"The College ruling should have no bearing on the criminal proceedings, prosecutor Michael Gillen told Ontario Court Justice Paul Bellefontaine. A professional standards committee ought not to be equated with a Crown prosecution, Mr. Gillen said.
"The way in which Mr. Carter presented himself ... to the general public gave the distinct impression he was a psychologist, as opposed to a psychological associate," Mr. Gillen said, adding the College decision "is in no way binding upon (the court)."
Defence lawyer Greg Lafontaine argued the College finding cuts to the very heart of the allegations against Mr. Carter."
REPORTER JEFF MITCHELL; NEWSDURHAMREGION.COM
MARK CALENDER NOW: IMPORTANT JOINT NPR, FRONTLINE, PROPUBLICA INVESTIGATION OF CHILD DEATH CASES INVOLVING ABUSE, ASSAULT AND "SHAKEN-BABY SYNDROME." ASKS IF DEATH INVESTIGATORS ARE BEING PROPERLY TRAINED FOR CHILD CASES; FIRST OF THREE SEGMENTS ON "THE CHILD CASES" AIRS ON JUNE 28 AT 9.00 PM:
When a child dies under suspicious circumstances, abuse is often suspected. That's what happened in the case of six-month-old Isis Vas, whose death was deemed "a clear-cut and classic" case of child abuse, sending a man named Ernie Lopez to prison for 60 years. But now a Texas judge has moved to overturn Lopez's conviction, and new questions are being asked about the quality of expert testimony in this and many other similar cases. In this joint investigation with ProPublica and NPR, FRONTLINE correspondent A.C. Thompson unearths more than 20 child death cases in which people were jailed on medical evidence -- involving abuse, assault and "shaken-baby syndrome" -- that was later found unreliable or flat-out wrong. Are death investigators being properly trained for child cases? The Child Cases is the first of three magazine segments airing June 28 at 9 p.m. (check local listings);
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/the-child-cases/
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"OSHAWA -- In the midst of a trial to determine if he defrauded clients by exaggerating his credentials, a complaints panel has ruled Greg Carter did not contravene professional standards by calling himself a doctor," the newsdurhamregion story by reporter Jeff Mitchell published earlier today begins.
"In a ruling addressing several complaints lodged by a former client, the College of Psychologists of Ontario found Mr. Carter was entitled to use the title doctor, and to claim he operated a "practice in psychology," the story continues.
"The use of those terms is central to a criminal trial currently under way in Oshawa, where Mr. Carter has pleaded not guilty to five counts of fraud under $5,000.
The Crown alleges Mr. Carter, who offered therapy and conducted court-ordered assessments in child custody matters at his Whitby practice, defrauded clients by leading them to believe he was a fully-accredited psychologist. Mr. Carter is, in fact, a psychological associate. Court has heard the College denied him full psychologist status because he obtained his doctorate from a non-accredited American university.
The College ruling should have no bearing on the criminal proceedings, prosecutor Michael Gillen told Ontario Court Justice Paul Bellefontaine. A professional standards committee ought not to be equated with a Crown prosecution, Mr. Gillen said.
"The way in which Mr. Carter presented himself ... to the general public gave the distinct impression he was a psychologist, as opposed to a psychological associate," Mr. Gillen said, adding the College decision "is in no way binding upon (the court)."
Defence lawyer Greg Lafontaine argued the College finding cuts to the very heart of the allegations against Mr. Carter.
"A regulator has said he is allowed to call himself doctor," Mr. Lafontaine said. "How can somebody be intentionally dishonest when they're following their own rules?"
The complaint against Mr. Carter dates to 2007. Since that time the College has tightened rules on who can call themselves a doctor. Mr. Carter has since dropped the title doctor from his cards and letterhead, the College noted.
In the ruling the panel decided to take no action on a number of the complaints lodged by Dana Stringer, but did caution Mr. Carter after finding he arrived at conclusions that were not supported by adequate or reliable information.
Ms. Stringer, one of the complainants in the criminal trial, said in court Wednesday she would not have agreed to have Mr. Carter involved in her case had she known the true nature of his credentials.
"I would not have accepted that," she said. "I thought he was a psychologist."รข?¨ In 2010 Mr. Carter pleaded guilty before a College disciplinary panel to professional misconduct, admitting he had misrepresented his educational credentials and exceeded restrictions on his practice by arriving at a diagnosis during a parenting assessment. He was suspended for three months and had further restrictions placed on his practice.
The trial continues in Oshawa."
The story can be found at:
https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/130c3d051f577fbc
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 found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
