"Marquardt spent 14 years behind bars after she was convicted in 1995 in the death of her son, two-year-old Kenneth Wynne.
Smith, who was recently stripped of his medical licence for professional misconduct and incompetence, testified persuasively that Kenneth was strangled or suffocated.
Other experts have since denounced Smith's findings, concluding Kenneth's cause of death could not be determined, though her lawyer says the boy was epileptic and could have died from a seizure."
THE CANADIAN POST;
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BACKGROUND: In february, 2011, The Ontario Court of Appeal quashed the murder conviction of the Toronto mother who was imprisoned for life on the basis of flawed testimony from pathologist Charles Smith. “We recognize this has been a terrible ordeal for you and it’s tragic it has taken so long to uncover the flawed pathology that led to your conviction in 1995,”Justice Marc Rosenberg told Tammy Marquardt Thursday morning. “We agree … there was a miscarriage of justice,” Rosenberg said on behalf of a three-judge panel. The 38-year-old Scarborough native spent nearly 14 years in prison after being convicted of murdering her 2-year-old son, Kenneth Wynne. While other victims of Smith’s mistakes have since been acquitted, Marquardt’s “dilemma” is that fresh evidence in her case only allows a court to go as far as ordering a new trial, Lockyer told the court. The evidence is still ambiguous about how the child died but strongly suggests he died as a result of an epileptic seizure, Lockyer said. In his short life, Kenneth had suffered from asthma and pneumonia and had been treated for seizures eight times. Smith opined the cause of death was asphyxia, likely the result of smothering or suffocation. That remains a possibility, given an absence of hard evidence about why Kenneth died, the appeal court was told on Thursday. At the same time, two neurologists from the Hospital for Sick Children who independently examined the boy’s medical records found his demise was consistent with a sudden unexplained death from epileptic seizure. While three-judge panel set aside Marquardt’s conviction, the Crown has not indicated whether it intends to proceed with a new trial. The court, meanwhile, extended Marquardt’s bail. The appeal court decision came after forensic experts reviewed the conclusions of the former pediatric pathology superstar and found them illogical and “completely” unscientific. Smith’s evidence dovetailed with the Crown’s theory at the time, that Marquardt had suffocated Kenneth in a moment of anger and frustration. But he was wrong in supporting the Crown’s theory and his testimony denied the jury the option of concluding the child had instead died as a result of a seizure, Crown counsel Gillian Roberts told the court. Marquardt said she found him twisted up in bed sheets and obviously distressed. He was taken to hospital, but died three days later, after being taken off life support. Nearly two years ago, Marquardt was released on bail. She had been incarcerated in the Grand Valley women’s prison in Kitchener. Kenneth died 17 years ago, in October, 1993. Her other sons, Keith and Eric, live somewhere in Canada, but never had further contact with their mother.
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"OSHAWA, Ont. - The Crown has withdrawn a second-degree murder charge against a woman who was convicted of killing her toddler based in part on evidence from pathologist Dr. Charles Smith," the Canadian Press story published earlier today begins, under the heading,"Murder charge withdrawn against woman in Charles Smith-related case."
"Earlier this year, the Court of Appeal for Ontario quashed Tammy Marquardt's second-degree murder conviction, calling her a victim of a miscarriage of justice and ordering a new trial," the story continues.
"But the Crown says today it will not proceed with another trial due to Smith's flawed evidence and because so much time has passed.
Marquardt spent 14 years behind bars after she was convicted in 1995 in the death of her son, two-year-old Kenneth Wynne.
Smith, who was recently stripped of his medical licence for professional misconduct and incompetence, testified persuasively that Kenneth was strangled or suffocated.
Other experts have since denounced Smith's findings, concluding Kenneth's cause of death could not be determined, though her lawyer says the boy was epileptic and could have died from a seizure."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.globalregina.com/Murder+charge+withdrawn+against+woman+Charles+Smith+related+case/4905654/story.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 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;
