Thursday, February 8, 2018

Blackett O'Neil; Ontario.Yet another Charles Smith Case goes to to Ontario Court of Appeal and results in an order for a new trial. This decision comes 17 years after Blackett's 2001 guilty plea to manslaughter instead of murder - in spite of his insistance to his lawyer that he was innocent. The appeal court ruled that Blackett's was induced to plead guilty to the lesser charge because of his fear that he would almost certainly be convicted if he had to face Smith (then a highly influential prosecution witness) in court.


PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Once again, this Blog can return to the original mission of this Blog - to continue to report on the devastating miscarriages of justice caused  by the involvement of the now-disgraced former pathologist in Ontario's criminal justice system at least until the last of his victims has been exonerated.  (O'Neill Blackett had pleaded guilty to manslaughter instead of murder with its mandatory life imprisonment 17 years ago). Exoneration is now close for O'Neil Blackett. It's hard to imagine that Ontario's prosecutors would not quickly quickly announce their intention not to proceed to trial - and   to apologize  for the horror it inflicted on an innocent father who lost his 13-month-old  baby daughter at the hands of an extraordinarily influential pathologist whose opinion has been acknowledged by the Ontario Court of Appeal in multiple cases as unreliable. Congratulations to Innocence Canada (formerly called AIDWYC)  for its work on smith cases over many years - I understand there are still more to come before The Ontario Court of Appeal in the coming years.

HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER: THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "A number of factors came into play in the appellant’s decision to plead guilty to manslaughter,” the Appeal Court said. “Of particular significance was the impact he thought Dr. Smith’s evidence would have on the jury.”

ONTARIO COURT OF APPEAL:

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "

"The guilty plea included a statement of facts in which Blackett said Tamara had suffocated while he was using force to feed her, and that he had left her to die. Watt jailed him for a total of 4 ½ years — a sentence he has long served. While his lawyer had advised him against pleading guilty to something he hadn’t done, Blackett apparently believed he had little choice. “A number of factors came into play in the appellant’s decision to plead guilty to manslaughter,” the Appeal Court said. “Of particular significance was the impact he thought Dr. Smith’s evidence would have on the jury.” Concerns about Smith’s work, which ultimately led to a judicial inquiry that uncovered major flaws in his opinions, first surfaced in 2001."

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STORY: "Father convicted in baby’s death should get new trial over Dr. Charles Smith’s faulty pathology: court," by Canadian Press reporter Colin Perkel, published by The Toronto Star on February 8, 2018.

SUB-HEADING: “Fresh evidence establishes that absent Dr. Smith’s flawed opinion, the appellant would not have pleaded guilty,” the Appear Court ruled."

PHOTO CAPTION: "Dr. Charles Smith, seen in this file photo from 2008, was of the view the baby had suffocated either due to strangulation or brute force applied to her body. He was certain the baby hadn’t choked to death on her vomit or otherwise by accident."