Thursday, October 28, 2010

BRENDA WAUDBY: CLEARED WOMAN CHALLENGES CONVICTION UNDER FAMILY LAW LEGISLATION BASED ON OPINION OF DR. CHARLES SMITH; FRESH EVIDENCE CITED;

"Unlike the criminal charges of which she has already been cleared, these charges arise from the Children and Family Service Act.

"There's fresh evidence," says Ms Kirkpatrick.

Ms Waudby was charged 13 years ago with the murder of her 21-month-old daughter, Jenna Mellor. Evidence from pathologist Dr. Charles Smith contributed to her charges since he erroneously pinpointed the time of her fatal injury to have been while her daughter was in her care. The work of Dr. Smith has since been questioned in many cases and a number of convictions overturned.

It was later determined that the teenaged babysitter was responsible for the crime. He served a 22-month jail term and has since been released."

PETERBOROUGH THIS WEEK;

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"(PETERBOROUGH) Despite being cleared of murdering her daughter, Brenda Waudby has lived more than a decade under the conviction of child abuse," the Peterborough This Week story published earlier today under the heading, "Waudby appeals child-abuse conviction: Brenda Waudby wants her child abuse conviction overturned," begins.

"Now, she's trying to change that by appealing that conviction,"
the story continues.

"Ms Waudby made a brief court appearance Thursday morning with her lawyer, Julie Kirkpatrick, looking to get more time for an appeal, which was awarded since a Crown attorney from Toronto hasn't yet been assigned to her case, which is expected to happen next week.

The local Crown's office is unable to deal with her case due to their history prosecuting her with evidence that later pointed to another suspect.

Unlike the criminal charges of which she has already been cleared, these charges arise from the Children and Family Service Act.

"There's fresh evidence," says Ms Kirkpatrick.

Ms Waudby was charged 13 years ago with the murder of her 21-month-old daughter, Jenna Mellor. Evidence from pathologist Dr. Charles Smith contributed to her charges since he erroneously pinpointed the time of her fatal injury to have been while her daughter was in her care. The work of Dr. Smith has since been questioned in many cases and a number of convictions overturned.

It was later determined that the teenaged babysitter was responsible for the crime. He served a 22-month jail term and has since been released.

Ms Waudby is seeking compensation for her ordeal.

Ms Kirkpatrick says a lot of time has passed and Ms Waudby wants to see justice done and her name cleared.

"It's time for the court to take a fresh look," Ms Kirkpatrick says, adding there are too many assumptions out there about her client.

She has filed an affidavit that tells the whole story. Unfortunately, Peterborough This Week was unable to get a copy of the statement before deadline on Thursday. Check www.mykawartha.com for an update.

Ms Waudby returns to court Dec. 9."

The story can be found at:

http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/895036--waudby-appeals-child-abuse-conviction

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;