"When Alfyorova told the coroner’s counsel she wanted to speak, she was advised to hire a lawyer and prepare a statement outlining exactly what she planned to say so that all 10 lawyers representing various government agencies could question her.
“No, no, no,” said Alfyorova, 49, who is still struggling with her command of English after immigrating to Canada from Kazakhstan nearly 10 years ago. Tears streamed down her face.
She was provided with the names of three lawyers who could potentially represent her and was instructed to return to coroner’s court at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to discuss how she plans to proceed.
“It’s not a guarantee that you get to testify,” coroner’s counsel Rebecca Edward told Alfyorova. “We have a witness list that was developed months ago.”"
REPORTER DIANA ZLOMISLIC; THE TORONTO STAR;
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Gleb Alfyorova trusted Ontario's correctional system to help her troubled teenage son. The system failed the family in every way - one bungle after the other - and he took his own life while in custody. Marina Alfyorova, his mother, now wants the opportunity to speak directly to the jurors so that they can from her own lips what happened. Unfortunately, it seems that a chorus of lawyers - mainly representing the government institutions that let the Alfyorova family down are standing in the way. Yes the witness schedule was set long ago. Yes, she should have followed the procedures. Yes it's summer time and the officials would love to be somewhere other than Coroner's Court. That said, all these factors pale in comparison to the debt our government owes to this family and the importance of the jury hearing about why Marina turned to the Correctional system - and the system's betrayal of her - from her very own lips. Marina Alfyorova deserves compassion - not bureaucratic hurdles. The lawyer representing the Chief Coroner's Office is quoted as saying, “It’s not a guarantee that you get to testify. We have a witness list that was developed months ago.”" I hope that when the inquest resumes compassion and common sense will prevail.
HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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"The mother of a mentally ill Pickering teen listened in horror Monday as she heard a provincial official testify at an inquest about the bureaucratic bungling that led to her son’s jail suicide," the Toronto Star story by reporter Diana Zlomislic published earlier today under the heading, "Dead boy's mom relives his red-tape nightmare," begins.
"A senior manager within the Ministry of Children and Youth Services who took the stand told the inquest that provincial officials never looked at a court-ordered plan before approving $3,500 in funding for a psychiatric evaluation of Gleb Alfyorov at Syl Apps Youth Centre in Oakville," the story continues.
"If anyone had seen the document, they might have realized Gleb had been sent to the wrong place — a jail, not a hospital — and that the youth centre was requesting funding for the wrong assessment.
Gleb’s mother, Marina Alfyorova, has now decided she wants to address the inquest, but as she attended the proceedings for the first time Monday she encountered a new series of bureaucratic hurdles.
When Alfyorova told the coroner’s counsel she wanted to speak, she was advised to hire a lawyer and prepare a statement outlining exactly what she planned to say so that all 10 lawyers representing various government agencies could question her.
“No, no, no,” said Alfyorova, 49, who is still struggling with her command of English after immigrating to Canada from Kazakhstan nearly 10 years ago. Tears streamed down her face.
She was provided with the names of three lawyers who could potentially represent her and was instructed to return to coroner’s court at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday to discuss how she plans to proceed.
“It’s not a guarantee that you get to testify,” coroner’s counsel Rebecca Edward told Alfyorova. “We have a witness list that was developed months ago.”
Three years ago Gleb Alfyorov was mistakenly sent to a jail instead of a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. He was never assessed during his nearly month-long stay inside cell 12 at the Syl Apps centre.
He spent most of that time isolated, writing disjointed messages about hate and suffering on his walls and screaming “Rescue me!” in the middle of the night. He hanged himself five days after turning 17.
Last night his mother told the Star that during a private meeting behind closed doors, lawyers said her evidence would make no difference.
“They said, ‘Nothing will change.’ ”
She was told the only benefit her testimony could yield is that the media would get a “better story.” She said she felt bullied.
“I’m not sure I can go through with it,” she said.
The inquest began in early June, but Alfyorova didn’t attend until Monday, after it had heard 20 days of testimony. She found it traumatic.
“I didn’t come not because I didn’t care,” she said. “It’s too hard. I said to myself, ‘What can I do?’ ”
But, with the inquest nearly over, Alfyorova had a change of heart. She caught the GO train from Pickering at 7 a.m. Monday so as to arrive at coroner’s court, just north of College and Yonge Sts., for 9 a.m.
What she heard sickened her.
The inquest heard that staff at Syl Apps did not even know why Gleb was at the facility until after he died. Nobody there read the court order.
Ultimately, the province approved the funding based on a verbal request for a fitness-to-stand trial assessment instead of the more intensive evaluation actually ordered by the court to determine whether the boy was criminally responsible for his actions.
The judge in Oshawa who ordered the 30-day assessment of the teen had told him: “I want you to be with a team of specialists — nurses and doctors who can meet with you and talk with you about things.”
The duty counsel who recommended Alfyorov be sent to the centre after a brief cellphone conversation with the centre’s head psychiatrist did not realize Syl Apps was not set up to conduct such evaluations.
He told the inquest he did not realize the institution, which is privately run but government-funded, even had a jail.
As the inquest enters its final days, the five jury members have spared no punches in their questions to witnesses.
Kim Gallow, regional director for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, who oversees youth in custody, was asked by one juror:
“We have a case here where lots of things went wrong. We had the wrong people talking to each other, talking past each other, making requests for assessments and accepting them based on five-minute cellphone calls and so on.
“Wouldn’t it be better (if the court) placed a call to the ministry to get precise answers to things instead of guessing?”
“I am not lukewarm to the idea that we need to do a better job,” Gallow said.
Alfyorova said she heard nothing about the inquest until contacted recently by the Star.
“I thought everyone had forgotten about him,” she said. "
The story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1026879--dead-boy-s-mom-relives-his-red-tape-nightmare
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;
