"Dr. Carlisle’s memo indicated that Dr. Cairns informed him that he had discussed Ms. Waudby’s complaint with Dr. Smith and that Dr. Smith had told Dr. Cairns that “he had not conducted a rape kit examination” and that “he had not taken any of the samples or specimens that would ordinarily be associated with such an examination.” Moreover, Dr. Smith had found “what he believed to be a hair.” He had collected the hair and placed it in a sealed envelope, which he had kept in his possession since the time of the investigation. Dr. Smith had not revealed the existence of the hair to anyone, he had not submitted it for analysis, and he had not given it to the police. Dr. Cairns indicated, as a result of this revelation, “he believed that Dr. Smith would be in some serious difficulty and that he did not wish to be party as Deputy Chief Coroner to any deception.”
In response to this information, Dr. Carlisle indicated that his memo would be for his record and would “not form part of the Complaints File..."
JUSTICE STEPHEN GOUDGE; REPORT; INQUIRY INTO PEDIATRIC FORENSIC PATHOLOGY IN ONTARIO; PAGE 265;
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An overview of Jenna's case prepared by Goudge Inquiry staff tells us that:
Jenna was born in Peterborough, Ontario on April 21, 1995 to Randy and Brenda Waudby. Jenna died on January 22, 1997, at the age of 21-months in Peterborough; Mrs. Waudby was charged with second-degree murder on Sept. 18 1997. The criminal proceeding concluded on June 15, 1999, when the charge was withdrawn. The local Children's Aid Society apprehended Ms. Waudby's older child, Justine, on the day of Jenna's death and placed her in temporary foster care. She remained in foster care until January 27, 1997, when she moved in with Tom and Kim Waudby, her maternal aunt and uncle. She remained there until March 27, 1997, at which time she was again placed in foster care. She was ordered returned to Ms. Waudby's care on May 2, 1997, pursuant to an Order of Justice A.P.Ingram and remained in her care until Sept. 18, 1997, the day of Ms. Waudby's arrest. She was later re-apprehended on the date of Ms. Waudby's arrest. The Children's Aid Society also apprehended a second child, M.W. born after Jenna's death, and placed him with his father. On July 23, 1999, subsequent to the withdrawal of Ms. Waudby's murder charge, Justine was ordered returned to her mother's care. That same day, access was also granted to M.W. who would continue to reside with his father. The Children's Aid Society appealed the decision. On August 13, 1999, the appeal was dismissed. On Dec. 28, 2006, the youth who was babysitting Jenna the night she died was charged with second-degree murder. On December 14, 2006, J.D. pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The criminal proceeding concluded on March 1, 2007, when he was sentenced as a youth to 22 months incarceration followed by 11 months of community supervision;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This Blog has been closely following developments at the inquest into the tragic death in custody of a mentally troubled teenager named Ashley Smith. These developments include a successful challenge by several media organizations against the barring of access to exhibits. Most recently, Dr. Bonita Porter stepped down from her position as the Coroner presiding over the inquest and Dr. John Carlisle, another member of the Ontario Chief Coroner's staff, was appointed to replace her. (The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario confirms that Dr. Carlisle was Deputy Registrar of the College before moving to the Chief Coroner's Office.) None of the media coverage of Dr. Carlisle's appointment mentioned a section of Justice Stephen Goudge's report, following his Inquiry into many of Smith's cases, in which he finds that Dr. Carlisle kept certain information he received from then Deputy Chief Coroner Dr. Jim Cairns relating to the Baby Jenna (Brenda Waudby) case out of the "Complaints File" maintained by the College investigators who were looking into several professional misconduct complaints against Smith. I wish to make it absolutely clear that Dr. Carlisle's record is utterly unblemished. No allegations of impropriety were made at the Commission against Dr. Carlisle; No impropriety was found. While that may have been the way things were done in those days, the College assures us that they wouldn't be handled in similar fashion now. Nor am I suggesting that Dr. Carlisle is not an excellent choice for taking over the challenging inquest and insuring as much openness and access to exhibits as is legally possible. As both a lawyer and a doctor he has what it takes to carry out the daunting task. For the purpose of filling in the public record, here is the section of Justice Goudge's report, as found on Page 265.
HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH REPORT;
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"On April 10, 2002, Dr. Carlisle wrote a memo to file regarding his conversation with Dr. Cairns about Jenna’s case. Dr. Carlisle’s memo indicated that Dr. Cairns informed him that he had discussed Ms. Waudby’s complaint with Dr. Smith and that Dr. Smith had told Dr. Cairns that “he had not conducted a rape kit examination” and that “he had not taken any of the samples or specimens that would ordinarily be associated with such an examination.” Moreover, Dr. Smith had found “what he believed to be a hair.” He had collected the hair and placed it in a sealed envelope, which he had kept in his possession since the time of the investigation. Dr. Smith had not revealed the existence of the hair to anyone, he had not submitted it for analysis, and he had not given it to the police. Dr. Cairns indicated as a result of this revelation, “he believed that Dr. Smith would be in some serious difficulty and that he did not wish to be party as Deputy Chief Coroner to any deception.”
In response to this information, Dr. Carlisle indicated that his memo would be for his record and would “not form part of the Complaints File.”
On April 10, 2002, Dr. Carlisle wrote a memorandum to Ms. Doris regarding Ms. Waudby’s complaint against Dr. Smith. He wrote that, as he had indicated earlier to Ms. Doris, he had spoken with officials in the provincial government regarding Jenna’s case. Dr. Carlisle told Ms. Doris that there was some level of frustration at the OCCO, (Chief Coroner's Office) but he did not relate the details of his conversation with Dr. Cairns or the contents of his memo to file to her. He wanted to know the progress of the investigation, and Ms. Doris provided him with those details.
When asked about the April 10, 2002, memo to file at the Inquiry, Dr. Gerace testified: “I would not consider the practice [of writing a memo that would not form a part of the file] to be advisable. In fact, that practice would not occur at the present time.” He went on to describe the current approach to the receipt of information: We have a practice at the College that if information comes to any member of the staff about a member, that the person providing that information is told up front that that information will be acted upon. There are no confidential documents that are not acted on. So, if a conversation of this sort were to have occurred today, I would send a note to the relevant individuals outlining the content of that conversation.
I agree with the CPSO’s current approach."
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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;
