Clayton Miller died from alcohol consumption and hypothermia: report
CBC News | Posted: April 16, 2015 8:45 AM | Last Updated: April 16, 2015
New Waterford teen died in 1990 after a drinking party; parents think police were involved
Clayton Miller's parents are "disappointed" by a review into his death that found no evidence he died of violence after police broke up an outdoor drinking party 25 years ago.
Gervase and Maureen Miller met Thursday with Matt Bowes, Nova Scotia's chief medical examiner, and Ron MacDonald, the head of the Serious Incident Response Team, which oversees police conduct.
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"It seems that they don't want to believe anything that we say as Clayton's parents, and what we saw. They're basing [it] on people we don't believe are credible," Maureen Miller said.
The Millers have long believed police had something to do with the death of their 17-year-old son, Clayton, in May 1990.
"We were told in January that there would be a thorough investigation and it's obvious to see it wasn't," she said.
The Millers intend to visit their lawyer next week to see about launching a civil action.
Gervase Miller said he was "not the least bit surprised" by the findings. "If we get it in civil court, we believe it'll amount to legal action and people being charged," he said.
'No evidence' of police role in death
The review into his death concluded the teenager died from a combination of alcohol consumption and hypothermia.
"There is no evidence to show that any police officer had any contact with Clayton Miller prior to his death," reads a news release from the Serious Incident Response Team.
"The evidence shows that Clayton Miller's death was an accident, caused when he fell and passed out attempting to run from police.… He remained partially in a stream in a location unseen by anyone until two days later, having died from hypothermia."
Clayton's body was found two days after a police raid on an outdoor drinking party in an area that had been already searched.
Last fall, a retired nurse reported to Justice Minister Lena Diab that she had turned up a number of irregularities in two autopsies performed on Clayton's remains.
Diab asked Bowes to take another look at the case.
The Serious Incident Response Team said those "recent opinions … do not offer scientifically valid information."
The team had also been looking into an allegation that a current Cape Breton Regional Police officer has been withholding information about the Miller Case.
The review said there are no grounds to consider any charges against any police officer.
SIRT is not empowered to investigate historic police conduct, so has no authority to examine the conduct of officers involved in the Miller case 25 years ago.
The Millers handed boxes over to SIRT of information they collected over the years related to their son's death.