STORY: "Convicted child-killer's case prompts rush to preserve evidence," published by the Canadian Press on September 18, 2013.
GIST: "Lawyers for a convicted child-killer are asking the Ontario Appeal Court to require that all evidence in cases carrying a life sentence be preserved for the rest of the offender's life. The Innocence Project at the Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto filed the charter challenge on behalf of Amina Chaudhary, who was found guilty in 1984 of killing her lover's eight-year-old nephew. Chaudhary, who is currently out on day parole, continues to claim innocence despite losing an appeal and an application to the Supreme Court of Canada. She has asked the federal government for a ministerial review of her case. Her lawyers say key evidence that could help clear her name has disappeared due to what they call "arbitrary and inconsistent" preservation rules. While nothing can be done to recover the missing photographs, the lawyers say they want to protect other people's ability to properly challenge a wrongful conviction. "Post-conviction preservation is essential for the prevention of miscarriages of justice," they argue in court documents. "In virtually all cases involving wrongful convictions, a critical component on the path to exoneration was the ability of the accused to gain access to preserved evidence for purposes of retesting or to provide investigative leads," they write. "Without a constitutional duty to preserve for the lifetime of an offender, there will always remain a distinct possibility that an innocent person will be thwarted in his or her genuine attempts to seek exoneration." The Appeal Court is hearing the case Wednesday."......... At issue in Chaudhary's case are autopsy photographs showing injuries to the young victim's head. During her trial, the now-disgraced forensic child pathologist Charles Smith testified the photos showed the boy may have been knocked out, allowing Chaudhary to strangle him despite an injury that kept her from using her left hand. Smith, once considered one of the foremost experts in his field, was later found to have wildly exaggerated his expertise. His testimony led to several wrongful convictions. The photos were not made exhibits in the trial and the Crown has said they cannot be found, the Innocence Project said. The coroner's office has twice reviewed the autopsy results without them. The Crown has argued that since then, new rules have been put in place that force Toronto authorities to keep autopsy photos and no further regulations are required."
The entire story can be found at:
GIST: "Lawyers for a convicted child-killer are asking the Ontario Appeal Court to require that all evidence in cases carrying a life sentence be preserved for the rest of the offender's life. The Innocence Project at the Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto filed the charter challenge on behalf of Amina Chaudhary, who was found guilty in 1984 of killing her lover's eight-year-old nephew. Chaudhary, who is currently out on day parole, continues to claim innocence despite losing an appeal and an application to the Supreme Court of Canada. She has asked the federal government for a ministerial review of her case. Her lawyers say key evidence that could help clear her name has disappeared due to what they call "arbitrary and inconsistent" preservation rules. While nothing can be done to recover the missing photographs, the lawyers say they want to protect other people's ability to properly challenge a wrongful conviction. "Post-conviction preservation is essential for the prevention of miscarriages of justice," they argue in court documents. "In virtually all cases involving wrongful convictions, a critical component on the path to exoneration was the ability of the accused to gain access to preserved evidence for purposes of retesting or to provide investigative leads," they write. "Without a constitutional duty to preserve for the lifetime of an offender, there will always remain a distinct possibility that an innocent person will be thwarted in his or her genuine attempts to seek exoneration." The Appeal Court is hearing the case Wednesday."......... At issue in Chaudhary's case are autopsy photographs showing injuries to the young victim's head. During her trial, the now-disgraced forensic child pathologist Charles Smith testified the photos showed the boy may have been knocked out, allowing Chaudhary to strangle him despite an injury that kept her from using her left hand. Smith, once considered one of the foremost experts in his field, was later found to have wildly exaggerated his expertise. His testimony led to several wrongful convictions. The photos were not made exhibits in the trial and the Crown has said they cannot be found, the Innocence Project said. The coroner's office has twice reviewed the autopsy results without them. The Crown has argued that since then, new rules have been put in place that force Toronto authorities to keep autopsy photos and no further regulations are required."
The entire story can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
