Brenda Waudby (4): Justice Fuerst unexpectedly orders her name to be struck from Ontario's Child Abuse List (The mark of a fine judge. (HL));

Publisher's View: If there was an unexpected moment at today's hearing, it was Justice Michelle Fuerst announcement that she intended to order the province to strike Brenda's Waudby's name off of Ontario's Child Abuse list. Justice Fuerst obviously recognized the pain and stigma that being on the list must cause Ms. Waudby - the innocent victim of a horrific crime - especially since she was about to quash the conviction under which Ms. Waudby had been placed on the Registry. To her great credit, Justice Fuerst order the name to be struck from the Register by July 11, 2012 - and if that doesn't happen, Registry officials are to be brought before her to explain their non-compliance. As well, to her great credit Justice Fuerst trumpeted Ms. Waudby's unequivocal innocence on all of the allegations she had faced - and ordered the Court Reporter to prepare as quickly as possible a transcript of the hearing containing her comments to be made available without cost to Ms. Waudby. Moreover, although Justice Fuerst made no judgment as to whether Ms. Waudby's guilty plea had been coerced by her prosecutor, she found that Ms. Waudby believed that the murder charge of which she was innocent would not be withdrawn unless she pleaded guilty to child abuse and that she would lose her two remaining children if she continued to fight the charge - and therefore allowed Ms. Waudby to introduce the new, independent medical evidence which proved that she had not in any way injured Baby Jenna. All in all, Justice Fuerst's conduct of the hearing helped make this the very special day that Brenda Waudby and her family so greatly deserved. A fine, if belated day for justice.

Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I am monitoring this case. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments.

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

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.