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By: Heather Snow & Camryn Kaiser

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By: Heather Snow & Camryn Kaiser

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PHOTO: TAMMY MARQUARDT' S SON, KENNETH Wynne

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PHOTO: TAMMY MARQUARDT' S SON, KENNETH Wynne

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This is Tammy's son Kenneth that unfortunately died in 1993 from asphyxiation.

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ARTICLE: SUMMARY OF TAMMY MARQUARDT' S WRONGFUL CONVICTION CASE

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ARTICLE: SUMMARY OF TAMMY MARQUARDT' S WRONGFUL CONVICTION CASE

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This article provides a summary of the events that occurred the night of Kenneth's death, and the subsequent investigation into Tammy.

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OSHAWA, Ont. - An Ontario mother was finally vindicated Tuesday in the murder of her toddler son, nearly two decades since his death and after spending more than 13 years in prison largely based on the faulty testimony of discredited pathologist Charles Smith.

"I'm free. I am free," said a visibly shaken Tammy Marquardt outside the Oshawa courthouse shortly after a second-degree murder charge against her was withdrawn.

Despite a tattoo she got on her arm of the word "freedom," she said she never believed her name would ever be cleared.

"Honestly I never thought I would see this day," said Ms. Marquardt. "I thought there is no justice. They are going to believe him (Smith) and they're not going to believe someone like me."

Earlier, the Crown told Ontario Justice Michael Brown that it did not wish to proceed with a new trial against the 38-year-old due to fresh evidence that shows the cause of death to be inconclusive.

In 1995, at the age of 21, Ms. Marquardt was sentenced to life in prison for the sudden death of her son Kenneth Wynne, 2 1/2.

Smith, the Crown's star witness at the time, concluded from the boy's autopsy that he had died from "asphyxia" through strangulation or smothering.

New expert evidence since then has provided alternative theories, including the possibility the epileptic toddler's sudden death was brought on by his condition.

As a result of her incarceration, she lost custody of two other young sons who were put up for adoption. She said she and her fiance Rick hope to reconnect with the boys, who are now teenagers, and move on with their lives and be good parents to their nine-month-old baby, Tiffany.

"My nightmare is finally over," said Ms. Marquardt, clutching a photo of a smiling Kenneth. "The one thing that never should've happened has ended. Now Kenneth can finally rest in peace. It's been too long."

In court, Ms. Marquardt sat composed during the hour-long proceedings but openly cried when her lawyer James Lockyer read aloud the transcript of the 911 call she had made when she found her son entangled in sheets in her bedroom and not breathing.

When emergency crews arrived at her Oshawa home that night in October 1993, they transferred the boy to Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children and immediately took her to the police station for questioning.

Mr. Lockyer said the police and everyone else involved in the case quickly concluded that Ms. Marquardt, then a young and inexperienced mother who had an unstable relationship with the boy's father, had suffocated her own son in a fit of frustration.

"Tammy Marquardt was essentially an easy target," he told the court. "She was an easy target for Charles Smith and an easy target for the criminal justice system."

Ms. Marquardt has always maintained her innocence.

"She was convicted for a murder that did not happen," said Mr. Lockyer, who added that his client will be seeking compensation from the province.

Justice Brown said it was his "deepest regret" that it took so long for Ms. Marquardt to be freed.

"Nothing I can say today will repair the damage that has been caused to you," he said. "Nothing I can say will bring back your son Kenneth for whom you still grieve. I wish my words could do that."

Justice Brown added that he hoped Ms. Marquardt would be able to "pick up the pieces" of her life and learn to "live outside the shadow of criminal prosecution."

His last words to her were: "You are free to go now, ma'am."

Last February, Ontario's highest court quashed Ms. Marquardt's second-degree murder conviction and ordered a new trial. Prior to the introduction of new evidence, a previous appeal in 2005 was denied.

From the 1980s to the 2000s, Smith was a leading Canadian expert in pediatric forensics. He acted as a star witness in pathology for the Crown in hundreds of cases involving suspicious child deaths, despite having no formal accreditation or training.

In 2007, the Ontario chief coroner launched a two-year probe into Smith's work and found major problems with 20 of the 44 autopsies the former doctor performed. Twelve of those cases had resulted in charges or convictions. To date, the Ontario Court of Appeal has overturned seven convictions connected to Smith's faulty testimony.

At least six others are still waiting to be heard by the courts. According to the provincial government, it has paid $5.5-million in compensation to nearly 30 people wrongly charged or convicted based on Smith's faulty evidence.

Earlier this year, Ontario's medical regulatory body handed down its harshest sentence by stripping Smith of his medical licence. He reportedly lives in Victoria.

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Murder charge withdrawn for mom in disgraced pathologist case

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By Linda NguyenOSHAWA, Ont. - An Ontario mother was finally vindicated Tuesday in the murder of her toddler son, nearly two decades since his death and after spending more than 13 years in prison largely based on the faulty testimony of discredited pathologist Charles Smith.

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This is a picture of wrongfully convicted Tammy Marquardt when she was released on bail.

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This article provides a description of the cases involved in Dr. Charles Smith's public inquiry.

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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.

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."

Two years later, the Ontario government announced compensation for families affected by Smith's mistakes.

Individuals will be entitled to a maximum of $250,000 each. A child of someone wrongfully accused who was removed from the family home as a result is entitled to up to $25,000.

A family member directly affected by a relative's involvement in the criminal justice system is entitled to up to $12,500. Legal costs incurred by the wrongly accused may also be reimbursed.

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.

A pubic-like hair found on her daughter disappeared 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, the charges against Waudby 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.

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Dr. Charles Smith: The man behind the public inquiry | CBC News

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Dr. Charles Smith was once considered top-notch in his field of forensic child pathology. 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.

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This article describes the day that Tammy Marquardt was released from prison after spending 13 years inside for a murder that she did not commit, nor is anyone sure that a murder even took place. It is now believed that Kenneth died due to complications of his epilepsy.

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Justice at last for wrongly convicted Oshawa woman

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OSHAWA -- Tammy Marquardt walked out of the Oshawa courthouse and into the warm sunshine of a Tuesday morning, strode to a bank of microphones, and smiled. \

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This video displays the press conference held in 2011 at the time that Tammy Marquardt was released from prison.

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Tammy Marquardt, Another Innocent Victim of Charles Randall Smith aka "Randy Smith".flv

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PHOTO: DR. CHARLES SMITH, FORMER CANADIAN PATHOLOGIST 

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PHOTO: DR. CHARLES SMITH, FORMER CANADIAN PATHOLOGIST 

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Charles Smith, former Canadian pathologist. Charles Smith made questionable conclusions of foul play in 20 cases, 13 of which resulted in criminal convictions.

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PHOTO: GRAPH DEPICTING CAUSES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

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PHOTO: GRAPH DEPICTING CAUSES OF WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS

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Top 7 causes of wrongful convictions.

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This video provides an overview of the potential causes of wrongful convictions.

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Wrongful convictions: Rob Warden at TEDxMidwest

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Rob Warden examines the phenomena of false confessions and how they can be attributed to half of all murder cases. His plan to eradicate them from the legal system has the potential to revolutionize the justice system as we know it.

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PHOTO: WILLIAM MULLINS-JOHNSON EMBRACES TAMMY MARQUARDT

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PHOTO: WILLIAM MULLINS-JOHNSON EMBRACES TAMMY MARQUARDT

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This is a picture of William Mullins-Johnson, another wrongfully convicted person embracing his friend Tammy Marquardt because she was granted bail after getting a life sentence for second-degree murder of her son.

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Tammy Marquardt and William Mullins-Johnson

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ARTICLE: TAMMY MARQUARDT INNOCENCE CANADA

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ARTICLE: TAMMY MARQUARDT INNOCENCE CANADA

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This article provides us with Tammy Marquardt's entire story from beginning to end, between Kenneth's death and autopsy, to her trial and exoneration.

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If not for Charles Smith, it is unlikely that Tammy would have spent almost 14 years in prison for a "crime" that never happened. That said, there were other factors that contributed to her wrongful conviction. The jury heard a considerable amount of evidence regarding her demeanor at the hospital, Kenneth's funeral and upon her arrest.

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A picture of Tammy Marquardt posing with both a picture of her son and her tattoo which says "Freedom" Tammy got this tattoo while serving her time in jail because she knew she would be free again.

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This video provides an outline of Charles Smith's life as a forensic pathologist and the story behind how he managed to become involved in so many wrongful conviction cases. The story of another wrongfully convicted mother is also shared. Brenda Waudby shares her struggles with wrongful conviction after her young daughter died after hitting her head.