Domestic assault charges withdrawn against David Milgaard

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David Milgaard, accompanied by a court worker (right), speaks briefly with reporters at the Calgary Courts Centre, Monday, Nov. 14, 2011. Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, had domestic assault charges against him withdrawn and has a peace bond instead. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Bill Graveland

CALGARY - David Milgaard is going home to his wife and children without a criminal record.

Milgaard, who spent 23 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, was charged last month with assault, assault with a weapon and uttering threats in a fight with his wife.

Those charges were withdrawn in a Calgary courtroom Monday in exchange for a $3,000 peace bond. The judge also ordered Milgaard to receive psychological, marital and parental counselling.

"I just want to go home to my wife and kids ... and I don't want to say very much more than that," Milgaard, 59, told reporters outside court.

"I'm just glad that all of my charges have been dropped and thank you very much. I'd like to go now."

The peace bond means that Milgaard will not have a criminal record — something he was anxious to avoid, said his lawyer Hersh Wolch.

"It would have been like anybody else getting a criminal record, but he's fought so hard to have a clear record that a clear record means a lot to him," Wolch said.

Court heard that police received a 911 call from Cristina Milgaard on Oct. 26. The couple had had an argument over breakfast regarding one of their children. Crown prosecutor Joe Mercier said Milgaard indicated he "could stab her with the knife."

Milgaard was arrested and ordered to stay away from his wife and two children. He had been staying with friends until Monday.

Wolch had already indicated in earlier court appearances that the couple was anxious to reconcile.

"She just wants him home. She's called me many times and David really doesn't mind getting help," said Wolch.

"He's always needed some kind of help ever since what he's been through. I can't imagine anybody who wouldn't need help after what he's been through."

Milgaard is to report to psychologist Patrick Baillie at Forensic Assessment Outpatient Services in Calgary. Baillie evaluated Milgaard and testified at the inquiry into his wrongful conviction.

Milgaard was wrongfully convicted of the 1969 murder of Saskatoon nursing aide Gail Miller and spent more than two decades in prison before he was released.

He was just 16 years old when he went to prison. He and two friends, all of them young hippies, had been passing through Saskatoon on a road trip when Miller was killed.

He and his mother, Joyce, fought for decades to prove his innocence and in 1992 the Supreme Court overturned his conviction.

DNA evidence resulted in serial rapist Larry Fisher's conviction for the crime in 1999.

Milgaard was eventually paid $10 million in compensation by the Saskatchewan government, which held an inquiry into the case.