"It remains to be seen whether the court will, as James Lockyer, Kumar’s lawyer, urges in material filed with the court, “say whatever it considers appropriate to help him clear his name.”
In his written argument, Lockyer says while shaken baby syndrome was in vogue twenty years ago as an explanation for sudden child deaths, biomechanical engineering has since challenged the “science” of the syndrome and shown that shaking a baby to death is unlikely.
Engineering has shown such shaking would create neck and spinal damage and leave visible finger marks, Lockyer says."
LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER TRACEY TYLER: THE TORONTO STAR.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Dinesh Kumar is one step close to exoneration - even though he pleaded guilty in 1992 to criminal negligence causing his son Gaurov's death in order to avoid a murder conviction at the hands of the then revered Dr. Charles Randal Smith. The Crown has put the Ontario Court of Appeal on notice is that it will be seeking an acquittal when the case comes before the Court later this month. This Blog ran a series of nine posts in May and June 2008 to highlight this tragic, disturbing case and see what could be learned from it. Beginning tomorrow, January 8, 2010, I will be running this retrospective of all of these posts on a daily basis in connection with Mr. Kumar's upcoming hearing before the Ontario Court of Appeal.
HAROLD LEVY: PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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"From the time he set foot in Canada 20 years ago, Dinesh Kumar’s life has been a near-continuous series of ordeals," the Toronto Star story by Legal Affairs Reporter Tracey Tyler published earlier today begins.
"His wife battled a brain tumour, his five-week-old son Gaurov died inexplicably and Kumar suddenly found himself charged with murder, thanks to a medical opinion from now-discredited pathologist Charles Smith that the child died from “shaken baby syndrome,” the story continues.
"Now Kumar, a 44-year-old immigrant from the Punjab, has received some good and bad news.
Ontario’s attorney general is conceding his conviction for criminal negligence in connection with Gaurov’s death should be quashed, which is expected to happen Jan. 17 when the case comes before the Ontario Court of Appeal.
But the Crown says it is not conceding that Kumar is “factually innocent.”
Although there is now evidence Gaurov did not die from being shaken, his death remains unexplained, Crown counsel Gillian Roberts says in a written argument, released to the media by the court on Friday.
She says the evidence in the case does not prove, as it did in the case of William Mullins-Johnson, who was wrongly convicted of murdering his niece on the basis of Smith’s testimony, that no crime was ever committed.
The Crown also says it “does not accept” criticism that shaken baby syndrome is a discredited theory.
The statement could be significant because, two years ago, the Ontario government launched a review of nearly 150 cases dating back to 1986, in which child deaths had been attributed to the syndrome.
It remains to be seen whether the court will, as James Lockyer, Kumar’s lawyer, urges in material filed with the court, “say whatever it considers appropriate to help him clear his name.”
In his written argument, Lockyer says while shaken baby syndrome was in vogue twenty years ago as an explanation for sudden child deaths, biomechanical engineering has since challenged the “science” of the syndrome and shown that shaking a baby to death is unlikely.
Engineering has shown such shaking would create neck and spinal damage and leave visible finger marks, Lockyer says.
Kumar, originally charged with second-degree murder, said he accepted a plea bargain to a lesser charge after being told by his lawyer that Smith was “like a God” and there was no way to challenge his testimony.
“We were all scared of the murder charge,” he said in an affidavit filed with the court. “So I agreed, after much discussion with my family, to plead guilty as I did. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make.”"
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The story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/charlessmith/article/918177--father-s-conviction-should-be-quashed-crown-says
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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://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
