"THE JURY RETURNED WITH 73 RECOMMENDATIONS DIRECTED AT NUMEROUS AGENCIES FINDING THAT “CONCRETE CHANGES HAVE TO BE DONE TO OUR SOCIETY’S OUTLOOK ON CHILD ABUSE.”
FROM AFFIDAVIT OF LAWYER ALISON CRAIG FILED IN THE ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL;
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Many insights into the wrongful conviction of Maria Shepherd - and the role played in it by Dr. Charles Randal Smith - can be gleaned from the affidavit filed in the Ontario Court of Appeal by Lawyer Alison Craig, an associate of Lockyer, Campbell, Posner, who, along with several other lawyers, did a superlative job of representing Ms. Shepherd and other victims of miscarriages of justice at the Goudge Inquiry; Because this affidavit is extremely lengthy I will be publishing selected sections:
Today: The Coroner’s Inquest:
"On April 15, 1997, a Coroner’s Inquest was called into Kasandra’s death. The Inquest proceeded for 34 days and 56 witnesses, including the Applicant, testified. The Inquest Jury heard from physicians, nurses, Children’s Aid workers, child care workers,, social workers, police officers, the Office of the Official Guardian, officials from the Ministry of Community and Social Services and hospital administration officials. The Applicant has been unable to obtain a transcript of the proceedings.
A key evidentiary issue at the Inquest was whether the CT scan done on February 12, 1991 revealed a head injury. In a “Verdict Explanation”, written after the jury’s verdict, the presiding Coroner, Dr. Bonita Porter, wrote:
The CT scan was done Feb. 12th and was reported as:
“A plain scan was done. There is definite evidence of a very prominent sulci and the ventricles are also slightly dilated for this age. The appearances are consistent with that of cerebral atrophy. I do not see any evidence of a subdural hematoma present. No abnormality is seen.”
The police and a CAS worker attended the hospital and interviewed Kasandra, the natural father and stepmother and the family physician. Based on those interviews, the police closed their investigation. The CAS worker testified that she intended to stay involved.
. . . . .
On admission to the Hospital for Sick Children in April of 1991 the original CT scan of Feb. 12 was reviewed. The opinion that there was evidence of a possible head injury at that time was given. At the inquest, a pediatric radiologist was consulted. The report given at that time was:
“The CT scan from 12-02-91 demonstrates a slightly widened subarachnoid space anteriorly. No definite blood is seen in this area, however, a chronic subdural cannot be excluded. The ventricular system is at the upper limits of normal. There is a region of homogeneous attenuation thickening the right tentorium. This has the appearance of a subacute/chronic subdural hematoma.
No other intracranial abnormalities....”
The autopsy findings indicated a recent and a remote head injury. While the dating of the previous head injury could not be entirely specific the pathologist indicated through the expert witness that the findings were consistent with the report of the CT scan given by the pediatric neurologist at the inquest.
The expert witness, Dr. Marcellina Mian of the SCAN team of the Hospital for Sick Children, attended three days of testimony and testified at the end of the inquest having reviewed all of the documentation. Her opinion was that clinically, Kasandra presented with symptoms of a head injury in Feb. of 1991. Problems with information sharing and a clear understanding of roles were identified. Dr. Mian testified about risk factors in child abuse including domestic violence.
The Jury returned with 73 recommendations directed at numerous agencies finding that “concrete changes have to be done to our society’s outlook on child abuse.”"
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
