The Blame Game: Dr. Charles Smith's Dubious Claim That His Reports Were Delayed Because Of Lack Of Administrative Support;

MR. ROBERT CENTA: AND DURING YOUR TIME IN PATHOLOGY DID DR. SMITH EVER TELL YOU THAT HE HAD INADEQUATE SECRETARIAL SUPPORT TO PERMIT HIM TO COMPLETE HIS REPORTS OF POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION IN A TIMELY FASHION?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: NO, HE DID NOT;

MAXINE JOHNSON TO THE GOUDGE INQUIRY: 17 DECEMBER, 2007;

Dr. Charles Smith testified in the case of a woman charged with murdering her son that he was not able to produce his report in a timely fashion because he did not have access to secretarial support.

Here is his testimony:


COUNSEL: These cases take a long time to come to court, and I say this with utmost respect, but your report took a long time in getting to us, and is there any explanation for that?"

DR. Smith: "Yes there is actually. First of all I'm not fast with reports. That is the first statement.

The second statement is that we use examination techniques especially for the brain, which take a lot longer than is employed in a number of different institutions. And the asphyxiation examination techniques we use of a brain which has been profoundly injured by edema and swelling take even longer, so that's the second statement. T

The third statement has nothing to do with these factors. The third statement is that thanks to government cutbacks, I no longer have a secretary, so I have to actually type my own reports, and any report that gets out is because I've sat there at 8:00 at night typing it myself. And so I did a flurry of reports earlier this year, and then with my other activities didn't actually write the next group of reports out and finalize them until during the summer months. So the honesty is that while there are reasons for some delay, the truth of matter is the rate limiting step is the fact that I have to do all the work myself."

As will be seen from the following portion of a transcript of her testimony at the Goudge Inquiry, Maxine Johnson saw matters very differently.

Johnson began working for Dr. Smith as part of a secretarial pool in 1989, and worked directly for him from 2001 to his departure from the hospital.

She is responding to questions posed by Commission Counsel Robert Centa in relation to the 1994 case:

Ms. Johnson, with respect to the third
statement that Dr. Smith has provided, do you agree with
it?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: Absolutely not.

MR. ROBERT CENTA: And to the best of your
knowledge, did government cutbacks ever result in Dr.
Smith not having access to secretarial services in
pathology?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: No, it did not.

MR. ROBERT CENTA: Did government cutbacks
ever force Dr. Smith to type his own reports?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: No, as far as I'm
concerned, not.

MR. ROBERT CENTA: In 1994, was there ever
a time that Dr. Smith could only get a report out if he
typed it himself?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: No...

MR. ROBERT CENTA: And during your time in
pathology did Dr. Smith ever tell you that he had
inadequate secretarial support to permit him to complete
his reports of post-mortem examination in a timely
fashion?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: No, he did not.

MR. ROBERT CENTA: Did he ever tell you
that the secretaries who were assigned to him were not
completing his reports of post-mortem examination in a
timely fashion?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: No.

MR. ROBERT CENTA: And did he ever tell
you the -- that he was forced to type his own reports
because of insufficient secretarial support?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: Dr. Smith was never
forced to type his report as far as we were cons --
concerned. That was one (1) of the functions of our jobs
as admin assistants, was to facilitate getting those
reports completed. Dr. Smith made a choice to type his
own reports...

MR. ROBERT CENTA: And did any of Dr.
Smith's -- of the assistants assigned to Dr. Smith, did
they ever tell you that they could not complete their work
for him in a timely fashion?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: No...

MR. ROBERT CENTA: Now, from your
observations of how Dr. Smith worked, would -- if he had
access to greater secretarial services, would that have
affected the turnaround time on his reports?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: No.

MR. ROBERT CENTA: Why not.

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: Because he loved to
type them himself.

COMMISSIONER STEPHEN GOUDGE: Sorry,
because he loved to type them?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: He liked to type them
himself. He didn't -- he just didn't give them to us.

COMMISSIONER STEPHEN GOUDGE: Did he
always type them himself?

MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: As far as I know,
yes.


MR. ROBERT CENTA: And if he'd had
increased access to secretarial resources, would that
have, in your -- based on your observations, made him more
responsive to calls from individuals seeking to contact
him?
MS. MAXINE JOHNSON: I don't think it
would matter because, as I said, we were always available. 000

Maxine Johnson initially spoke highly of Dr. Smith in her testimony when asked for her personal opinion of her Colleague.

"You know, he's really
a great guy," she told Centa during her direct examination.

"He's got a great personality.

If you wanted to know something about the computer, the Mac, just ask
him because he was -- he was well versed.

He -- he -- you know, he's sociable and definitely not a difficult
person to -- to deal with, so secretaries actually liked working for him because he was pleasant.

So we would -- you know, whatever he needed we were always available.

If you had to compare his personality type to another pathologist, for instance, you would always want to do Charles' work because he just made it -- you know, if he wanted it done we were there.

By contrast, a sense of betrayal appears in her testimony when she is questioned by
Luisa Ritacca, counsel for the Chief Coroner's Office, about evidence which suggested that Smith told the Coroner's Office that he couldn't produce his reports in time because he lacked administrative support.

"It wasn't -- it wasn't -- and it wasn't so much gossip. It was -- you -- you hear the blame game, and it's all what -- you know, you hear," Johnson testified.

"Oh, you know, apparently Dr. Smith went to the Coroner's Office, and said that he didn't enough secretaries or he didn't have any secretarial support.

And, you know, we would -- as -- as an administrative group -- would be hurt because we knew that that wasn't true.

Let me -- and at that time, there were -- in 1989, for instance, he's -- he had his own secretary, until 1994, that was exclusively his..."

In one of his rare interruptions of a witness's testimony, Commissioner Goudge asked Johnson how how her perception that Smith was playing the blame-game squared "with the nice-guy sense you had of Dr. Smith."

"He is a nice guy," Johnson replied.

"No, he is -- you know, to answer your question,
Commissioner, Dr. Smith is very personable.

It's very hard to dislike Dr. Smith because he is -- you know, he
makes you feel at easy -- he's very inclusive when he's
having discussions...

(But) you know, the -- the downside to that is -- is, you know, why would he say that he didn't have enough secretarial support when he knew that that really wasn't true?"

Maxine Johnson's testimony provides an excellent example of a quality of Dr. Smith's that was noted by a senior official in attendance at a high level meeting of senior officials of the Chief Coroner's Office which had been called to consider his fate.

As noted in an earlier posting, the official noted that Dr. Smith is unable to accept responsibility for his mistakes and tends to cast the blame on others.

Her testimony also raises disturbing questions about Dr. Smith's credibility under oath in a murder trial where the the stakes for the accused are so high and public confidence in the Chief Coroner's office is so crucial.

Most importantly, Johnson's testimony is a good reminder that Dr. Smith and those officials of the Chief Coroner's office who were supposed to be supervising him for the protection of the public cannot be allowed to slide off the hook because of a lack of administrative resources.

The so-called "lack of resources" issue raised in Court by Dr. Smith and also advanced by former Chief Coroner Dr. James Young in his testimony to the inquiry is a red herring.

It should not be allowed to cloak the responsibility Smith's personal responsibility for his actions - and the responsibility of the Hospital for Sick Children and the Chief Coroner's Office for breaching the public trust.

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com.