TORONTO, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A Toronto woman jailed for 14 years for the death of her baby is likely to be cleared, court records show.
In a brief unsealed Monday by the Ontario Court of Appeal, the prosecution admitted that doubts about forensic evidence seriously undermine the conviction of Tammy Marquardt. Her charges are expected to be dropped at her court appearance Feb. 10, The Globe and Mail reported.
The case was based on the work of Dr. Charles Smith, a forensic pathologist facing a disciplinary hearing after his errors led to many wrongful convictions of parents for killing their children.
Marquardt's 2-year-old son, Kenneth Wynne, who was epileptic, died Oct. 9, 1993, shortly after she found him struggling for breath and called 911.
Crown Counsel Gillian Roberts said the "fatal flaw" came when Smith testified that science could be sure the death was a homicide.
"Dr. Smith's evidence that the autopsy showed that Kenneth died of asphyxia bolstered the crown's theory that the appellant suffocated Kenneth in a fit of frustration and anger," she said.
Marquardt, who has been living at a halfway house on bail, says she wants to re-establish contact with her other two children.
