commission vindicated Donald Marshall, condemns justice system

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The royal commission into the wrongful murder conviction of MicMac Indian Donald Marshall has blasted police, lawyers and bureaucrats in Nova Scotia for their role in his unjust imprisonment. "The criminal justice system failed Donald Marshall Jr. at virtually every turn from his arrest and wrongful conviction for murder in 1971 up to and even beyond his acquittal by the Court of Appeal in 1983," the commission said. It has concluded the justice system in Nova Scotia is riddled with racism, ineptitude and unfairness. Marshall, the son of the grand chief of the Micmacs, spent 11 years in prison for the stabbing murder of his black friend, Sandy Seale. He was released in 1982 after RCMP reviewed the case. The real killer, Roy Ebsary, died after spending one year in jail in 1986.