"They were found guilty years ago but the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed the convictions in October. The Crown conceded they were the victims of a miscarriage of justice after Smith wrongly concluded they had asphyxiated the infants.
“Seventeen years of really what was hell for (C.M.) is finally coming to an end,” Lockyer said on Thursday. Outside court, he described the results of Smith’s incompetence as “pretty dreadful.”
“Her baby died before her eyes in her bathroom at home . . . a terrifying experience with blood all over the walls,” he said. “Twenty-four hours later, she’s sitting in a jail cell for the next four weeks.”"
REPORTER CAROLA VYHNAK; URBAN AFFAIRS REPORTER; 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 and a self-styled member of the prosecution team — 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, "losing" evidence which showed his opinion was wrong and may have assisted the accused person, mistating 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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"“Seventeen years of hell” blamed on discredited pathologist Dr. Charles Smith have ended for a woman accused of killing her newborn baby in 1992," the Toronto Star story by reporter Carola Vyhnak published earlier today under the heading, "Woman’s ‘hell’ ends as charge withdrawn in newborn’s death," begins.
"“It’s over. Withdrawn, gone, once and for all,” her lawyer, James Lockyer, told the woman by phone minutes after Justice Paul Bellefontaine withdrew a manslaughter charge against her Thursday afternoon," the story continues.
"The woman, identified only as C.M. due to a publication ban, is one of two young mothers who gave birth at home in their bathrooms in the 1990s, apparently unaware they were even pregnant. Their babies died and they were charged with murder.
They were found guilty years ago but the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed the convictions in October. The Crown conceded they were the victims of a miscarriage of justice after Smith wrongly concluded they had asphyxiated the infants.
“Seventeen years of really what was hell for (C.M.) is finally coming to an end,” Lockyer said on Thursday. Outside court, he described the results of Smith’s incompetence as “pretty dreadful.”
“Her baby died before her eyes in her bathroom at home . . . a terrifying experience with blood all over the walls,” he said. “Twenty-four hours later, she’s sitting in a jail cell for the next four weeks.”
C.M., a 21-year-old college student said she had no idea she was pregnant because she had lost weight and her periods had always been irregular, according to court documents.
“She was shocked to see a head coming out,” court heard. “She described feeling like her insides were coming out. She was in a state of shock.”
Her parents came home to find the body of a baby boy in the toilet and their daughter lying in a pool of blood.
C.M. pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter because she felt she was a burden on her family and was “horrified” at the thought of a murder conviction and jail sentence, Lockyer told Bellefontaine.
“She always maintained the baby was stillborn with no signs of life.”
C.M. received a suspended sentence and three years’ probation. The second woman, who was 18 when she gave birth in 1996, also said she felt pressured to plead guilty. The court ordered new trials for both women in October but the second woman’s case has yet to be resolved.
Lockyer said Thursday’s decision “will make a huge difference in (C.M.’s) life.”
“She said, ‘thank God.’ She’s obviously pleased and very relieved.”
He had harsh words for Smith’s peers who ignored the “warning signals of his incompetence” which lead to several cases being treated as homicides.
“He was viewed as an icon of his profession. He was challenged by no one. What he said was gospel.”
Smith has been suspended from practising medicine but the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons has yet to decide on his future, Lockyer said."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/900679--woman-cleared-of-charges-in-newborn-s-death
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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/2010/08/new-feature-cases-issues-and_15.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com
