Saturday, June 7, 2008

Part Eight: Gaurov's Father: A Second Shocking Revelation From Goudge Inquiry; Both Smith And Huyer Were "Struggling" With Criminality In the Case;

"SPEAK TO PATHOLOGIST, DR. CHARLES SMITH, OF SICK KIDS HOSPITAL RE. UPDATE. STILL IS OF THE OPINION THAT DEATH WAS FROM EITHER TWO (2) SOURCES: SHAKEN BABY, BLUNT TRAUMA. HE HAS CONSULTED WITH DR. HUYER, SCAN PROGRAM. THEY BOTH HAVE MISGIVINGS ABOUT CRIMINAL ELEMENT. QUOTE, 'HAS STRUGGLED WITH THIS BEING CRIMINAL. AGREES TO MEET WITH MARY HALL ANY TIME.'"

NOTE WRITTEN BY TORONTO HOMICIDE OFFICER DETECTIVE JOHN LINE IN RELATION TO KUMAR INVESTIGATION. DETECTIVE LINE WAS REFERRING TO MARY HALL WHO WAS DESCRIBED BY LAWYER JAMES LOCKYER AS HEAD CROWN ATTORNEY IN THE SCARBOROUGH OFFICE OUT OF WHICH KUMAR WAS PROSECUTED;

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In an earlier posting I referred to the shocking disclosure from the Goudge Inquiry that Dinesh Kumar's lawyer's testified that he had not been informed by prosecutors about a disturbing decision from Ontario Court Justice Patrick Dunn in the Amber case.

That decision was was highly critical of the opinions of Dr. Charles Smith and the Hospital for Sick Children SCAN (Suspected Child Abuse And Neglect) team.

Two other shocking disclosures relating to Gaurov's case also emanated from the Inquiry;

The second - the subject of this post - was that Dr. Charles Smith had informed homicide investigators that both he, and Dr. Dirk Huyer, the head of the SCAN team at the Hospital for Sick Children In Toronto were both "struggling" to find criminality in the case - a far cry from the language in their official reports;

The section of transcript relating to this disclosure is found in lawyer James Lockyer's cross-examination of Dr. Helen Whitwell, the independent examiner who reviewed Gaurov's case at the request of former Chief Coroner, Dr. Barry McLellan;

It reads as follows:

MR. JAMES LOCKYER: And so in Gaurov's case, whilst we have -- the preexisting condition may have been responsible for what ultimately caused Gaurov's death, beyond that, potentially, as Dr. Pollanen has pointed out, we don't even seem to have the triad in the first place.


DR. HELEN WHITWELL: No, you don't.

MR. JAMES LOCKYER: I don't know quite why Dr. Smith said this, but he seems to have had a lot of trouble with the case himself, and we got some notes just a -- a few days ago in this regard. If we could go to PFP302155; And what we're looking at here is the notes of one (1) of the officers in charge of the case, Detective Lines (sic). And if you go -- could you -- I'm sorry, I don't have a page number here. Could you just keep -- keep moving and I'll tell you when to stop through these notes. We're looking for March 23rd, which you'll see at the top of one (1) of the pages. And if you look at the entry for 2:55 on March 23rd -- and if you could raise the page a little so we can go to the bottom of it -- what it says there, and this is Detective Lines, one (1) of the officers in charge, and what he's noted March 23rd of 1992, which is post-autopsy, he's noted: "Speak to pathologist, Dr. Charles Smith, of Sick Kids Hospital re.
update. Still is of the opinion that death was from either two (2) sources: shaken baby, blunt trauma. He has consulted with Dr. Huyer, SCAN program. They both have misgivings about criminal element. Quote, 'Has struggled with this being criminal. Agrees to meet with Mary Hall any time.' And I can just tell you, Dr. Whitwell, that Mary Hall was then a -- the head Crown attorney in the Scarborough office where --

DR. HELEN WHITWELL: Right.

MR. JAMES LOCKYER: -- out of which Mr. Kumar was prosecuted.
So it would seem, at least in the early days -- and this is before Gaurov's father is charged with the second degree murder of his son Gaurov -- that even after the autopsy, Dr. Smith, and indeed Dr. Huyer of the SCAN unit, to use the -- to use the quote, "struggling" with the question of whether any crime had
been committed in Gaurov's death in the first place. I don't think you would have known that. We only got this document about a week ago --

DR. HELEN WHITWELL: Right.

MR. JAMES LOCKYER: -- through -- through the officer himself providing it.


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We are told that this note was written before Dinesh Kumar was encouraged by prosecutors to plead guilty to criminal negligence causing his son Gaurov's death in order to avoid being prosecuted for murder.

The existence of such a note - in which both Dr. Smith and the Head of the SCAN team are struggling to find any scientific evidence of criminality in the case - clearly raises the prospect that there was no reasonable possibility of obtaining a conviction.

The last time I looked at a Criminal Code - Criminal Negligence Causing Death was just what it sounded like: a very serious criminal offence.

So we have to wonder why the prosecutors who, as crown attorneys, also hold the function of being officers of the Court, proceeded to take Mr. Kumar to Court on any criminal charge at all - whether they were bound by the law to withdraw all charges against him or not.

A very shocking revelation indeed, which, it seems, only raised its ugly head publicly more than 16-years after Mr. Kumar pleaded guilty to an offence he did not commit, to avoid life in prison for murder on the evidence of the celebrated Dr. Smith's evidence supported by the world famous Hospital for Sick Children, to regain custody of his son, and to avoid deportation from Canada;

How could our Canadian Justice system fall so low?

Next Posting: Part Nine; Gaurov's Father; A Third Shocking Revelation From The Goudge Inquiry;

Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;