"Dr. Charles Smith explained at that meeting that he had mislabelled the original sample from the baby taken at the post-mortem and had taken the wrong sample to (the Centre of Forensic Sciences) for DNA testing. This resulted in the initial incorrect result as to the paternity of the baby," she (the Assistant Crown Attorney) wrote.
The email was brought to the attention of the inquiry by lawyer Peter Wardle, who is representing people implicated in the deaths of children in cases where Smith made errors.
"We've heard a lot of evidence about what the coroner's office knew or didn't know about issues related to Dr. Smith's competence in the late 1990's."
REPORTER THERESA BOYLE: THE TORONTO STAR; FEBRUARY O7, 2008;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"To clear his name, Simmons needed a copy of an independent autopsy done after Smith’s work came into question but the Ontario Coroner’s Office told him they didn’t have a complete report, which the Crown was demanding.
After the Toronto Sun ran a story the coroner’s office then said they did have the full autopsy report.
“I don’t know what to believe. I don’t have much faith in the system. They told me they had nothing for me,” Simmons said."
REPORTER KEVIN CONNER: THE TORONTO SUN; JUNE 19, 2010;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BACKGROUND: The Goudge 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."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHER'S MOTE: The Goudge Inquiry into many of Dr. Charles Smith's cases heard shocking evidence of a 1990 case in which Smith mislabelled DNA evidence. Roy Simmons, the accused, was subsequently convicted of manslaughter and incest. Simmons is currently attempting to obtain the original autopsy report. To present the picture as fully as possible I am rerunning reporter Theresa Boyle's story on Smith's mislabelling of the evidence - and a current Toronto Sun story in which the Ontario Coroner's office is said to have originally denied having the report - and then claiming that it still existed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The coroner's office was aware in the 1990s that pathologist Dr. Charles Smith was slipping up, documents filed at a public inquiry reveal," reporter Theresa Boyle's stry, published in the Toronto Star on February 7, 2008 began, under the heading, "Mistake by Smith found in 1990s case, Note from Barrie Crown attorney showed pathologist mislabelled DNA, inquiry hears."
"An email from the Barrie Crown's office, submitted as evidence yesterday, showed Smith mislabelled crucial DNA evidence in a 1994 case of manslaughter and incest," the story continues.
"The office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario had to undertake an investigation to sort out the evidence, according to the Nov. 2002 email from assistant Crown attorney Liz QuinlaN to a number of other Crown attorneys, including John McMahon, former director of Crown operations for Toronto.
The case in question involved the death of a 3-month-old infant boy in Barrie. Roy Simmons was eventually convicted of manslaughter and incest in the bizarre case in which DNA would later reveal that Simmons was both grandfather and father to the baby.
Smith bungled the first DNA tests, something that came to light years later when the baby's mother revealed to police who the father was.
DNA testing had been done in the first place because incest was suspected. But the results of the first tests were surprising because they showed Simmons had no relation to the baby whatsoever. Despite those initial results, the maternal grandmother expressed certainty Simmons was the baby's father.
"An investigation was undertaken regarding the mixing up of the original sample," Quinlan's email said.
She explained that she met with Smith, Deputy Chief Coroner Jim Cairns and police officers involved in the case to discuss the mix-up sometime between 1996 and 1998.
"Dr. Charles Smith explained at that meeting that he had mislabelled the original sample from the baby taken at the post-mortem and had taken the wrong sample to (the Centre of Forensic Sciences) for DNA testing. This resulted in the initial incorrect result as to the paternity of the baby," she wrote.
The email was brought to the attention of the inquiry by lawyer Peter Wardle, who is representing people implicated in the deaths of children in cases where Smith made errors.
"We've heard a lot of evidence about what the coroner's office knew or didn't know about issues related to Dr. Smith's competence in the late 1990's.
"This would certainly suggest that Dr. Cairns at least was aware of one incident, the mixing up of a sample, which appears to have had some impact in the ongoing criminal prosecution," Wardle said.
McMahon, now a Superior Court Justice, agreed."
The story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/article/301331
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Roy Simmons is relieved he may not have to exhume is grandson once again to prove he is an innocent man," the Toronto Sun story by reporter Kevin Connor, published earlier today under the heading, "Boy's grave may be left undisturbed: Coroner now says it has autopsy into death of grandson," begins.
"Simmons — who was jailed seven years for manslaughter in the death of Tyler, his grandson — is one of several people who were wrongfully jailed by the false testimony of disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith," the story continues.
"To clear his name, Simmons needed a copy of an independent autopsy done after Smith’s work came into question but the Ontario Coroner’s Office told him they didn’t have a complete report, which the Crown was demanding.
After the Toronto Sun ran a story the coroner’s office then said they did have the full autopsy report.
“I don’t know what to believe. I don’t have much faith in the system. They told me they had nothing for me,” Simmons said.
When the coroner’s office was originally contacted they were evasive about the autopsy report and directed the Sun to the office of the attorney general.
“Mr. Simmons and his lawyer can be assured that our documentation is intact and we will duly provide the same via the appropriate disclosure procedures as required by law,” Cheryl Mahyr with the coroner’s office said in an e-mail Friday.
Smith had a history of losing evidence and not turning it over to the Crown and police.
“As in all cases, but particularly in those cases where there is a question with respect to the findings of Dr. Charles Smith, the Crown will do whatever it can to move the case forward as quickly as possible,” said Brendan Crawley, with the Ontario ministry of the attorney general.
“In this case, the Crown is aware of steps being taken by the defence to have the matter reviewed by the court of appeal for Ontario.”
This is mind-boggling and outrageous, said MPP Peter Kormos, the NDP’s justice critic.
“Not making the autopsy report available is revictimizing Mr. Simmons,” he said.
“The coroner’s office shows arrogant disregard of people outside of its network. Smith didn’t act in isolation of the coroner’s office, he had cultural support of the coroner’s office ... a bungling culture that was allowed to exist.”
Simmons’ daughter, Jennifer Stowe, who hasn’t been able to get pregnant since Tyler’s death is now on fertility treatments and says this latest controversy doesn’t help.
“I don’t understand. Mr. McGuinty said his government would do everything they could to help and make things right, and they haven’t,” she said."
The story can be found at:
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/06/18/14442926.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
