LA STORIA DEL DR SMITH

CRIME
Pathology
Dr. Charles Smith: The man behind the public inquiry
Last Updated: Monday, December 7, 2009 | 1:38 PM ET Comments0Recommend4
CBC News
Dr. Charles Smith was long regarded as one of Canada's best in forensic child pathology. A public inquiry was called after an Ontario coroner's inquiry questioned Smith's conclusions in 20 of 45 child autopsies. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)On a typical case, he might have to decide whether a child had been shaken to death or accidentally fallen from a highchair.

Dr. Charles Smith was once considered top-notch in his field of forensic child pathology. In 1999, a Fifth Estate documentary singled him out as one of four Canadians with this rare expertise.

For 24 years, Smith worked at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. In the hospital's pediatric forensic pathology unit, he conducted more than 1,000 child autopsies.

But Smith no longer practises pathology. An Ontario coroner's inquiry reviewed 45 child autopsies in which Smith had concluded the cause of death was either homicide or criminally suspicious.

The coroner's review found that Smith made questionable conclusions of foul play in 20 of the cases — 13 of which had resulted in criminal convictions. After the review's findings were made public in April 2007, Ontario's government ordered a public inquiry into the doctor's practices.

That inquiry, led by Justice Stephen Goudge and concluding in October 2008, found that Smith "actively misled" his superiors, "made false and misleading statements" in court and exaggerated his expertise in trials.

'Smith was adamant that his failings were never intentional. I simply cannot accept such a sweeping attempt to escape moral responsibility.'
—Justice Stephen Goudge
Far from an expert in forensic child pathology, "Smith lacked basic knowledge about forensic pathology," wrote Goudge in the inquiry report.

"Smith was adamant that his failings were never intentional," Goudge wrote. "I simply cannot accept such a sweeping attempt to escape moral responsibility."

Acted more like a prosecutor

Some have accused Smith of taking on a role larger than pathologist. The lawyer for Brenda Waudby said he was on a crusade and acted more like a prosecutor. Waudby was convicted in the murder of her daughter after Smith analyzed the case.

Brenda Waudby was wrongly accused of killing her 21-month-old daughter Jenna in 1997. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)A pubic-like hair found on her daughter went missing during Smith's investigation. It was discovered he had kept the hair in his office before police found it five years later. In the end, Waudby's charges were dropped and the child's babysitter was convicted.

Smith said he had a passion for uncovering the truth in child deaths. The Ontario pathologist told media lampooning him he had "a thing against people who hurt children." He welled up when speaking about a mother looking for the cause of her baby's death.

Smith had been in search of his own personal truths. He was born in a Toronto Salvation Army hospital where he was put up for adoption three months later. After years of looking for his biological mother, he called her on her 65th birthday. But she refused to take his call.

Smith's adoptive family moved often. His father's job in the Canadian Forces took them throughout Canada and to Germany. He attended high school in Ottawa, and graduated from medical school at the University of Saskatchewan in 1975.

Sick Kids tenure

Hired by Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children in 1979, Smith worked in surgery for a year and then moved on to pathology training. A pathologist studies diseases and illnesses by assessing matter such as cells, tissues, organs and fluids. Pathologists also examine biopsy material, and give a subsequent diagnosis.

When it comes to autopsy reports, the field of pathology can be a subjective one. It's based on research and opinion, and it's especially controversial in Canada, where there is no formal training or certification process. Only a handful of practitioners in Ontario are entrusted with the job — and they've learned by doing.

With child victims, forensic analysis is rarely cut and dried. It can take an infant up to 24 hours to die of a shaking incident, which is a crime that doesn't leave evidence the way a regular killing might.

After his initial training at Sick Kids, as the Toronto hospital is known, Smith began conducting child autopsies in 1981. He started with children who had died of accidental and natural causes. By the late '90s, Smith saw more forensic child cases than any other pathologist across the country.

Smith's unit used arrest warrants to reinvestigate cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). He oversaw the autopsies of exhumed babies that led to new murder charges.

In one such case, Smith appeared before a court in the death of six-month-old Sara Podniewicz. He concluded she had been dead for up to 15 hours before her parents reported the death. The parents had told a 911 operator the girl had died just moments before. Smith's analysis led to second-degree murder charges.

In December 2009, Sherry Sherrett-Robinson was acquitted of killing her son whom Smith had concluded died of asphyxia a decade earlier. Smith suggested Sherrett-Robinson's son, Joshua, suffered a skull fracture and neck hemorrhages. Ontario's chief forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Pollanen, however, told the Ontario Court of Appeal that he did not find a skull fructure and noted the neck hemorrhages were caused during the autopsy process.

First doubts

In 1991, a family in Timmins, Ont., was the first to raise questions about Smith's work. He had concluded their one-year-old baby had died from being shaken. The child had been under the care of a babysitter who said the baby had fallen down stairs.

In court, experts challenged Smith's opinion, which had resulted in the babysitter's charge of manslaughter. The judge in the case stated Smith should have taken other causes into consideration.

Once the most prolific pathologist, Smith began getting a reputation for late cases, and his disorderly desk produced samples that had gone missing.

In 2002, he received a caution from the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons. The college said he was being "overly dogmatic" and had a "tendency towards overstatement."

In June 2005, Dr. Barry McLellan, Ontario's chief coroner, started the review of 45 child autopsies conducted by Smith between 1991 and 2002. The review, released in April 2007, found that Smith had made mistakes in 20 cases involving the deaths of children. The review cast doubt on criminal convictions in 13 of the cases.

"I am very surprised with the overall results of the review, and concerned," McLellan said. "In a number of cases, the reviewers felt that Dr. Smith had provided an opinion regarding the cause of death that was not reasonably supported by the materials available for review."

The chief coroner said the results of the review were being shared with defence and Crown attorneys involved in all of the relevant criminal cases.

After resigning from Sick Kids in 2005, Smith accepted a pathology position in Saskatoon. He was fired after three months. A tribunal later reinstated him, but without a licence, Smith was unable to practise.

Smith told media his marriage ended in light of stress from the highly publicized events. He had lived with his wife and two children on a farm north of Newmarket, Ont.

As a member of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Smith says he has been fuelled by his life's purpose — finding out the truth for parents who have lost babies. (da CBC News Canada)

CARCERE INUMANO

Qualcuno di voi può pensare che talvolta esagero con le questioni concernenti la cd. compatibilità carceraria. Leggi quel che è accaduto a questo vecchietto di 89 anni.
CARCERI: GARANTE LAZIO, MUORE DETENUTO 89ENNE
(AGI) - Roma, 26 set. - E' morto a 89 anni in una clinica di Roma - dove era ricoverato per gravissimi motivi di salute che avevano indotto i giudici a concedere il differimento della pena - nella vana attesa dell'autorizzazione a scontare il resto della pena in Canada, dove risiede la sua famiglia.
Protagonista della storia - segnalata dal Garante dei detenuti della Regione Lazio Angiolo Marroni - un cittadino canadese di origine italiana, Antonino Patafi, morto il 19 settembre. Nato in Calabria nel 1921, emigrato negli anni '50 in Canada in cerca di fortuna, l'uomo era stato arrestato nel 1997 per un duplice omicidio, commesso in eta' avanzata in Calabria, legato a questioni patrimoniali. Patafi e' stato detenuto a Rebibbia e Regina Coeli per scontare una pena a 24 anni di reclusione che sarebbe scaduta nel 2016. Senza parenti in Italia (il figlio Francesco ha sempre vissuto in Canada), dal 2008 Patafi aveva presentato domanda per scontare la pena in Canada. Vista l'eta' avanzata, a Regina Coeli Antonino aveva una cella con il campanello; negli anni aveva socializzato con i detenuti e con il personale che garantivano anche un controllo sulla sua salute. A febbraio il Tribunale ha disposto il differimento della pena per gravi motivi di salute. Fuori dal carcere Patafi si e' trovato senza sistemazione, ne' cure mediche. Con una carta d'identita' italiana scaduta nel 1957, per i servizi territoriali era, infatti, inesistente. Per questo il Garante si e' adoperato per assicurargli un documento d'identita' necessario ad iscriverlo al Servizio Sanitario Regionale. A giugno, dopo vari ricoveri tra Caritas, ospedali, centri di accoglienza e strutture onlus, Patafi entrava in una clinica privata a spese della famiglia. Dal punto di vista giudiziario dopo il nulla osta, lo scorso aprile, del Canada al suo trasferimento, il Ministero della Giustizia - sollecitato da Garante, Ambasciata canadese e avvocato - a giugno dava il suo parere favorevole. Per far tornare Antonino in Canada mancava solo il nulla osta del Tribunale di Reggio Calabria. L'udienza e' stata fissata il 1 ottobre. Troppo tardi per Antonino, morto il 19 settembre. "Aveva 89 anni e, nelle condizioni di salute in cui si trovava, non credo potesse piu' nuocere alla societa', eppure a quest'uomo e' stata negata la possibilita' di morire col conforto dei familiari - ha detto il Garante dei detenuti Angiolo Marroni. - Questo ufficio,l'ambasciata canadese, i volontari hanno fatto di tutto per consentirgli di vivere dignitosamente questi mesi di attesa. Autorizzarlo a tornare, peraltro in carcere, sarebbe stato un gesto di umana pieta' che, purtroppo, le lungaggini burocratiche hanno impedito di compiere. Un finale ancor piu' beffardo se si considera che, contro il sovraffollamento, si invoca il trasferimento dei detenuti stranieri nei loro Paesi di origine.
Qui c'era un uomo che lo aveva chiesto, non solo bastati mesi per accontentarlo".

PATOLOGIA FORENSE

Tempo fa ho recensito questo testo di patologia forense. Credo che in Italia sia poco diffuso, ma io ne ho avuto un'ottima impressione. Vedete voi. Non costa neanche troppo.

FORENSIC PATHOLOGY OF TRAUMA
By Michael J. Shkrumm and David A. Ramsay
Humana Press

Ah, had I such a book when I was young! This is a book that I read from the beginning to the end with great pleasure. Do you know someone who reads a textbook from the beginning to the end? It never happened to me in my life, as I usually jump from a chapter to another and to the analytical index and to the list of references.
This book is obviously an exception, as it is written in a way that I love. Sentences are short, the indicative mode of verbs is used, and every sentence is followed by a quotation. The list of quotations, at the end of every chapter, is practically complete, but only for texts in English language, other languages not being considered, and this is a pity. Also links to electronic texts are not included.
All the fields of forensic traumatic pathology are treated and developed with the same completeness and style.
It is remarkable that clinical and laboratory annotations are briefly but frequently included, to give a full information about pathological events.
In the electronic edition that I read, pictures are b/w of very good quality, immediately understandable. Tables are numerous and very explicative.
Through the 600 and more pages of the book, I found not so many informs that I didn’t know, but this is due only to my age and to the fact that I read in my life other books in English and other languages, not to negligence of the Authors.
In my opinion, this book seems to be very useful for young professional forensic pathologists and for those pathologists who occasionally perform a forensic autopsy, but it is too large for undergraduate students. The use I will make of it? I will take with me in a Court to give support to my thesis.
Finally, I must thank prof. Anil Aggrawahl for allowing me to read and review this book that I didn’t know before, and also to know the marvelous progress of London (Ontario) Health Center.

Rome, December 11th, 2008


Prof. dr Giusto Giusti
Ordinario di Medicina legale
Università di Roma "Tor Vergata"

STRAGE

Canada: cinque cadaveri trovati in una casa
CALGARY - Tre adulti e due bambini sono stati trovati morti in una casa di Calgary, in Canada. Una bimba di un anno invece era viva e illesa. Nell'abitazione vivevano padre, madre, tre figlie di 1, 4 e 6 anni, oltre ad un'altra donna. Sembra che qualcuno abbia telefonato alla polizia poco prima delle dieci del mattino, avvisando che 'c'era qualcosa di strano in casa'. Il capo della polizia di Calgary, Rick Hanson, ha riferito che la scena cui si sono trovati di fronte i primi agenti entrati nella casa era "sconvolgente". Non si conoscono altri particolari. (Agr)

ORRORE

Vancouver. In un appartamento di un grande condominio, i pompieri, chiamati per una fuga di gas, hanno trovato sei cadaveri di maschi adulti, tutti orribilmente mutilati. Si pensa ad un regolamento di conti fra bande di spacciatori di droga. Leggi http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/mondo/articoli/articolo384444.shtml