"(ATTORNEY GENERAL) BENTLEY SET UP A TEAM IN DECEMBER 2008 TO CONSIDER THE VIABILITY OF A COMPENSATION PROCESS FOR SOME 40 VICTIMS OF THE SMITH AFFAIR, WHICH SPARKED A PUBLIC INQUIRY. THE INQUIRY FOCUSED LARGELY ON THE FLAWED WORK OF DR. SMITH — FORMERLY THE PROVINCE'S CHIEF PEDIATRIC PATHOLOGIST — WHOSE ERRORS LED TO INNOCENT PEOPLE BEING BRANDED AS CHILD MURDERERS. THE 1,000-PAGE REPORT BY JUSTICE STEPHEN GOUDGE SLAMMED DR. SMITH, ALONG WITH ONTARIO'S FORMER CHIEF CORONER AND HIS DEPUTY, FOR THEIR ROLES IN WRONGFUL PROSECUTIONS AND ASKED THE PROVINCE TO CONSIDER COMPENSATION. THE PROVINCIAL CORONER'S OFFICE FOUND EVIDENCE OF ERRORS IN 20 OF 45 AUTOPSIES DR. SMITH DID OVER A 10-YEAR PERIOD STARTING IN THE EARLY 1990S. THIRTEEN RESULTED IN CRIMINAL CHARGES."
THE CANADIAN PRESS;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has clearly heard the voices of the victims of Dr. Charles Smith - and the province's criminal justice system - which are demanding long-over due compensation. McGuinty deserves credit for the establishing the highly effective Inquiry into many of Smith's cases - and for appointing Justice Steven Goudge to head it. McGuinty also deserves credit for intervening on the victim's behalf at a time when Attorney General Chris Bradley appears to have allowed the compensation process to languish. Real, generous compensation for the many innocent grieving people whose lives have been so terribly damaged by their ordeals at the hands of Dr. Smith and the government which prosecuted them in our name, arrested them imprisoned them, made them pariah's in their communities, and even put some of their children up for adoption, cannot come soon enough.
Harold Levy;
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"Victims of disgraced Ontario pathologist Dr. Charles Smith can expect to hear soon about compensation, Premier Dalton McGuinty promised Tuesday," the Canadian Press reported earlier today, under the heading, "Compensation news soon in disgraced pathologist case, McGuinty says."
"The Ontario premier says people who were ‘caught up in this terrible misfortune’ will learn shortly about the province’s plans for compensation," the story continues.
"Several people who were wrongly accused of killing children say they've waited 19 months to hear whether the province will provide them with compensation and have urged the government to stop dragging its heels.
They won't have to wait much longer, Mr. McGuinty said.
“(Attorney General Chris Bentley) is going to make an announcement very, very shortly,” he said.
“I just want to thank the people who have been caught up in this terrible misfortune — victims themselves — for their patience, and I want to assure them that the attorney general is going to work as quickly as he can on this.”
Mr. Bentley set up a team in December 2008 to consider the viability of a compensation process for some 40 victims of the Smith affair, which sparked a public inquiry.
The inquiry focused largely on the flawed work of Dr. Smith — formerly the province's chief pediatric pathologist — whose errors led to innocent people being branded as child murderers.
The 1,000-page report by Justice Stephen Goudge slammed Dr. Smith, along with Ontario's former chief coroner and his deputy, for their roles in wrongful prosecutions and asked the province to consider compensation.
The provincial coroner's office found evidence of errors in 20 of 45 autopsies Dr. Smith did over a 10-year period starting in the early 1990s. Thirteen resulted in criminal charges.
William Mullins-Johnson, who was among those cases, spent 12 years in prison for the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece, whose death was later attributed to natural causes.
In another case, Dr. Smith concluded a mother had stabbed her seven-year-old girl to death when it turned out to have been a dog mauling.
The inquiry heard that Dr. Smith's failings included hanging on to crucial evidence, chronic tardiness, and the catastrophic misinterpretation of findings.
The cases, along with other heart-rending stories of wrongful prosecutions based in part on Smith's testimony, also raised a host of issues about the pathology system and the reliance of the courts on expert evidence."
The story can be found at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/compensation-news-soon-in-disgraced-pathologist-case-mcguinty-says/article1557674/
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
