PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Turpin maintains the toddler was injured when she fell in the bathtub and hit her head. Three appeal court justices heard Turpin's case this summer, but a re-hearing was scheduled with two more jurists to revisit a 1979 New Brunswick Court of Appeal decision that loosened the limits on the expert witnesses permitted during in a trial. The number of expert witnesses Judge Judy Clendening allowed during the three-week trial in June 2016 is a central argument in the defence's case. Clendening allowed 12 expert witnesses to testify — more than double the usual five permitted — and the defence argued she didn't follow legal procedures to allow for more. 'This was overkill.'
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GIST: A
man convicted of second-degree murder in the 2004 death of his
girlfriend's toddler is appealing the conviction in front of an expanded
slate of justices. James Paul Turpin, a Charlo man in his late 30s, was sentenced in 2016 to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years. A
jury found him guilty in the death of two-year-old Kennedy Ann
Corrigan, who suffered a fatal brain injury while in his care. Turpin
maintains the toddler was injured when she fell in the bathtub and hit
her head. Three
appeal court justices heard Turpin's case this summer, but a re-hearing
was scheduled with two more jurists to revisit a 1979 New Brunswick
Court of Appeal decision that loosened the limits on the expert
witnesses permitted during in a trial. The
number of expert witnesses Judge Judy Clendening allowed during the
three-week trial in June 2016 is a central argument in the defence's
case. Clendening allowed 12 expert witnesses to testify — more
than double the usual five permitted — and the defence argued she didn't
follow legal procedures to allow for more. 'This was overkill'; Chief
Justice Marc Richard said Tuesday that many witnesses may have
"overwhelmed" the jury, and there was a "danger" the jury relied too
heavily on experts. He wasn't alone in thinking that.
"This was overkill," said Justice Margaret Larlee. "Too much information." The Crown argued all the experts were qualified and necessary. The
defence has also argued the exact cause of Corrigan's death was
"basically undetermined" and a jury couldn't make a decision beyond a
reasonable doubt. Richard also questioned whether there were
reasonable grounds to conclude this was second-degree murder when no one
could say exactly how Kennedy's brain injury occurred. "If you can't explain what exactly what happened, how can you decide it was intentional?" he said. Family fearsThe Court of Appeal can uphold the verdict, lower the offence to manslaughter, order a new trial for Turpin or acquit him. Turpin
was taking care of Kennedy on April 2, 2004, at her Central Blissville
home south of Fredericton, while her mother was at work. The girl suffered a massive brain injury and was rushed unconscious to the Dr. Everett Chalmers hospital in Fredericton. She died a week later at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax after being taken off life support without regaining consciousness. No
charges were laid at the time, but the RCMP's historical homicide unit
reopened the case in 2013, and Turpin was charged in 2015. Ali Corrigan, a cousin of the toddler's mother, said it appears the justices have already made up their minds. "I feel that some of the judges already has an opinion before they heard the arguments. To me, they seemed one-sided." She said she would prefer to see another trial, if it gets to that point. "I
would prefer that over a reduced sentence of manslaughter because, in
my opinion, he either intentionally killed her with the amount of force
of whatever he did to her that day," she said. "A reasonable person
couldn't apply that much force to an infant without knowing they crossed
the line. "It should be a new trial. If they feel there was an
error made in law, OK, let's go back to trial. We'll have five doctors.
They'll still have the opinion that it was a non-accidental death." Turpin, who was in court Tuesday, was granted a conditional release pending the outcome of his appeal."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/james-turpin-murder-conviction-appeal-kennedy-corrigan-1.4904099
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. 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/
