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Hi and welcome everyone ! Witness the story of an innocent immigrant who was wrongfully convicted by the Canadian Criminal Justice System.

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Dinesh Kumar, an immigrant from India who immigrated to Canada in 1991 with his wife, Veena and older son, Saurob. In 1992, he had his second son, gaurav who lived for only one month. Dinesh was convicted for killing his new born. Click on the link for the full story and read along the padlets to uncover the journey of innocent, Dinesh Kumar.

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Dinesh Kumar immigrated to Canada from India with his wife, Veena, and their son, Saurob, in 1991. Their second child, also a son, was born on February 11, 1992. They named him Gaurov. Unfortunately, Veena had a seizure on the day of Gaurov's birth and was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

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Here is the picture of Dinesh Kumar leaving the Court after being declared innocent after two decades of hiding his face for something he had not done. January 20, 2011, Dinesh left the court emotional and quoted, "...twenty year old burden is off my shoulders today but I will never be able to get rid of the tag of a killer."

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"He's always in my heart," said Dinesh Kumar leaving the court with tear filled eyes.

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"He's always in my heart," said Dinesh Kumar leaving the court with tear filled eyes.

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"This is that guy who killed his own son,’” he said. “I’m very happy now. I’m going to get that letter and I’m going to put it in my community temples so people know that I’m not a killer. I’m innocent.”

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"This is that guy who killed his own son,’” he said. “I’m very happy now. I’m going to get that letter and I’m going to put it in my community temples so people know that I’m not a killer. I’m innocent.”

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TORONTO - A Toronto man who admitted, under a "multitude of pressures," to killing his five-week-old son nearly 20 years ago, could barely stop crying Thursday when he was officially cleared of the death by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

For almost two decades, Dinesh Kumar, 44, endured being known as a baby killer when he was charged with second-degree murder in 1992 after his infant son, Gaurov, died.

Despite his innocence, Mr. Kumar, who had only been in Canada for two years, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of criminal negligence causing death in exchange for a lenient sentence of 90 days in jail.

"I can't explain what kind of life I had before," said Mr. Kumar, tears streaming down his face outside the Toronto courthouse. "And now, it's totally different. It was like a big burden (off) . . . my shoulders."

Mr. Kumar was under a "multitude of pressures" when he made the plea, his lawyer wrote in court filings, not the least of which was the expert opinion of now-disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith.

Mr. Kumar always maintained his innocence and has since said his guilty plea was based on fears about losing his family and about the testimony of Dr. Smith, then a renowned Ontario pathologist.

Dr. Smith concluded Gaurov died of shaken-baby syndrome. But in new material filed with the appeal court, new opinions from various medical experts have found that Smith's conclusion is no longer scientifically valid.

A recent judicial inquiry into Dr. Smith's work also found that his testimony was responsible, in part, for several people being wrongfully convicted of killing children and being sentenced to prison.

Mr. Kumar, who was heading straight to a temple to pray, said his faith pulled him through, even when his community turned on him.

"They're pointing on my back (saying): 'This is that guy who killed his own son,'" he said. "I'm very happy now. I'm going to get that letter and I'm going to put it in my community temples so people know that I'm not a killer. I'm innocent."

His wife, Veena Kumar, who stayed with him throughout the ordeal, also provided him his strength.

"She is always with me," said Mr. Kumar. "She stands beside me. She gives me all the power that Ihave so I can manage this."

Pulling out a wallet photo of his son, Mr. Kumar continued to cry, barely able to speak.

"It's always with me until Idie," he said of the photo of the smiling baby. "It will always stay with me."

Mr. Kumar's lawyer, James Lockyer, said his client will seek compensation through a fund set up for people wrongly convicted based on testimony by Dr. Smith.

"I had no doubt in my mind that he was innocent," said Mr. Lockyer. "I thought it was a terrible miscarriage of justice. On one hand, you can say he served 90 days on the weekends in jail - but that's really missing the point. This had a devastating effect on him as a person, on him and his family."

Three years ago when Mr. Lockyer took on Mr. Kumar's case, he warned the grieving father that he might not want to relive the past.

"I will always remember his reaction. I asked him, 'The last thing you may want to do is dig this up. It's old history . . . if you don't want me involved, let me know,'" said Mr. Lockyer. "He said, 'Mr. Lockyer, I think of Gaurov every day of my life.'"

Mr. Lockyer, who is the founding director for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, said 20 years ago, the theory offered to explain shaken-baby syndrome was "en vogue."

"The trouble was that the attempt of an explanation somehow became fact, became science - when it wasn't,"he said. Smith's "reputation went beyond police and Crown and judges, it seemed to have affected defence lawyers of the day. If Smith said something, it was almost bound to be right."

He said his client does not blame the Canadian justice system for the wrongful conviction.

"It can come back so long after the event, and say it got things wrong," said Mr. Lockyer. "That's a blessing of the judicial system. It doesn't do away the 18 years that Denish has been through, but boy, it does a heck of a lot for him."

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Ontario man acquitted in death of infant son

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By Linda NguyenTORONTO - A Toronto man who admitted, under a “multitude of pressures,” to killing his five-week-old son nearly 20 years ago, could barely stop crying Thursday when he was officially cleared of the death by the Ontario Court of Appeal.

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Lawyer James Lockyer, Defence angel for the wrongfully convicted

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Lawyer James Lockyer, Defence angel for the wrongfully convicted

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James Lockyer has played a key role in the chain of accountability that typically follows a miscarriage of justice. Wrongful convictions beget judicial inquiries, probes that force changes to every corner of the justice system and to which he has devoted many years of his life.

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The defence of the wrongly convicted | James Lockyer | TEDxIB@York

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Lawyer James Lockyer, who brought all the cases to light which faced injustice in court because of now disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith who had convicted Kumar like many other wrongful convicted beings. Lockyer said that he knew from the beginning Dinesh was innocent. The link below adds onto Lawyer James Lockyer's comments after Dinesh was set free of the stigma on January 20, 2011.

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Tears streamed down Dinesh Kumar's face Thursday as he walked out of court finally free of the baby-killer label that has haunted him for 19 years.

Mr. Kumar, 44, has endured the finger pointing and stony silence from members of his community since he was convicted in 1992 of criminal negligence causing the death of his five-week-old son Gaurov.

He was charged with second-degree murder but accepted the lesser plea under a multitude of pressures, including threat of deportation to India and separation from his wife and older son, he said.

One of the biggest factors in pleading guilty was the prospect of testimony from now-disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, who concluded Gaurov died of shaken baby syndrome, Mr. Kumar's lawyer said. Mr. Kumar was told Dr. Smith was like "a God" in court and it would be nearly impossible to challenge Dr. Smith's opinion.

So Mr. Kumar took the plea and was sentenced to 90 days served on weekends. Mr. Kumar said in the almost 19 years since then, he has thought about Gaurov every day.

"He's always in my heart," Mr. Kumar said outside court, holding up a picture he still carries in his wallet.

"I never forget him. He [will]always stay with me until I die. I miss him lots."

The Court of Appeal for Ontario acquitted Mr. Kumar on Thursday, minutes after hearing both the Crown and defence call for the conviction to be set aside.

"We appreciate the terrible toll this case has taken on you and your family," Justice Marc Rosenberg said on behalf of the panel of judges.

The conviction is unreasonable, in light of new medical evidence, he said. Opinions from various medical experts filed with the court found Gaurov may have died of natural causes.

Mr. Kumar said to clear his name in his community he would post the decision in his temple, where for so many years people have avoided him and talked behind his back.

"I can't explain what kind of life I had before and now it's totally different - like a big burden out of my shoulders," Mr. Kumar said, tears running down his face.

A judicial inquiry into Dr. Smith's work found the pathologist's testimony was responsible, in part, for several people being wrongfully convicted of killing children and being sentenced to prison.

Lawyer James Lockyer, who has represented many people who were successful in appealing those decisions, said he took the case because Mr. Kumar did nothing wrong.

"I had no doubt in my own mind that he was innocent and I still don't," Mr. Lockyer said outside court.

"I thought it was a terrible miscarriage of justice."

But unlike in some other Charles Smith-related cases, the court did not use the words "miscarriage of justice" or "wrongfully convicted."

In Mr. Kumar's case, Dr. Smith's opinion was valid at the time and based on current medical knowledge, both the Crown and defence said.

"I find it hard to be too critical of [Dr. Smith]on this one, just because there were lots of pathologists who would have said the same thing back in 1992," Mr. Lockyer said.

The court will issue written reasons for its decision at a later date.

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Tears streamed down Dinesh Kumar's face Thursday as he walked out of court finally free of the baby-killer label that has haunted him for 19 years. Mr. Kumar, 44, has endured the finger pointing and stony silence from members of his community since he was convicted in 1992 of criminal negligence causing the death of his five-week-old son Gaurov.

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Sixteen years after his conviction in the death of his infant son, himself a victim of a bungled investigation by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, Dinesh Kumar still carries a photograph of young Gaurov.

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Sixteen years after his conviction in the death of his infant son, himself a victim of a bungled investigation by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, Dinesh Kumar still carries a photograph of young Gaurov.

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Links to all the website sources (Reference)

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Links to all the website sources (Reference)

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http://www.innocencecanada.com/exonerations/dinesh-kumar/#ftnref11

http://nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/ontario-man-acquitted-in-death-of-infant-son

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/man-acquitted-in-baby-sons-death/article576987/

http://www.penneylaneonline.com/2011/12/28/james-lockyer-the-defence-of-the-wrongly-convicted/

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/01/20/a_fathers_20year_battle_for_exoneration.html