Bulletin; Nicole Kish; Ontario; Appeal Court justices reject her alternative suspect argument and allow second-degree murder verdict to stand; Her mother tells reporters that a huge flaw in Ontario's system allows appeals based on procedural errors but not innocence; Toronto Star; (A central issue of fact in this case from the outset is - which woman was holding the knife? HL);

STORY: "Panhandler loses appeal of her second-degree murder conviction," by reporter Alyshah Hasham, published by the Toronto Star on March 10, 2014.

GIST: "Nicole Kish has lost the appeal of her second-degree murder conviction in the stabbing death of a 32-year-old man on Queen St. W in 2007. Kish, who has maintained her innocence, was identified as the young panhandler who stabbed Ross Hammond after a judge-alone trial by Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer in 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment with parole ineligibility set at 12 years. During her appeal, Kish’s lawyers argued that Kish’s friend Faith Watts could have been the one who fatally stabbed Hammond, or that it could have been either of two other men. The panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges upheld Nordheimer’s verdict as reasonable based on the evidence of several eyewitnesses.........During her appeal, Kish’s lawyers argued that Kish’s friend Faith Watts could have been the one who fatally stabbed Hammond, or that it could have been either of two other men. The panel of three Ontario Court of Appeal judges upheld Nordheimer’s verdict as reasonable based on the evidence of several eyewitnesses.........“We are totally destroyed. There is absolutely nothing in our justice system that seems to make any sense,” Kish’s mother, Christine Bivens, said Monday. She says there is a huge flaw in a justice system that allows appeals based on procedural errors but not innocence. “We’ve seen wrongful conviction after wrongful conviction because there wasn’t a procedural error.”"

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2014/03/10/panhandler_loses_conviction_appeal_for_stabbing_murder.html

The Ontario Court of Appeal decision can be found at:

 http://www.ontariocourts.ca/decisions/2014/2014ONCA0181.htm

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/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;