"Court records filed by Lockyer show new opinions from medical experts suggest Gaurov may have received a head injury during birth that could have led to his death and that Gaurov died of natural causes.
Court records show Kumar’s lawyer at the time of his trial urged Kumar to plead guilty to manslaughter because Smith’s testimony was so strong against Kumar and Smith was considered a leading authority at the time. Kumar was also afraid a conviction could have deported Kumar back to India."
REPORTER SHARON LEM: THE TORONTO SUN;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Dinesh Kumar is expected to be exonerated tomorrow by the Ontario Court of Appeal - 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 at tomorrow's hearing. This Blog recently ran a retrospective of nine posts on the ordeal experienced by Gaurov's father and his family, in anticipation of tomorrow's hearing.
HAROLD LEVY: PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
(SEE RELATED TORONTO SUN STORY BELOW);
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TORONTO SUN STORY PUBLISHED EARLIER TODAY: BY REPORTER SHARON LEM; PUBLISHED UNDER THE HEADING, "TORONTO MAN WANTS NAME CLEARED IN BABY SHAKING CASE;
"A Toronto man who pleaded guilty in the death of his baby boy almost 20 years ago is looking forward to having his name cleared," the story begins.
"Dinesh Kumar, of Toronto, was sentenced to 90 days for criminal negligence causing death in the 1992 death of his five-week-old son Gaurov," it continues.
"But evidence used against him was provided by the now disgraced forensic pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, who testified Gaurov died from shaken baby syndrome.
Kumar’s lawyer James Lockyer will argue for Kumar’s acquittal Thursday in the Ontario Court of Appeal based on the finding that Smith’s testimony was not scientifically valid.
Court records filed by Lockyer show new opinions from medical experts suggest Gaurov may have received a head injury during birth that could have led to his death and that Gaurov died of natural causes.
Court records show Kumar’s lawyer at the time of his trial urged Kumar to plead guilty to manslaughter because Smith’s testimony was so strong against Kumar and Smith was considered a leading authority at the time. Kumar was also afraid a conviction could have deported Kumar back to India.
Kumar says he’s suffered over the last 19 years with the loss of his son and embarrassment from acquaintances who believe he killed him.
“I don’t want to be blamed any more. I want my name to be cleared,” Kumar said Wednesday. “I will be very happy when I am acquitted.”
A judicial inquiry found that Smith’s testimony had a hand in sending wrongfully convicted people to prison.
One such case included Smith’s testimony which sent William Mullins-Johnson to prison for 12 years after being found guilty of the rape and murder of his four-year-old niece in 1993. Mullins-Johnson’s 1994 conviction was appealed in 2007 and he was awarded $4.25 million in compensation last October."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;
