PASSAGE OF THE DAY: " (Judge) Carnegie, who has expressed exasperation with how long the trial is taking (he has frequently said that at some point the trial has to “move on,” said he will take action when needed. “When I believe that counsel has crossed the line, I will and I have addressed it with counsel.” Snow did not respond to Gardiner’s comments. But he did say he is concerned Van De Wiele is “controlling the narrative” and “controlling the trial” by only providing information that helps what he says is her desire to have his client found guilty. He has told court he believes she only provides information when it is “an advantage” for her. Van De Wiele repeated what she has said previously — that her goal is to find out what happened to her son."
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STORY: "Nathaniel McLellan’s mother says she has PTSD as Crown concerned defence is ‘badgering’ her," by Chief Investigative Reporter Kevin Donovan, published by The Toronto Star, on February 19, 2026. "Kevin Donovan is the Toronto Star’s Chief Investigative Reporter. His focus is on journalism that exposes wrongdoing and effects change. Over more than three decades he has reported on the activities of charities, government, police, business among other institutions. Donovan also reported from the battlefields in the Gulf War and the war in Afghanistan following 9/11. He has won three National Newspaper Awards, two Governor General’s Michener Awards, the Canadian Journalism Foundation award and three Canadian Association of Journalists Awards. As the Star’s editor of investigations for many years, Donovan led many award-winning projects for the paper. He is the author of several books, including “Secret Life: The Jian Ghomeshi Investigation” and the “Dead Times” (a fiction novel)."
SUB-HEADING: “The nature of cross-examination when we broke for the day yesterday was verging on badgering,” Crown tells trial of toddler’s babysitter.
Feb. 19, 2026
PHOTO CAPTION:Babysitter Meggin Van Hoof of Strathroy, Ont., is on trial for manslaughter in Nathaniel McLellan’‘s death in October 2015.
GIST: "The prosecutor in the Nathaniel McLellan manslaughter case told court Thursday that the lawyer for the accused babysitter is coming close to “badgering” Nathaniel’s mother, who has testified she has PTSD over her son’s death.
“The nature of cross-examination when we broke for the day yesterday was verging on badgering,” Crown Meredith Gardiner said Thursday, adding that she may ask Judge Michael Carnegie to “constrain” lawyer Geoff Snow’s cross-examination if it continues.
Snow’s client, Meggin Van Hoof, is on trial in London, Ont., for manslaughter in Nathaniel’s October 2015 death. She has pleaded not guilty. The Crown alleges that Van Hoof, who ran an unlicensed daycare out of her home, either “overtly” caused the death or contributed to it by not calling 911 when he became unwell. Nathaniel died of a massive head trauma.
Rose-Anne Van De Wiele, Nathaniel’s mother, has had to take breaks during almost two weeks of cross-examination, and this week, when recalled to the witness stand for a particular issue, testified she has “PTSD” as a result of her son’s death. She broke down on the stand Wednesday and had to leave court. Gardiner noted that during her earlier cross-examination, Snow was “actually yelling” at Van De Wiele. Judge Carnegie told Snow at that point that there was never a reason in court to do that.
The trial began in September but only a few witnesses have testified, due to frequent breaks for legal reasons, and scheduling issues. Some witnesses have been cross-examined for days. There are typically no limits on the length of cross-examination, unless the defence is trying to repeatedly ask the same question.
With the first medical witnesses scheduled to testify this week, the trial took a detour because Van De Wiele provided new information to the court long after she finished testifying. The new information is a photo from Facebook she found in 2022 that was described to court as a picture of a red wagon that Van Hoof’s husband was selling years after Nathaniel’s death. The colour of the wagon is significant, as in earlier cross-examination Snow had suggested Van De Wiele and other witnesses were wrong when they said they spotted Van Hoof pulling a “red” wagon the day Nathaniel became unwell.
Rose-Anne Van De Wiele has had to take breaks during almost two weeks of cross-examination. Snow is using the colour of the wagon to challenge the credibility of these witnesses, who testified for the prosecution. Previously, court was shown a photo of a brown wagon in the Van Hoof garage — a photo taken by police in the days following Nathaniel’s death. Carnegie allowed this new information, which he described as a “possible post-offence sale of a red wagon.”
With no jury, it will be up to Carnegie to determine what weight he gives to the wagon’s colour in his ultimate determination of the case. Testimony is expected to last at least until June, with more breaks scheduled.
Much of the day’s proceedings Thursday were taken up by arguments between the Crown and defence.
Crown Gardiner asked Carnegie to be mindful of the almost “two weeks” of cross-examination the mother has endured.
“Your honour, Ms. Van De Wiele is a witness at this trial,” Gardiner said. “She is here to give evidence, to answer questions put to her in a truthful manner. She is not here to defend herself.”
Carnegie noted that at times, Snow has been “rehashing” his previous cross-examination.
Gardiner accused Snow of coming close to “badgering” Van De Wiele.
“It is not appropriate for my friend to be taking a hostile or disrespectful tone towards this witness,” Gardiner told court. “The questions that my friend legitimately needs to ask can be asked in a respectful and calm manner. Without resorting to aggression.”
If it continues, Gardiner said she will ask the court to “constrain the cross-examination.”
Carnegie, who has expressed exasperation with how long the trial is taking (he has frequently said that at some point the trial has to “move on,” said he will take action when needed. “When I believe that counsel has crossed the line, I will and I have addressed it with counsel.”
Snow did not respond to Gardiner’s comments. But he did say he is concerned Van De Wiele is “controlling the narrative” and “controlling the trial” by only providing information that helps what he says is her desire to have his client found guilty. He has told court he believes she only provides information when it is “an advantage” for her.
Van De Wiele repeated what she has said previously — that her goal is to find out what happened to her son.""
The entire story can be read at:
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;you cannot defend against an enemy you c
