"SMITH'S EVIDENCE IN THIS CASE HAS NOW BEEN DISPUTED BY OTHER EXPERTS. AFTER CONDUCTING A JUDICIAL INQUIRY INTO THE PATHOLOGIST'S CONDUCT, JUSTICE STEPHEN GOUDGE MADE HARSH COMMENTS ABOUT SMITH AND ALSO ABOUT THE CORONERS WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO SUPERVISE HIM, ONTARIO'S FORMER CHIEF CORONER JAMES YOUNG AND HIS DEPUTY, JIM CAIRNS.
SIX OTHER FORENSIC EXPERTS HAVE REVIEWED KENNETH'S DEATH AND HAVE REJECTED SMITH'S CONCLUSION. ONE SUGGESTED THE BOY, WHO WAS EPILEPTIC, MAY HAVE DIED FROM A SEIZURE"
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"JUST CONSIDER WHAT MARQUARDT HAS ENDURED. FIRST HER SON DIED, THEN SHE IS CHARGED AND CONVICTED OF MURDER AND SHE SUBSEQUENTLY SPENT 14 YEARS IN PRISON, INCLUDING TIME IN THE GRAND VALLEY INSTITUTION FOR WOMEN IN KITCHENER. BUT THAT IS NOT ALL. HER TWO OTHER SONS WERE PUT UP FOR ADOPTION, AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THEY ARE.
EXCERPTS FROM RECORD EDITORIAL ON TAMMY MARQUANDT CASE:
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"Tammy Marquardt neatly summed up her ordeal with the courts and in prison: "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy," the Record's editorial begins, under the heading,."the legal system is far from perfect."
"Marquardt, 37, has good reason to say that," the editorial continues;
"Based on the evidence of the now-disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, Marquardt was convicted of murdering her young son Kenneth in 1995. The courts sentenced her to life in prison. Smith testified that the boy was either smothered or strangled. Marquardt said she found her son tangled in his bedsheets.
Smith's evidence in this case has now been disputed by other experts. After conducting a judicial inquiry into the pathologist's conduct, Justice Stephen Goudge made harsh comments about Smith and also about the coroners who were supposed to supervise him, Ontario's former chief coroner James Young and his deputy, Jim Cairns.
Six other forensic experts have reviewed Kenneth's death and have rejected Smith's conclusion. One suggested the boy, who was epileptic, may have died from a seizure.
Just consider what Marquardt has endured. First her son died, then she is charged and convicted of murder and she subsequently spent 14 years in prison, including time in the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener. But that is not all. Her two other sons were put up for adoption, and she doesn't even know where they are.
Marquardt has a right to be angry. Speaking to reporters this week after an appeal court in Toronto granted her bail, Marquardt said she had a question for Smith: "Why?" She wants to know why he drew the conclusions he offered. She also said she held the entire system accountable for putting her through a "living hell."
Thankfully, the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted took up her case and will be attempting in future to have the courts completely exonerate her.
Interestingly, another person, William Mullins-Johnson, who was wrongfully convicted because of the Smith's evidence was in the courtroom when Marquardt was released. Mullins-Johnson spent 12 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of murdering his niece.
These two people know something the rest of us have to remember. The people who testify in courts, even the experts, may make mistakes. Lawyers, prosecutors, judges and pathologists always have to strive to be sure of their facts. The consequences that occur when serious mistakes are made are horrendous. Anyone who doubts this just has to ask Tammy Marquardt or William Mullins-Johnson."
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
