STORY: Ontario forensic pathologists get expanded role in suspicious deaths and homicides to avoid errors in prosecutions, Ontario announces," by reporter Rob Ferguson, published by the Toronto Star on August 7, 2013,
PHOTO-CAPTION: "Changes to the way suspicious deaths are investigated are part of the continuing fallout from the work of Dr. Charles Smith, whose bungled cases led to wrongful convictions."
GIST: "The causes of suspicious deaths and homicides in Ontario will soon be determined by forensic pathologists rather than traditional coroners — but only in a small number of cases, the province announced Wednesday. Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur said the move is intended to avert errors in the criminal justice system because forensic pathologists are more highly trained than medical doctors doubling as coroners. “The change is that the forensic pathologists will also be trained as coroners and will be called to the scenes of death,” Meilleur said in an interview Wednesday. “After ordering or conducting an autopsy and certifying the cause of death they will be testifying in court. The new measure won’t take effect until forensic pathologists — who undergo five years of specialty training following medical school — are schooled as coroners. Meilleur said it’s part of the continuing fallout from disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith and his bosses in the coroner’s office, whose bungled cases led to wrongful convictions that sent people to jail. It’s expected that forensic pathologists will conduct “end-to-end” investigations, from the scene of death to the courtroom if necessary, in about 250 cases a year. That’s a fraction of the 16,000 deaths investigated each year across the province by coroners, of which about 6,000 require autopsies. Meilleur said the expanded role for forensic pathologists will be “complementary” to coroners, who will continue to handle the majority of deaths.........Other changes announced by Meilleur will give a broader role to Ontario’s death investigation and oversight council, a panel of experts that will advise the chief provincial coroner on whether to call inquests into troublesome deaths that could provide lessons for averting similar tragedies. The chief coroner will also have the power to assign a lawyer or judge to preside over inquests with complex legal issues, and recommendations from inquests will be posted online to make it easier for the public to read them."
PHOTO-CAPTION: "Changes to the way suspicious deaths are investigated are part of the continuing fallout from the work of Dr. Charles Smith, whose bungled cases led to wrongful convictions."
GIST: "The causes of suspicious deaths and homicides in Ontario will soon be determined by forensic pathologists rather than traditional coroners — but only in a small number of cases, the province announced Wednesday. Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur said the move is intended to avert errors in the criminal justice system because forensic pathologists are more highly trained than medical doctors doubling as coroners. “The change is that the forensic pathologists will also be trained as coroners and will be called to the scenes of death,” Meilleur said in an interview Wednesday. “After ordering or conducting an autopsy and certifying the cause of death they will be testifying in court. The new measure won’t take effect until forensic pathologists — who undergo five years of specialty training following medical school — are schooled as coroners. Meilleur said it’s part of the continuing fallout from disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith and his bosses in the coroner’s office, whose bungled cases led to wrongful convictions that sent people to jail. It’s expected that forensic pathologists will conduct “end-to-end” investigations, from the scene of death to the courtroom if necessary, in about 250 cases a year. That’s a fraction of the 16,000 deaths investigated each year across the province by coroners, of which about 6,000 require autopsies. Meilleur said the expanded role for forensic pathologists will be “complementary” to coroners, who will continue to handle the majority of deaths.........Other changes announced by Meilleur will give a broader role to Ontario’s death investigation and oversight council, a panel of experts that will advise the chief provincial coroner on whether to call inquests into troublesome deaths that could provide lessons for averting similar tragedies. The chief coroner will also have the power to assign a lawyer or judge to preside over inquests with complex legal issues, and recommendations from inquests will be posted online to make it easier for the public to read them."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2013/08/07/ontario_forensic_pathologists_get_expanded_role_in_homicide_investigations.html
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
