"For reasons I will explain in a subsequent post, I am disturbed by the grossly inadequate amount of this settlement - and the many years in which Ms. Sherret had to live in near poverty before the settlement was reached. (The government held all the cards); For now, I invite our readers to read the following quotes from the Ontario Court of Appeal hearing in September 2009, in which she was finally exonerated and decide for yourselves if this settlement was adequate given all of the circumstances...
HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PUBLISHER'S VIEW: Sherry Sherret has informed me that she has settled her claims for $450,000. By way of reminder, Sherry was an utterly innocent grieving mother who was charged with murdering her 4-month-old son Joshua based on Charles Smith's opinion that the death was suspicious. She ultimately went to prison on an American style "nolo contendere" plea - without admitting guilt - after her lawyer advised her that she would likely be sent to prison for life as her son's murderer, in spite of her innocence, because of the involvement in the case of the renowned Dr. Charles Randal Smith. The haemorrhages on Joshua's neck which Smith said were indicative of violence turned out to have been caused to his body by the pathologist during the autopsy. For reasons I will explain in a subsequent post, I am disturbed by the grossly inadequate amount of this settlement - and the many years in which Ms. Sherret had to live in near poverty before the settlement was reached. (The government held all the cards); For now, I invite our readers to read the following quotes from the Ontario Court of Appeal hearing in September 2009, in which she was finally exonerated and decide for yourselves if this settlement was adequate given all of the circumstances. Please send me your views at: hlevy 15@gmail.com for possible placement on the Blog;
Mr. Justice Richard G. Byers of the Superior Court of Ontario when sending Ms. Sherret to jail: (As quoted by lawyer James Lockyer at the Ontario Court of Appeal hearing:)
“At the end of the day, only she knows why she did it – and she is not telling,” he said. “Instead, she denies her guilt and shows no remorse."
“Who speaks for Joshua? Is his life so unimportant that his mother – who killed him without explanation; without apparent remorse – should go free without punishment? What signal does this send to the accused; to this community? Well, I speak for him now. He was important. He was a human being. He was only four months old. And, madam, you killed him. In my book, that means you go to jail.”
Justice Marc Rosenberg on behalf of the Court:
(To Sherry Sherret) (It was) “profoundly regrettable that through flaw(ed) pathological evidence, you were wrongly convicted.”
"The tragedy of this four-month old child's death is compounded by the fact that his mother was wrongly convicted of infanticide, served a year in jail, and she lost her other child."
Lawyer James Lockyer: (To Court of Appeal); “Ms. Sherrett-Robinson had not only to take on the death of her baby, but all the shame and loathing of being a baby-killer. “Not only that, but she lost her first-born, Austin, and Austin lost his mother.”
(Outside court): Amplifying on his comment that the fresh evidence in this case revealed "classic Dr. Smith problems," "He misdiagnoses and over-diagnoses and turns natural deaths into homicides. He did it in a number of cases, and so far two have finally worked their way through the courts."
(Outside Court); His comment on the hemorrhages on Joshua's neck (said by Smith to be indications of violence) which turned out to have been inflicted during the autopsy. "Dr. Smith had caused the very thing which he had identified as a cause of Joshua's death."
(Outside Court); On the impact of Dr. Smith's on the lives of innocent parents and caregivers: "The public is in disbelief that Charles Smith could carry on as long as he did."
(Outside Court); After noting that the Court of Appeal referred to Ms. Sharret's case as a "wrongful convction" and a "miscarriage of justice: "I always focus my mind on the loss of a second child (Austin). When I got involved in the case she was about to lose a third child."
Prosecutor Riun Shandler:
“In (the) absence of a clear cause of death and expert evidence...it is not in the interest of justice to maintain this conviction. “Ms. Sherrett-Robinson is entitled to an acquittal.”
Sherry Sherret: (To reporters outside Osgoode Hall after acquittal;) "It's not just myself that has been affected. It's all the other Charles Smith victims as well."
I invite our readers to send me their views on the adequacy of the settlement to hlevy15@gmail.com for possible placement on this Blog;
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;
