"Dear David,..." The letter begins.
"Can you give me the name of the Crown from Saskatoon who invigilated (sic) Dorion this year?
If you can also cite the case that would be a big help.
I've received some information from Stan Kogan about a case Bob did ages ago in Northern Quebec which has come under some sort of judicial review.
It seems that Bob may have cooked some data.
The Crown and the cops in Kingston have asked me to so a hatchet job on Dorion so any help you can offer (in extreme confidence) would be most helpful."
EMAIL SENT BY FORENSIC ODONTOLOGIST DR. ROBERT WOOD TO DAVID SWEET OF THE BUREAU FOR LEGAL DENTISTRY. (JUNE 2000); GOUDGE INQUIRY;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: In light of the settlement reached in Louise Reynold's lawsuit against the Ontario Government, the former Dr. Charles Smith and another party, as revealed recently on The Charles Smith Blog, I am running a retrospective of several posts illuminating her case. This post deals with exhibits filed at the Goudge Inquiry referring to "dirt" on Dr. Dorion, a defence expert witness in the setting of police notes and an email sent to a colleague by Dr. Robert Wood, a prosecution expert who along with Charles Smith originally concluded that Louise Reynolds had stabbed her daughter to death. As previously noted, it was a pleasure to report that Louise Reynolds has concluded a settlement with Charles Smith, the Government of Ontario and one other party - in spite of Smith's unsuccessful assault on the lawsuit in the courts. The settlement will put to rest the Kingston police force's ugly attempt to conceal its inept, bungled investigation by continuing to blame Reynolds - even after it was made patently clear that Sharon had been killed by a pit bull. Louise Reynolds suffered horribly as a result of the bungled investigation and the oppressive prosecution. But she showed enormous courage and dignity throughout and, assisted brilliantly by Toronto lawyer Peter Wardle, went on to defeat Smith's procedural attack on her lawsuit which, if successful, would have prevented any of his victims from adding him to their lawsuits. Wardle told this Blog that Louise Reynolds is "very pleased that the lawsuit is ended". This is good news - especially since it has taken Reynolds more than a decade to bring Dr. Smith and the Ontario government to account in the civil courts. I hope that it will help her to look forward and get on with her life.
HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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BACKGROUND: The prosecution of Louise Reynolds for the second-degree murder of her seven-year-old daughter Sharon, was Canada's very own "Dingo" case, and involved none other than Dr. Charles Smith. Smith stubbornly held on to his opinion that Sharon had died after receiving eighty-one knife and scissors wounds - in spite of the clear signs - that should have been evident to a real forensic pathologist that Sharon had been savaged by a Pit Bull in the basement of the family home. As Justice Stephen Goudge noted in the report of his public inquiry, Smith tended "to mislead the court" by overstating his knowledge in a particular area, rather than acknowledging the limits to his expertise. "When Dr. Smith performed the post-mortem examination in Sharon's cases, he had little experience with either stab wounds or dog bites. He had only seen one or two cases of each kind. At the preliminary hearing, however, Dr. Smith left the impression that he had significant experience with both. Dr. Smith told the court: "I've seen dog wounds, I've seen coyote wounds, I've seen wolf wounds. I recently went to the archipelago of islands owned by another country up near the North Pole and had occasion to study osteology and look at patterns of wounding from polar bears. His attempt to so exaggerate his abilities disguised his lack of relevant expertise." Smith's unscientific, utterly ignorant opinion, placed Louise Reynolds in a hell in which she was wrongly arrested as a murderer in her small city, imprisoned, and experiencing the horror of having her other children seized from her by the authorities. Similarly, Lindy Chamberlain, a bereaved mother, was branded as a killer and placed in her own hell, as a result of the Crown's forensic authorities who were oh so certain about their faulty opinions.
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'One of the systemic issues the Inquiry must deal with is the relationship between police officers and pathologists in our adversarial system of criminal justice," the post began.
"Is it permissible, for example, for police officers assisting the Crown to provide "dirt" on the pathologists who are assisting the defence so that prosecutors will be able to decimate their evidence at trial," the column continued. (I, for one, find this utterly offensive - the type of thing police do out of desperation when they have no case. HL);
"The issue is squarely raised in Sharon's case by a police officers notes of a meeting on September 18, 2000, between Detective Kennedy and Prosecutor Ed Bradley on one hand and Doctors Charles Smith and Robert Wood who had provided the opinions that Sharon had died from stab wounds.
According to the Overview Report on Sharon's case, Detective Kennedy's notes of the meeting were recorded as follows:
Headless dog study
skull/weapon artifact study;
Ferris - (Defence expert H.L.) - not allowed to do autopsies in B.C.
Dorion (Defence expert Robert Dorion - ondontologist H.L.) never published a scientific artifact
Michael Pollanen - 26 Grenville has discredited Ferris before trial
Dorion - Saskatchewan trial - Milgard (sic) case for defence had first scene case morning he flew in had agreed to take same day before
Fatal attack of woman (and) child - Labrador 1 1/2 years ago Public Inquiry - boy 7 years...
Dirt on Dorion (and) Ferris -
-Commit to a theory (and) stick to it...
NO Comments in their report based on info from us -
Base comment on their observation of photos (and) personal knowledge re post-mortem
-IE Foot prints - ingestion by dog
"The wound as described by Smith - no way caused by dog
-be definitive re wounds
-Blenkensop didn't make the wounds
(Smith will stand by his cause of death re deep wound;
)The Overview Report also tells us that in or around June 2000, Dr. Wood sent an email to David Sweet of the Bureau for Legal Dentistry which underlined the importance of the systemic issue.
"Dear David,..." The letter begins.
"Can you give me the name of the Crown from Saskatoon who invigilated (sic) Dorion this year?
If you can also cite the case that would be a big help.
I've received some information from Stan Kogan about a case Bob did ages ago in Northern Quebec which has come under some sort of judicial review.
It seems that Bob may have cooked some data.
The Crown and the cops in Kingston have asked me to so a hatchet job on Dorion so any help you can offer (in extreme confidence) would be most helpful."
The Overview Report also notes that, "On June 5, 2000, Mr. Sweet responded to Dr. Wood's email, providing him the name of the case in Saskatoon and the name and contact information of the Crown counsel. Mr. Sweet asked "Bob," *please* keep me informed of your progress. I love this!""
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The post can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2007/11/goudge-inquiry-sharons-case-police-and.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.
