Justice Marc Rosenberg on behalf of the Ontario Court of Appeal:
(To Sherry Sherret) (It was) “profoundly regrettable that through flaw(ed) pathological evidence, you were wrongly convicted.”
"The tragedy of this four-month old child's death is compounded by the fact that his mother was wrongly convicted of infanticide, served a year in jail, and she lost her other child."
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BACKGROUND: An overview of Joshua's case prepared by Commission staff indicates that:
Joshua was born in Belleville, Ontario on September 23, 1995 to Sherry Lee-Ann Sherret and Peter. Joshua had an older half-brother born on July 4, 1994 to Sherry and another partner. Sherry, Peter, Joshua and Joshua's bother all resided together in Trenton, Ontario. Joshua died on January 23, 1996, at the age of four months in Trenton,Ontario.
At the time of Joshua's death Sherry was 20 years old. On March 27, 1996, sherry was charged with first-degree murder in Joshua's death. After a preliminary inquiry she was committed to stand trial on that charge. However, that committal was subsequently quashed and she was ordered to stand trial on a charge of second-degree murder instead.
On January 4, 1999, a new indictment charging infanticide was placed before the Ontario Court of Justice (General Division). Sherry entered a plea of not guilty. However, the Crown then read into the record certain agreed facts. The defence called no evidence in response to the facts read in and did not dispute them. As a result sherry was convicted of infanticide. On June 2, 1999, she was sentenced to a one-year custodial term followed by two years of probation. Just prior to the laying of the criminal charge, on March 7, 1996, Joshua's brother was apprehended by the Northumberland Children's Aid Society and placed in foster care. He was ultimately adopted by his foster family. In September, 2005, Sherry had another child, a daughter. The Children's Aid Society obtained a Supervision Order in October, 2006, in relation to this child. On April 11, 2007, that order was terminated. The conviction was quashed and an acquittal directed by the Ontario Court of Appeal on December 7, 2009.
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Mr. Justice Richard G. Byers of the Superior Court of Ontario when sending Ms. Sherret to jail: (As quoted by lawyer James Lockyer at the Ontario Court of Appeal hearing:)
“At the end of the day, only she knows why she did it – and she is not telling,” he said. “Instead, she denies her guilt and shows no remorse."
“Who speaks for Joshua? Is his life so unimportant that his mother – who killed him without explanation; without apparent remorse – should go free without punishment? What signal does this send to the accused; to this community? Well, I speak for him now. He was important. He was a human being. He was only four months old. And, madam, you killed him. In my book, that means you go to jail.”
Justice Marc Rosenberg on behalf of the Court:
(To Sherry Sherret) (It was) “profoundly regrettable that through flaw(ed) pathological evidence, you were wrongly convicted.”
"The tragedy of this four-month old child's death is compounded by the fact that his mother was wrongly convicted of infanticide, served a year in jail, and she lost her other child."
Lawyer James Lockyer: (To Court of Appeal); “Ms. Sherrett-Robinson had not only to take on the death of her baby, but all the shame and loathing of being a baby-killer. “Not only that, but she lost her first-born, Austin, and Austin lost his mother.”
(Outside court): Amplifying on his comment that the fresh evidence in this case revealed "classic Dr. Smith problems," "He misdiagnoses and over-diagnoses and turns natural deaths into homicides. He did it in a number of cases, and so far two have finally worked their way through the courts."
(Outside Court); His comment on the hemorrhages on Joshua's neck (said by Smith to be indications of violence) which turned out to have been inflicted during the autopsy. "Dr. Smith had caused the very thing which he had identified as a cause of Joshua's death."
(Outside Court); On the impact of Dr. Smith's on the lives of innocent parents and caregivers: "The public is in disbelief that Charles Smith could carry on as long as he did."
(Outside Court); After noting that the Court of Appeal referred to Ms. Sharret's case as a "wrongful convction" and a "miscarriage of justice: "I always focus my mind on the loss of a second child (Austin). When I got involved in the case she was about to lose a third child."
Prosecutor Riun Shandler:
“In (the) absence of a clear cause of death and expert evidence...it is not in the interest of justice to maintain this conviction. “Ms. Sherrett-Robinson is entitled to an acquittal.”
Sherry Sherret, (To reporters outside Osgoode Hall after acquittal;) "It's not just myself that has been affected. It's all the other Charles Smith victims as well."
