The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50803
LEGAL REPORT: FORENSICS Forensic foray F Smith inquiry raises expectations from the bar. BY DARY L- LYNN CARLSON ifty-two days, 47 witnesses, 16 roundtable meetings, and 36,000 documents later, law- yers across Canada have all summer to wait before the final recommendations from the Inqui- ry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario will markedly move the system forward. The inquiry's mandate was to con- duct a systemic review of "policies, pro- cedures, practices, accountability and oversight mechanisms, quality control measures. and institutional arrange- ments of pediatric forensic pathol- ogy in Ontario from 1981 to 2001 as they relate to its practice and use in investigations and criminal pro- ceedings" along with related legislation and statutes. Presided over by Justice Stephen Goudge, the inquiry was estab- lished to probe the dubious conclusions in 45 child autopsies, conducted by self- aggrandized and now-infamous former pediatric pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, in which the causes of death were con- cluded to be criminally suspicious. An earlier coroner's review found Smith's conclusions in 20 of those cases, 13 of which led to criminal convictions, to be questionable, prompting the prov- ince to call the inquiry. It's by no means the lengthiest inquiry — the one, headed by Justice Fred Kauf- man, investigating circumstances in Guy Paul Morin's wrongful conviction for the murder of young Christine Jessop continued for 146 days, with 120 wit- 54 M AY 2008 www. C ANADIAN nesses, and yielded more than 100,000 pages of documentation. However, Goudge's mandate is perceived as fur- ther reaching because of the number of deaths involved. "The advantage Justice Goudge has over other inquiries is that most inquiries focus on one wrongful conviction and the commissioner has to extrapolate from one to identify systemic problems and make recommendations to remedy them," observes Frank Add- ario, president of the Ontario Criminal Lawyers' Association, which was granted mag.com standing at the inquiry. "Here, he has the advantage of a macro sample of more than a dozen cases where incorrect, im- proper, or unprofessional evidence was given, so he's able to evaluate it from a much broader perspective. That advan- tage, we hope, will lead to wider, more effective, and long-term changes to the way the system receives and evaluates fo- rensic evidence." During the inquiry, lawyers held poli- cy roundtable discussions on topics be- yond pediatric pathology, including the ILLUSTRATION: MICK COULAS