Milgaard, also sometimes known as Hard Time: The David Milgaard Story, is a Canadian dramatic television film, which was broadcast by the CTV Television Network in 1999.[1] The film centres on David Milgaard, a Canadian man who was wrongfully convicted in the 1969 rape and murder of Gail Miller, and his 22-year quest for justice until being released from prison in 1992.[2]
Larry Fisher, who had been arrested for Miller's murder and was awaiting trial in Saskatchewan at the time of the film's release, sought a court injunction banning the broadcast of the film on the grounds that it might prejudice his chance at a fair trial.[3] Although the injunction was granted, the judge declined to ban the film nationwide, instead ruling only that CTV could not broadcast the film on its affiliates in Saskatchewan.[4] The film was broadcast on April 11, 1999 across most of Canada, except Saskatchewan.[5] A second injunction prevented CTV from rebroadcasting the film at all in October 1999, as by that time Fisher's trial was underway; this latter ban also prevented any clips of the film from being broadcast as part of the 14th Gemini Awards ceremony in November, as Fisher's trial had not yet concluded.[6]
Following Fisher's conviction in late 1999, CTV rebroadcast the film on January 2, 2000 across Canada, including Saskatchewan.[7]