Exoneration in Canada Yesterday in Child Abuse Case…

Brenda Waudby’s wrongful conviction was due to bad science, undisclosed information, and a false confession (guilty plea).  From mykawartha.com:

(PETERBOROUGH) Standing outside the Water Street courthouse with her lawyer, family and friends by her side, Brenda Waudby is content.
On Wednesday (June 27), Justice Michelle Fuerst ruled that Ms Waudby’s 1999 child abuse conviction would be overturned and ordered that her name be removed from the child abuse registry no later than July 11.
“I feel like this has been the final step,” says an emotional Ms Waudby.
“It is a great relief for me that this finally has come to end an end after 15 years.”
Despite being cleared of murdering her daughter Jenna Mellor in 1997, Ms Waudby has lived more than a decade under the shadow of a conviction of child abuse. She has been fighting to remove this black mark from her record since her daughter’s babysitter was convicted of the toddler’s death in 2006. Wednesday, Justice Fuerst agreed that the best and only reasonable explanation of the injuries to Jenna is that they were all inflicted by the babysitter.
“There was no factual basis for the charge of child abuse or to Ms Waudby’s guilty plea to it. Her guilty plea along with ensuing conviction of child abuse was a miscarriage of justice,” Justice Fuerst told the court.
The judge’s decision was heavily supported by series of new disclosures, including 1999 notes by Peterborough police detective Dan Lemay, a transcript of the confession from Jenna’s killer with an undercover officer, and information that came out in the Goudge Inquiry in 2008, including medical evidence from more than one pathologist that pinpointed all of Jenna’s injuries to the time of when she was in the care of her babysitter. It was disgraced pediatric pathologist Dr. Charles Smith that pinpointed Jenna’s fatal injuries, blunt force trauma to her abdomen which caused 13 broken ribs amongst other medical complications, to a time when Ms Waudby was at home taking care of her daughter. At an April 23, 1999 meeting between police, the Crown, defence, Dr. Smith and pathologist Sigmund Ein, it became clear that Ms Waudby couldn’t have inflicted the fatal wounds on her daughter. Dr. Smith confirmed that he had spoken with Dr. Ein in 1998 and agreed with Dr. Ein’s opinion that Jenna’s fatal injury occurred while she was in the care of the babysitter. A more recent examination of the case by forensic pathologist Dr. Christopher Mark Milroy has concludes that Ms Waudby wasn’t responsible for the injuries as it was in his opinion that occurred in the hours, not days, before Jenna’s death. Justice Fuerst went on to say that Ms Waudby was wrongfully accused and stigmatized first as a murder and then as child abuser.
“She should have been treated over these many years as the person she is — a victim, not a perpetrator; a loving mother who suffered the excruciating loss of her daughter’s life at the hands of someone else.”
Earlier in the day, the Crown attorney Alison Wheeler apologized to Ms Waudby.
“Her daughter was a victim of a homicide,” explains Ms Wheeler.
“Ms Waudby should have been treated like a grieving parent and she was not. We’re deeply and sincerely sorry.”
A former Toronto lawyer was first out of the courthouse and told media that this case has been a great disgrace to the justice system.
“The legal system ganged up on her like a pack of dogs after a deer,” explained Burke Doran, who says he’s been following Ms Waudby’s case closely for a long time.
“The legal system out here in Peterborough, not the present bunch but the prior bunch, were playing dirty pool and ganging up on a vulnerable person.”
Ms Waudby says there’s no one that can force anyone in her case to accept personal responsibility for any mistakes they have made but that isn’t important to her anymore. From this point forward she wants to leave all others to their own conscious.
“For myself I want to be able to live my life as Justine’s mother, (my son’s) mother and Jenna’s mother, not as an accused person or a convicted person, that is what is important to me,” she explains.
Ms Waudby also say she can finally ask the people of Peterborough to do a very simple thing and look at the truth that has finally been told and consider how quick you were to judge her.
“Just because someone is living vulnerable and is having a difficult time, does not mean they’re a bad person or that they’re guilty or that they should not be listened to and treated with respect,” she explains.
“Until you have walked in those shoes, do not think you understand more than you do.”
Ms Waudby’s oldest child Justine embraced her mother in the courtroom after the judge read dismissed the case. The two held each other tight again outside and wiped away each others tears. Justine, 22, called the day overwhelming but full of extremely good emotions.
“There’s no words to describe what happened today for our family. Fifteen years of absolute chaos is finally over and we can finally move on as a family,” she says, calling her mother a brilliant and strong woman.
“She fought for her innocence, fought for the truth and the truth in now know but yet is was known years ago and nobody would listen to my mom.”
Ms Waudby’s last words were that “it is finally done.”
Today, she planned to spend with family and celebrate privately. As for the future, she continue going to school and work towards becoming a paralegal.
“It (the last 15 years) definitely gives me a very unique prospective on our justice system,” she says with a smile.