Jane Doe (C.M.)

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Charge:	Manslaughter
Sentence:	Suspended sentence & 3 years probation
Years Imprisoned:
Year Crime:	1992
Year Convicted:	1994
Year Cleared:	2010
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	Canada
County or Region of Crime:	Ontario
City of Crime:
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"A woman who is only identified as C.M. because of a court ordered ban on disclosing her identity, was wrongly convicted in 1994 of manslaughter in the death of her newborn baby in 1992. C.M. was 21 at the time of her baby's birth, and she said she was unaware she was pregnant until she gave birth. She pled guilty, but was pressured to do so by the flawed analysis of the medical evidence by pathologist Dr. Charles Smith that she asphyxiated her child. C.M. was given a suspended prison sentence and three years’ probation. In June 2005, the Chief Coroner of Ontario ordered a review of 44 autopsies carried out by Dr. Smith. Thirteen of these cases had resulted in criminal charges and convictions. The report was released in April 2007, indicating that there were substantial problems with 20 of the autopsies. Dr. Smith's expertise is now discredited, and numerous convictions have been overturned that were based on his medical evidence. The Ontario Court of Appeal quashed C.M.'s conviction in October, 2010, ruling her conviction was a miscarriage of justice. On December 2, 2010, the charges were dismissed against C.M. C.M.’s lawyer was James Lockyer with Toronto based the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted."
Conviction Caused By:
Innocence Proved By:	"The Ontario Court of Appeal quashed C.M.'s conviction in October, 2010, ruling her conviction was a miscarriage of justice."
Defendant Aided By:	Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:
Age When Released:
Sex:	Female
Skin/Ethnicity:	White
Information Source 1:	"Woman cleared in case involving Dr. Charles Smith, By Carola Vyhnak (staff), Toronto Star, December 2, 2010"
Information Location 1:	http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/900679--woman-cleared-in-case-involving-dr-charles-smith?bn=1
Information Source 2:	"Woman’s ‘hell’ ends as charge withdrawn in newborn’s death, By Carola Vyhnak (staff), Toronto Star, December 2, 2010"
Information Location 2:	https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2010/12/02/womans_hell_ends_as_charge_withdrawn_in_newborns_death.html
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Jane Doe (C.M.)

Charge:

Manslaughter

Sentence:

Suspended sentence & 3 years probation

Years Imprisoned:

Year Crime:

1992

Year Convicted:

1994

Year Cleared:

2010

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Canada

County or Region of Crime:

Ontario

City of Crime:

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"The Ontario Court of Appeal quashed C.M.'s conviction in October, 2010, ruling her conviction was a miscarriage of justice."

Defendant Aided By:

Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

Age When Released:

Sex:

Female

Skin/Ethnicity:

White

Information Source 1:

"Woman cleared in case involving Dr. Charles Smith, By Carola Vyhnak (staff), Toronto Star, December 2, 2010"

Information Location 1:

http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/900679--woman-cleared-in-case-involving-dr-charles-smith?bn=1

Information Source 2:

"Woman’s ‘hell’ ends as charge withdrawn in newborn’s death, By Carola Vyhnak (staff), Toronto Star, December 2, 2010"

Information Location 2:

https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2010/12/02/womans_hell_ends_as_charge_withdrawn_in_newborns_death.html

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Book About Case:

Book Information:

Book About Case (2):

Book Information (2):

Movie About Case:

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