"SMITH'S FINDINGS HAVE SINCE BEEN REJECTED BY SIX FORENSIC EXPERTS, INCLUDING NEWFOUNDLAND'S CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, DR. SIMON AVIS, WHO SAID KENNETH, AN EPILEPTIC, COULD HAVE DIED FROM A SEIZURE.
IN CRITICIZING SMITH FOR FLAWED PATHOLOGY AND "IRRESPONSIBLE" TESTIMONY IN A SERIES OF CHILD DEATH CASES, THE GOUDGE INQUIRY INTO ONTARIO'S FORENSIC PEDIATRIC PATHOLOGY SYSTEM SAID THE DOCTOR TYPICALLY ARRIVED AT BALD CONCLUSIONS, WITHOUT SCIENCE TO BACK THEM UP."
LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER TRACY TYLER: TORONTO STAR;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Like Bill Mullins-Johnson, Sherry Sherret, two women who cannot be identified by name and Dinesh Kumar - all victims of Dr. Charles Smith who have been acquitted by the province's highest court often years after their conviction - Tammy Marquardt will be asking the Ontario Court of Appeal to clear her name. (At least five other similar appeals are pending). Ms. Marquardt's appeal is set for Thursday February 10, 2011. In anticipation of this important date I am running a retrospective of 14 posts which ran previously on this Blog.
HAROLD LEVY: PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009
TAMMY MARQUARD; PART (5); SEEKING BAIL TOMORROW; LAST KNOWN PARENT STILL BEHIND BARS BECAUSE OF CHARLES SMITH'S TESTIMONY; TORONTO STAR REPORTS;
The Toronto Star story, by legal affairs reporter Tracy Tyler runs in today's paper under the heading "Hope for last parent in disgraced MD's wake," and the sub-heading "Experts have refuted pathologist's testimony that jailed woman 13 years for killing baby."
A cut-line accompanying the photo indicates that: "Dr. Charles Smith said Tammy Marquardt, pictured in a file photo above, asphyxiated her son. Six forensic experts have since repudiated his findings."
"A prison report describes her as having an "Anne of Green Gables" appearance, but Tammy Marquardt has lived anything but a storybook life," the story begins;
"The Scarborough native is spending today, her 37th birthday, behind bars," it continues;
"But Marquardt hopes to regain the freedom she lost more than 13 years ago when pathologist Charles Smith bewitched a jury with "unscientific" and "illogical" findings.
Her wish could be realized as early as tomorrow, when lawyers for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted ask the Ontario Court of Appeal to grant bail to Marquardt, convicted in 1995 of murdering her 2 1/2 year-old son, Kenneth Wynne.
"I did not kill my son," she said in an affidavit filed with the court.
"I loved my little boy and did absolutely nothing to cause his death."
She was convicted on the basis of testimony from Smith, who said Kenneth was smothered or strangled.
Marquardt said she woke from a nap on Oct. 9, 1993, to find her son tangled in his bedsheets and when she freed him he wasn't moving.
Smith's findings have since been rejected by six forensic experts, including Newfoundland's chief medical examiner, Dr. Simon Avis, who said Kenneth, an epileptic, could have died from a seizure.
In criticizing Smith for flawed pathology and "irresponsible" testimony in a series of child death cases, the Goudge inquiry into Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system said the doctor typically arrived at bald conclusions, without science to back them up.
Marquardt, the last known parent still behind bars because of Smith's testimony, told the Star she's been waiting for justice since the Goudge report was released in October.
"I wonder, `When am I out of here?' When's my day going to come, when a judge says, `Okay, you're exonerated. We finally believe you,'" said Marquardt, who is serving a life sentence for second-degree murder in the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener.
The appeal court has ordered the prison warden to have Marquardt at Osgoode Hall tomorrow morning.
In court documents, Marquardt's lawyer, James Lockyer, argues her detention is no longer necessary, in light of the Goudge report and her meritorious appeal application, now before the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Toronto Bail Program will supervise her if she's released.
Last month, Marquardt told the Star that when she gets out, she wants to erect a gravestone for Kenneth. Several readers contacted the Star wanting to cover some or all of the $1,000 cost.
Some, including owners of monument companies and a stained glass artist, were so moved by her experiences they offered to create the headstone free of charge.
Marquardt became "extremely emotional when she was told of the generosity and caring of strangers," said Win Wahrer, director of client services at the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.
The turmoil of the past two decades has taken its toll. Marquardt's two other sons, Keith, now 14, and Eric, 12, both born after she was charged, were taken at birth by child welfare officials and put up for adoption.
Marquardt grew up in a housing complex and, when she was around 11, began using alcohol, and later drugs, to cope with emotional pain. As a teenager, it stemmed in part from abuse by her mother's boyfriend, Marquardt said.
In 2007, while on parole, she found work and stopped taking antidepressants, but had a relapse as the anniversary of Kenneth's death drew near.
Her parole was revoked after she tested positive for cocaine.
If granted bail, Marquardt will spend six months at a Toronto treatment facility."
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The story can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2009/03/tammy-marquardt-to-seek-bail-tomorrow.html
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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;
