50 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 8 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m
A
s the case of Bruce McArthur, the landscaper and suspected serial
killer in Toronto, continues to hit the headlines, a team of forensic
investigators has been kept busy collecting and analyzing evidence
behind the scenes.
Canada's only full-time forensic anthropologist, Kathy Gruspier,
and her team have been taxed with examining the remains of eight victims,
using techniques including dental and fingerprint analyses. The evidence they
analyze may or may not help convict McArthur, who has been charged with the
murders and held in segregation in Toronto since January.
Dr. Gruspier is the forensic anthropologist in the Office of the Chief
Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service and an advisory committee
member of the Centre for Forensic Science and Medicine at the University of
Toronto. She also holds a law degree, regularly testifies in criminal proceedings
and testified before the Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in Ontario
a decade ago. She, along with other experts interviewed by Canadian Lawyer,
caution that although many new techniques have been developed and are being
used in forensic evidence, some may have
questionable bases in science. Indeed, even
those based in hard science, such as DNA evi-
dence, have produced wrongful convictions.
"I don't think a lot [of forensic science]
has been tested in the courts yet," says Grus-
pier from her office at the Ontario Forensic
Pathology Service laboratories in suburban
Toronto. Much of it, such as pattern evidence,
does not have a grounding in hard science,
she notes, but has been developed by the
criminal justice system for its own use. And,
"the trier of fact is deciding on evidence but is
not a scientist."
The test hinges in the reliability of the
technique used — in other words, its fallibil-
ity.
Stephen Goudge, formerly an Ontario
appellate judge, was commissioner for the
Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology in
Ontario in 2007-2008. The recommendations
that he made in his final report included
better training and qualifications for prac-
titioners in the field of pediatric forensic
pathology and paved the way for the creation
of the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service,
which now heads up all forensic pathology
investigations in the province.
Lawyers should challenge new forensic techniques
that have significant limitations
By Elizabeth Raymer
FALLIBLE
EVIDENCE
F O R E N S I C & C R I M I N A L
L E G A L R E P O R T
WAYNE
MILLS
