Left on the street by police, a woman dies -- the headline signaled the tragic end to a woman's life and the beginning of an investigation that led to more questions than answers. How could so much conflicting testimony arise from a single event? How could police deny charges of racism after calling a native woman a squaw? How could the system fail one person so many times in one night?At first the case seemed simple enough: Minnie Sutherland, a 40-year-old mother of two, sets out with a friend on New Years Eve to see the ...
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Left on the street by police, a woman dies -- the headline signaled the tragic end to a woman's life and the beginning of an investigation that led to more questions than answers. How could so much conflicting testimony arise from a single event? How could police deny charges of racism after calling a native woman a squaw? How could the system fail one person so many times in one night?At first the case seemed simple enough: Minnie Sutherland, a 40-year-old mother of two, sets out with a friend on New Years Eve to see the midnight fireworks display on Parliament Hill. A twist of fate leads her to an infamous bar strip in Hull, Quebec. Amidst the crowds of people leaving the bars at 3:00 a.m., Minnie is hit by a car. Despite the pleas of concerned bystanders, she is dragged from the road by two police officers and left in a snowbank. An hour later, Minnie lies unconscious across the river in Canada's capital, Ottawa. Diagnosed as drunk by two ambulance attendants, she is taken to a detoxification center, but is refused entry because she is unconscious. She ends up in a cellblock but cannot be held -- she hasn't done anything wrong. In the early hours of New Years Day 1989, she is admitted to the hospital, but without cause or identity.
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