David Steeves

Please contribute towards legal expenses to exonerate Daniel Perry Sampson Please support us in exonerating Daniel Perry Sampson. Any amount you’re willing to contribute is greatly appreciated and will help us begin to heal from the legacy of a terrible wrong.

Lance/Aquakulture is asking the community for financial support for this work. If you are able, please consider this very worthy cause. It's an act for justice.

But there's still work to be done. The application takes time and money. Lawyer David Steeves is providing his services pro bono (at no cost to the Sampson family), but there are still filing fees and the like, which could cost upwards of $32,500.

5/6

Should Daniel Sampson be exonerated, it will be the oldest criminal conviction in Canadian history to be overturned, and it will be the ONLY case of an executed person to be exonerated.

4/6

It's important to overturn Daniel's conviction.

It's important for the legacy of Daniel himself; for the Sampson family and Lance; and because it speaks truth to the continued harms police have visited upon the Black community in Nova Scotia in the 90 years since.

3/6

Part 4: The Wrongful Conviction and Execution of Daniel Sampson - Halifax Examiner Sampson could be falsely charged, framed, and murdered by the state because he was powerless. He was a poor Black man in the deeply racist city of Halifax, and he had an intellectual disability that l...

As Halifax Examiner readers know, Daniel Sampson was the last person executed in Halifax, 1935.

He was innocent.

Daniel Sampson was framed by the RCMP for a crime he did not commit, and murdered by the state.

2/6

YouTube video by Aquakultre Aquakultre - Gallows (Official Music Video)

Exciting news!

Lance Sampson, who is the musician Aquakultre, has filed an Application with the Canadian Minister of Justice to review the conviction of Lance's great-great grandfather, Daniel Sampson.

Yesterday, Aquakultre released the official video of "Gallows," about Daniel Sampson.

1/6

'Daniel Sampson was innocent': leading lawyers and law organizations in Canada call for executed man to be exonerated - Halifax Examiner My investigation of the Sampson case lays out the incontrovertible truth that Sampson was an innocent man framed by the RCMP, and then murdered by the state.

This is big.

‘Daniel Sampson was innocent’: leading lawyers and law organizations in Canada call for executed man to be exonerated

The first Supreme Court of Canada robes were red wool baize that were lined with silk and trimmed with Russian ermine.
Various changes were made to the robes over the decades, primarily to make the robes lighter.
This change ends the tradition of using mink fur.

On this day in 1911, Portia White was born in Truro, Nova Scotia. She was the first Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame. She toured Canada, Europe, North and South America before her death in 1968.

Learn more 👇
canadaehx.com/2023/09/26/p...

An absolutely massive #LawSummerSanta2025 haul from a very generous @onealb.bsky.social! Such great variety including the large format bottles. Great to discover a new local brewery as well. Once again, @seanbawden.bsky.social, another successful year. Looking forward to seeing other exchanges!

A great summary from Justice Myers on the very important obligations that every lawyer should keep in mind (whether using AI or otherwise).

Ko v. Li, 2025 ONSC 2766: canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc…

Detroit Opera Steps Into Trump’s Cross Hairs With ‘Central Park Five’ The Pulitzer Prize-winning opera features Donald J. Trump, whose 1989 full-page newspaper ad sought to demonize the young men wrongly accused of rape.

“The Central Park Five,” an opera about the Black and Latino boys wrongly convicted of raping a Central Park jogger, opens next month at the Detroit Opera House. We spoke with the company about the perils of mounting a production that waves a red cape at Donald Trump's reactive presidency.

What We Know About Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan’s Arrest Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of obstructing justice after directing a migrant out of her courtroom as federal agents waited to arrest him. Her arrest has raised several questions.

FBI agents on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of obstructing justice by directing an undocumented immigrant out of her courtroom through a side door while federal immigration agents waited in a hallway to arrest him. Here’s what we know so far.

Nova Scotia's Policing Panic - Halifax Examiner A special investigative series by Tim Bousquet. In some ways this is the origin story both of policing in Nova Scotia and of how Black people in particular are policed in Nova Scotia. It’s the story o...

The last person executed in Halifax was Daniel Sampson, who was hanged at the County Jail behind the courthouse on Spring Garden Road on March 7, 1935. Sampson was an innocent man, murdered by the state. He is the subject of my “Policing Panic” series. www.halifaxexaminer.ca/nova-scotias...

Canadian Lawyers and Generative AI: Some Suggested Starting Points for the Overwhelmed - Slaw How will generative AI impact the legal profession? This was the big question in late 2022 when ChatGPT was first released. How would this seemingly magical word machine collide or coexist with a prof...

When I speak to lawyers, I find many who are overwhelmed by AI. They don't know where to start. In my latest @slawdotca.bsky.social I try to help by suggesting adoption of a 3C AI Mindset and setting out an AI Starter Pack with practical tips. www.slaw.ca/2025/04/25/c...

Daniel Sampson, Glen Assoun, and Randy Riley: the 3 wrongful conviction cases investigated by the Halifax Examiner... so far - Halifax Examiner The Justice system and all its manifestations can be, and often are, not just terribly unjust, but corruptly and punitively use state power to destroy people.

Daniel Sampson, Glen Assoun, and Randy Riley: the 3 wrongful conviction cases investigated by the Halifax Examiner… so far
Morning File by @timbousquet.bsky.social

@timbousquet.bsky.social and @halifaxexaminer.ca set out some very troubling aspects of the investigation into Daniel P. Sampson as well as his trials and appeals. These and more form the basis of my clients’ Application to the Minister of Justice.

Nova Scotia's Policing Panic - Halifax Examiner A special investigative series by Tim Bousquet. In some ways this is the origin story both of policing in Nova Scotia and of how Black people in particular are policed in Nova Scotia. It’s the story o...

There's now a collector page for my "Nova Scotia’s Policing Panic" series. Thanks to @irisblueskyris.bsky.social for setting that up: www.halifaxexaminer.ca/nova-scotias...

New tool from Ontario Bar Association aimed at demystifying AI for lawyers - Law360 Canada The Ontario Bar Association has launched a new learning tool aimed at helping lawyers adopt and create artificial intelligence to advance their practices.

New tool from Ontario Bar Association aimed at demystifying AI for lawyers. www.law360.ca/ca/it/articl...

Here's why I've spent 8 months reporting on a 1930s wrongful conviction - Halifax Examiner The story of Daniel Sampson is the origin story both of policing in Nova Scotia and of how Black people in particular are policed.

Here’s why I’ve spent 8 months reporting on a 1930s wrongful conviction www.halifaxexaminer.ca/morning-file... Morning File by me

My clients look forward to the review of the fresh evidence contained in their Application that is currently before the Minister of Justice (Criminal Conviction Review Group).

@timbousquet.bsky.social with the @halifaxexaminer.ca continues to find new connections within a very complicated yet tragically simple case: Daniel Sampson was wrongly convicted and unjustly executed for a crime he did not commit.

Part 6: Daniel Sampson's lawyer was twice disbarred, a bigamist, and skipped town to avoid a debt - Halifax Examiner As I researched O.R. Regan, I began to discover that he was a deeply flawed man with the most unlikeliest of life stories, and should not have been a lawyer at all, much less the lawyer in Sampson's c...

Daniel Sampson’s lawyer was twice disbarred, a bigamist, and skipped town to avoid a debt www.halifaxexaminer.ca/investigatio... Part 6 in @timbousquet.bsky.social's "Policing Panic" series.

Le Beau is solid. The owner trained with a MOF baker in France. Big fan of their pain au chocolat and sesame twists. Lots of other options (including an almond croissant).

I’ve always enjoyed a great bagel but I’m also a sucker for a chocolate croissant. Le Beau is currently my favourite in the city.

@timbousquet.bsky.social has provided some very important context to policing in 1930’s Nova Scotia and the wrongful conviction of Daniel Sampson. This is excellent investigative journalism from @halifaxexaminer.ca.

Part 2: Blind Pig - Halifax Examiner It's an open question whether prohibition has ever "worked" anywhere in the world. But in Nova Scotia, prohibition was unquestioningly an abject failure.

We've taken the second part of my series out from behind the paywall, so everyone can read it for free. See:

Nova Scotia's Policing Panic, Part 2: Blind Pig
www.halifaxexaminer.ca/investigatio...

Tim has done some exceptional investigative journalism in this series and he’s kindly opened up the paywall for his first article.

Gary Anandasangaree is Canada’s New Minister of Justice and Attorney General. He is also Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern affairs (!)