"THE VICTIMS INCLUDE LOUISE REYNOLDS, WHO WAS UNJUSTLY CHARGED WITH MURDERING HER DAUGHTER, SHARON, JAILED FOR TWO YEARS AND FORCED TO PUT ANOTHER DAUGHTER UP FOR ADOPTION.
“IT AMAZES ME THAT THE GOVERNMENT CAN WRONG PEOPLE THE WAY THEY HAVE AND STILL JUST NOT CARE. THAT’S EXACTLY HOW I FEEL. THEY GO HOME TO THEIR LIVES EVERY DAY AND WHAT HAPPENS TO US JUST DOESN’T AFFECT THEM,” SHE EXCLAIMS.
REYNOLDS IS ONE OF MANY PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES WERE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN BECAUSE OF MISTAKES BY THE INEPT SMITH AND NEGLIGENT CHIEF CORONER’S OFFICE. SHE HAD BEEN ACCUSED OF MURDERING HER 7-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, SHARON, IN 1997 AFTER SMITH WRONGLY DETERMINED THE GIRL HAD BEEN STABBED MORE THAN 80 TIMES. IN FACT, IT WAS LATER PROVEN THE CHILD HAD BEEN MAULED BY A PIT BULL."
REPORTER THERESA BOYLE: THE TORONTO STAR;
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"It’s been 19 months since a commission recommended that the province address the issue of compensation for the victims of former Toronto pathologist Dr. Charles Smith and Ontario’s coroner’s office," the story by Toronto Star Health Reporter Theresa Boyle, who covered the Goudge Inquiry into many of Dr. Smith's cases, published earlier today under the heading, " Victims of Charles Smith still waiting for compensation," begins.
"But those who were wrongly charged and convicted of killing children are still waiting and some have recently mounted a letter-writing campaign to Attorney General Chris Bentley, urging him to get moving," the story continues.
"
“With painful apprehension ... we are still waiting for an announcement from your ministry,” states the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by the Star. “We ask you to make this matter a priority.”
The victims include Louise Reynolds, who was unjustly charged with murdering her daughter, Sharon, jailed for two years and forced to put another daughter up for adoption.
“It amazes me that the government can wrong people the way they have and still just not care. That’s exactly how I feel. They go home to their lives every day and what happens to us just doesn’t affect them,” she exclaims.
Reynolds is one of many people whose lives were turned upside down because of mistakes by the inept Smith and negligent chief coroner’s office. She had been accused of murdering her 7-year-old daughter, Sharon, in 1997 after Smith wrongly determined the girl had been stabbed more than 80 times. In fact, it was later proven the child had been mauled by a pit bull.
A commission of inquiry, created after it was determined Smith had erred in at least 20 cases, made sweeping recommendations in October 2008 to ensure such miscarriages of justice never happen again. Since then, legislation has been passed to create more checks and balances in death investigations; a forensic pathology service, oversight council and complaints committee have been established; and training for forensic pathologists has been improved.
But Toronto Lawyer Peter Wardle, who represents some of the victims, says the commission’s recommendation on compensation is one of the few still waiting to be addressed.
“The delay is astonishing,” he says. “There should be some urgency to dealing with the people who got hurt.”
A three-person committee, led by former Associate Chief Justice of Ontario Coulter Osborne, was created in Dec. 2008 to provide the government with advice on the “viability of a potential” compensation process. But as of mid-April, Bentley still hadn’t received the committee’s recommendations, according to ministry spokesperson Brendan Crawley. However, in the last two weeks there has been some movement and Bentley has had the “first of a series” of briefings from the committee.
“I have been getting that advice. It’s ongoing. I should be in a position to speak to that very soon,” Bentley said when asked about the delay during question period Monday.
Wardle laments that any payouts could still be a long way off since this committee is only looking at the feasibility of compensation. Presumably, the government would still have to establish another process to determine who would get compensation and how much.
There are a lot of thorny issues to tackle. For example:
• Should compensation be awarded to children like Reynold’s other daughter, Caitlyn, now 16? Caitlyn was taken into custody by child welfare authorities as a toddler and later put up for adoption. What about the Timmins father who sold his house to pay the legal defence for his daughter, wrongly implicated in the death of a child she had been babysitting?
• Would the Canadian Medical Protective Association, which insures doctors, be expected to foot part of the bill?
• Would victims who have launched civil suits be offered compensation in exchange for dropping their cases? For example, William Mullins Johnson, wrongly convicted of murdering his 4-year-old niece and jailed for 12 years, has launched a $13-million lawsuit against Smith, former chief coroner James Young and former deputy chief Jim Cairns.
• How about the many cases where mistakes were made that are now before the court of appeal with accusers trying to clear their names?
Muddying the waters even more is the ongoing investigation into Smith’s older cases. There could still be more victims out there.
As the government tries to clean up the mess, the victims struggle to piece their lives back together.
“What life have I had? In some people’s eyes, I’m still a murderer,” says Reynolds, 41, who suffers severe anxiety and panic attacks. She struggles to hold down a job and admits to having considered suicide.
She’s aghast that she hasn’t even received a personal apology from the government.
“That’s what really burns me. No one has ever said, ‘We’re sorry, Louise, that we put you in prison for a crime you didn’t commit and you never got to grieve for your daughter.’”
Compensation is about much more than money, she says.
“It’s about them admitting what they did to me was wrong and it’s about them paying for their mistakes so that ... they will never let this happen to anyone else.”"
With files from my erstwhile Toronto Star colleague Robert Benzie
The story can be found at:
http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/804462
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
