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Ontario over the last two decades. While Goudge estimated the review would in- volve about 140 cases, Attorney General Chris Bentley, who vowed the govern- ment would act on the recommenda- tion, put the number at around 220. The move comes as the pathology community has increasingly thrown doubt on the science behind shaken-ba- by syndrome, says Vancouver forensic pathologist Dr. John Butt. While many pediatricians remain firmly committed to the notion that shaking is a cause of many child deaths or severe head inju- ries, biomechanical experts in recent years have been advancing an alterna- tive theory, according to Butt. In es- sence, the skeptics argue that the eye and brain injuries associated with the syndrome may not be due to shaking alone, if at all. "It was likely that there was another feature to it, which is that the child struck something," says Butt. OSGOODE HALL LAW SCHOOL Government officials were unable to say during their announcement of the review how many people had been convicted as a result of those cases, nor how many might still be in jail. A key question, according to Butt, will be not only the pathological evidence itself but how the expert interpreted it, which, of course, were important issues during the think truth when you're not being hired by one side or another." — ALAN YOUNG, "You can only review of Smith's work. As a result, Butt says it will be a huge job for the government to review the 220 shaken-baby cases, a process that would involve poring over hospital records as well as the evidence given at trial. "I think it's a job for 10 people for over a year." Still, people like Young, who besides teaching law is the director of the Inno- cence Project at Osgoode, argue the rev- elations about Smith — and the doubts they raise about the role of the expert witness — provide clear proof that such reviews are needed. "We're seeing that science is contributing in a significant manner to wrongful convictions," he says. THE FULL GOUDGE REPORT is available online at www.goudgeinquiry.ca PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY Visit online today! Supreme Court of Canada Counsel and Agency Services canadianlawyermag www. ..com com ntitled-4 1 gowlings.com www. mag.com NO VEMBER / DECEMBER 2008 53 10/24/08 10:22:05 AM