"A 1997 INQUEST INTO KASANDRA'S DEATH, WHICH SMITH ALLEGED WAS CAUSED BY A BLOW TO THE HEAD, ENDED WITH 73 RECOMMENDATIONS AIMED AT GETTING SOCIETY TO TAKE CHILD ABUSE MORE SERIOUSLY.
YESTERDAY, ONTARIO'S CHIEF FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, DR. MICHAEL POLLANEN, SAID IT IS UNCLEAR IF KASANDRA DIED FROM A HEAD INJURY. HE SAID THERE IS EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST SHE DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES, SUCH AS EPILEPSY.
REPORTER TRACEY TYLER: THE TORONTO STAR; PHOTO: RENE JOHNSTON/TORONTO STAR: MARIA SHEPHERD, DAUGHTER CHELSEA AND SON JORDAN (REAR) OUTSIDE ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL AT OSGOODE HALL MAY 12, 2009;"
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"With a powerful pathologist set to deliver testimony that would link her to her stepdaughter's death, Maria Shepherd faced a stark choice: Plead guilty or risk losing her other children permanently," legal affairs reporter Tracey Tyler's expanded report for the Toronto Star's print edition begins;
"Pregnant with her fourth child, Shepherd settled on the option that promised a shorter sentence, early parole and the prospect of quickly reuniting with her family," the story, published earlier today under the heading, "Woman battles to clear her name" and the by-line, "Wins right to appeal manslaughter conviction in 1991 death handled by disgraced pathologist," continues;
"Under what she describes today as "extreme" pressure, Shepherd pleaded guilty in 1992 to manslaughter in the death of her stepdaughter, Kasandra, 3.
"I needed to do what I had to do to protect myself and my family," said Shepherd. "Being separated from the children is probably the worst thing I could imagine at the time."
Nearly 17 years later, with new evidence exposing pathologist Dr. Charles Smith's work in the case as "complete nonsense," the Ontario Court of Appeal took the unusual step yesterday of allowing Shepherd, 39, to appeal her conviction.
A 1997 inquest into Kasandra's death, which Smith alleged was caused by a blow to the head, ended with 73 recommendations aimed at getting society to take child abuse more seriously.
Yesterday, Ontario's chief forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Pollanen, said it is unclear if Kasandra died from a head injury. He said there is evidence to suggest she died of natural causes, such as epilepsy.
Shepherd was a young mother with three children in 1991. Kasandra was her husband's daughter from a previous relationship. That January, Kasandra began to lose weight and developed the first of a series of illnesses, which doctors variously attributed to flu, a blood disorder or emotional trauma stemming from her parents' custody battle. She had been vomiting the day she died, April 11, 1991.
That day, Shepherd heard a thump on the floor of an upstairs bedroom and discovered her oldest daughter, Natasha, had fallen out of bed. As she attempted to rescue Natasha, Shepherd said, she pushed Kasandra out of the way with a backhanded sweeping motion.
Smith would later suggest the incident created a doughnut-shaped bruise in tissue deep beneath Kasandra's skull. He asked police to see if they could find an object similar in size and shape to the bruise. They produced Shepherd's wristwatch. Holding the watch over a photograph of the bruise, Smith pronounced it "a very nice fit."
Dr. Helen Whitwell, a forensic pathologist for Britain's Home Office who reviewed the case, said Smith's "overlay" technique was "complete nonsense."
Kasandra's case was one of 20 in which Smith was found to have committed fundamental errors by the Goudge inquiry. But in 1991, after Shepherd had been charged, Smith's opinion was virtually impossible to challenge in court.
His views "had a huge effect on the lawyers representing me and was a critical factor in my decision to plead guilty to manslaughter," Shepherd, a clothing store manager, said in an affidavit.
Pleading guilty allowed her to avoid spending up to five years in a Kingston prison. Instead, she was sentenced to two years less a day in a Brampton reformatory, near her parents' home. As a condition of bail, her children were placed in the custody of Shepherd's mother. It took three years of legal battles to put the family back together.
Shepherd's lawyer James Lockyer said the appeal will likely be heard next year."
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
