"Still, one victim contacted is happy with the compensation plan. Maurice Gagnon, of Sudbury, spent his $100,000 retirement fund to clear the name of his daughter, Lianne Thibeault, after she came under suspicion for the 1995 death of her 11-month-old son Nicholas.
Nicholas went into distress after hitting his head, but Smith wrongly determined the baby had suffered a “non-accidental” blow. While there was never enough evidence to charge Thibeault, child welfare authorities temporarily seized custody of her second child.
Gagnon said he just wants to close the book on this chapter of his life: “It takes too much God damned energy to stay mad at these people.”
He said he feels justice has been done because Smith, former chief coroner James Young and former deputy coroner Jim Cairns “will never work again. Nobody else will be affected by these people.”"
HEALTH REPORTER THERESA BOYLE; THE TORONTO STAR;
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BACKGROUND: 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."
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"The provincial government has announced compensation of up to $250,000 for victims of disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, but critics decry the amount as outrageously inadequate," Toronto Star Health Reporter Theresa Boyle's story published earlier today under the heading, Province to compensate victims of Charles Smith begins.
"“I believe the amount falls way short of what some of them should receive for the hardship they have endured,” said lawyer David Robins, who represents some of the victims," the story continues.
"In announcing the compensation scheme Tuesday, Attorney General Chris Bentley apologized to the victims and said the payments recognize “some of the hurt, some of the pain and some of the anguish” they have endured.
He said $250,000 is “a lot of money,” but acknowledged some victims are likely entitled to more. He made a point of emphasizing that civil remedies are still available “for those who either don’t believe it (compensation) is enough or who don’t believe it reflects the circumstances of their case.”
Typically when governments grant compensation, they do so on the condition that victims drop any civil claims.
“You can think of one individual who could qualify for much more,” Bentley said. He was likely referring to William Mullins-Johnson, who spent 12 years in jail after being wrongfully convicted of sodomizing and murdering his 4-year-old niece on the basis of flawed pathology evidence.
Mullins-Johnson had previously filed a $13 million lawsuit and Robins said other victims are considering civil claims.
Mistakes made by Smith and his bosses in the coroners’ office led to a number of wrongful convictions and prosecutions. In addition to being jailed, some parents had surviving children temporarily or permanently removed from their custody.
Nineteen bungled cases were the subject of a public inquiry, led by Justice Stephen Goudge, the final report of which was released almost two years ago.
Those “directly” affected by the debacle are eligible for compensation of up to $250,000, children removed from their parents’ custody are entitled to up to $25,000 and other family members are entitled to up to $12,500.
Victims must apply for compensation and retired Justice Charles Misener has been appointed to determine who is eligible and for how much.
“This is an embarrassment,” scoffed NDP justice critic Peter Kormos. “This is a paltry, insignificant sum for people who have been imprisoned based on (flawed) evidence by an agent of the state of the government and it is outrageous.”
Conservative justice critic Ted Chudleigh said it’s “outrageous” that it took the government almost two years to develop an “inadequate” compensation scheme.
Robins said he has been in contact with victims who are surprised by the “modest amount” of compensation being offered.
“They have endured pain, suffering and humiliation and have been mislabeled as convicted offenders. There are issues of emotional and psychological trauma and significant loss of income,” he said.
Still, one victim contacted is happy with the compensation plan. Maurice Gagnon, of Sudbury, spent his $100,000 retirement fund to clear the name of his daughter, Lianne Thibeault, after she came under suspicion for the 1995 death of her 11-month-old son Nicholas.
Nicholas went into distress after hitting his head, but Smith wrongly determined the baby had suffered a “non-accidental” blow. While there was never enough evidence to charge Thibeault, child welfare authorities temporarily seized custody of her second child.
Gagnon said he just wants to close the book on this chapter of his life: “It takes too much God damned energy to stay mad at these people.”
He said he feels justice has been done because Smith, former chief coroner James Young and former deputy coroner Jim Cairns “will never work again. Nobody else will be affected by these people.”"
The story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/846046--province-to-compensate-victims-of-dr-charles-smith
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-feature-cases-issues-and.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;