"o: I was forced to plead guilty to killing Kassandra, otherwise, I would never be with my other children again;
0: I was subjected to numerous death threats and labels of the "baby killer";
0: I did not see my children while I was in Detention as I refused to let me be exposed to seeing me behind Plexiglas's.;
0: I was subjected to protective custody at Metro West Detention Centre, but later had to waive my right to protective custody so that I may transfer to Vanier into general population and be at the institution closest to my children.
0: I was pregnant during my prison term and delivered Chantal very shortly after my release from prison into Ellen House )half-way house.........
Although anger and resentment are indicated in my letter - I do want Charles Smith to know that he was never God, never will be God, but rather that he will meet God one day as he so wishes."
VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT: MARIA SHEPHERD;
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BACKGROUND: On February 1, 2011, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario found that Charles Smith had committed acts of professional misconduct and that he was incompetent. Before striking him from the College Register, the College received six victim impact statements which are being published in their entirety on this Blog over a series of posts. These statements provide extraordinary insight into the harm caused to the victims by Smith, his protectors in the Chief Coroner's office, the College, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, and all of the other individuals and institutions who failed to stop Smith when they had a chance.
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BACKGROUND OF THE CASE: An overview of the Kassandra case prepared by Commission staff informs us that Kassandra was born in Mississauga on December 15, 1987; Kassandra's parents lived together in a common law relationship at the time of her birth; They separated in June 1988 when Kassandra was six months old. Kassandra died on April 11, 1991, at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Kassandra was three and a half years old and was living with her father and stepmother, Maria, in Brampton,Ontario, at the time of her death. Criminal proceedings were initiated against Kassandra's stepmother. The criminal proceedings concluded on October 22, 1992, when Maria pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to two years less a day. Maria was paroled on June 21, 1993; The Peel Children's Aid Society became involved with Kassandra in July 1989. A Coroner's inquest was held into Kassandra's death in 1997; The former Dr. Smith reported that he had found a "donut-shaped" hemorrhage on Kassandra's scalp during the post-mortem examination; After observing the shape of the injury, he told the police to search Kassandra's home for rounded items such as a knob on a cupboard or something with a distinctive geometric shape that could have either a flat surface or a ring-shaped feature. The police took a woman's wrist-watch from Kassandra's home to Dr. Smith, who found it to be a good match for the injury. At the preliminary hearing in the case, Dr. Smith told the court that the configuration of the wristwatch was consistent with the configuration of the area of hemorrhage...It was therefor reasonable to conclude that the watch was responsible for the fatal blow to Kassandra's head. But Justice Goudge finds that "the method of interpretation was wrong" after noting that two of the independent experts testified at the Inquiry that Dr. Smith's overlay of the watch on to the scalp contusion was an incorrect and misleading approach to the interpretation of that wound. Justice Goudge also noted that although overlaying an object on to an injury might be useful in some circumstances - for example, where there is a patterned object and an external injury - it was in the deep tissues of the scalp, rather than the surface - and the presence of thick hair and scalp tissues altered the appearance of the injury, "making such a technique useless." "According to Dr. Pollanen, Dr. Smith's interpretation was really "a pseudoscientific wound-weapon matching analysis," wrote Goudge. "In this case, all that could be said from the scalp injury was that there was an impact of some sort. To suggest that a particular object caused the injury was misleading. Dr. Smith's suggestion to the police, made on superficial analysis, led to an improper, inaccurate, and misleading interpretation of the evidence. The suggestion should not have been given at all."
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VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT; MARIA SHEPHERD;
"My name is Maria Shepherd. I am 40 years of age. My family and I are victims of the former Dr. Charles Smith," the statement begins.
"I am present today with two of my children, Jordan and Chelsea. This statement represents the horrific impact Charles Smith has made on my entire family and extended family since 1991," it continues.
"This is my first formal impact statement since the re-opening of my case in the death of my step-daughter Kassandra, in 1991. My silence is officially broken, only time will heal the wounds, but the memories will never be forgotten - both happy and sad. The story is too long to condense here, but this is a glimpse of the trauma that followed.
In 1991, I was only 21 years of age and a mother to Jordan (4 years), Kassandra (3 years) and Natasha (1 year) - by choice. i chose to be a parent and loved my life with my children more than anything else. I was very young, but I know that I did the best i could as a young parent to provide for and love my children.
Kassandra was my step-daughter, but what most people don't realize is that she was my first little girl. Regardless of the fact that I was not her birth-mother, never saw her as a step-child, but rather as if she were born to me. She was Jordan's best friend - Jordan was her big brother, with whom she sang, played and went to school with. Their favourite song was "U Bet". Both Kassandra and Jordan shared the excitement for the coming of their new sister. Kassandra later became a big sister to Natasha who was born on Valentine's Day in 199o. It was a joyous day of happness and celebration for everyone. The following year, they would again happily welcome Chelsea. Sadly, Kassandra was no longer with us when Chanel was born in 1993. Every year on Kassandra's birthday, we celebrate her life - we gather, sing her happy birthday and kiss her picture.
In 1990, Kassandra became more and more ill. My husband and I would seek the help of medical professionals to try and understand why she was so sick. Our experience with the hospital in Brampton, amongst other medical professionals brought no comfort or answers, but rather more confusion. Our family doctor was the one who cared the most and was the most genuine. It was him that told us to rush Kassandra to the hospital, where she would later pass away.
My family and I felt that we could trust anyone who practiced medicine. Unfortunately, the reality came and my fate was sealed when Charles Smith laid his hands on Kassandra to perform her autopsy. But little did Charles Smith know that, quietly in our prayers, we had hoped that Smith would be the one to explain how our beautiful Kassandra passed away - perhaps he could explain why she had been so sick for so long, vomiting, suffering, going blind, not being able to hold her head up or eat...It was because of him that my life and the lives of my family members would never be the same again.
0: I was charged with Manslaughter and my children removed from me and sent to live with my parents who were 56 at the time; they later would develop a (series) of medical conditions due to the stessors and magnitude of the circumstances;
0: My parents would have to use their home to secure my relief on over $20,000 bail. They would also later provide funding for my legal defence and investigators.
0: I was not able to see my children without an approved third party;
0: My family was subjected to random visits by the CAS:
o: I was forced to plead guilty to killing Kassandra, otherwse, I would never be with my other children again;
0: I was subjected to numerous death threats and labels of the "baby killer";
0: I did not see my children while I was in Detenton as I refused to let me be exposed to seeing me behind plexiglass.;
0: I was subjected to protective custody at Metro West Detention Centre, but later had to waive my right to protective custody so that I may transfer to Vanier into general population and be at the institution closest to my children.
0: I was pregnant during my prison term and delivered Chantal very shortly after my release from prison into Ellen House )half-way house);
0: Days after Chanel was born, CAS and a homicide detective would come to my apartment and take Chanel out of our arms and rush her to hospital because they suspected a marking at birth was a bruise, but it was normal - a mulatto spot.
0: My sister allowed me to live with her so that I could see the children;
0: My brother would move back to Ontario from Vancouver - so that I may reside in the home with the children;
0: My son's father would fight for custody of Jordan and used the strength of Charles Smith's evidence to get custody of Jordan;
0: It took approximately 3 years of family court hearings to get my children back;
0: My children, my husband and I have had and continue to have extensive emotional trauma.
In consideration of all the victims of Charles Smith, it is imperative of the College to impose the most severe penalties and sanctions against Charles Smith as is possible...
Furthermore, a finding of incompetence is just. Charles Smith himself admitted under oath that his training in child forensic Pathology was "woefully inadequate". How dare he undermine the very essence of what helps give people life, saves lives and studies to better the quality of life...
Charles Smith is a disgrace to the medical profession and to humanity itself. While I am confident that there are many doctors that have earned their right to exemplary work - it is unfortunate that that people like Charles Smith...have tainted this for the good medical professionals. Whether it was due to oversight or systemic flaws or just plain ignorance, these parties must not go without accountability.
Although anger and resentment are indicated in my letter - I do want Charles Smith to know that he was never God, never will be God, but rather that he will meet God one day as he so wishes."
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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
