Man Claims He Was Wrongfully Accused Following Smith’s Testimony
Posted October 1, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
In light of Justice Stephen Goudge’s scathing review of Ontario’s child forensic pathology system, up to 140 cases involving the deaths of children will be reviewed. That includes the case of Dinesh Kumar, who was accused of shaking his young son to death in 1992.
He’s one of a slew of people who claim they were wrongfully accused of a crime they didn’t commit.
His 5-week-old son died suddenly and inexplicably 16 years ago. Disgraced pathologist, Dr. Charles Smith, concluded at the time that the child died from shaken baby syndrome and Kumar was charged.
It’s a charge he adamantly denies, and now that Smith’s incompetence has been revealed, he’s hoping to be fully exonerated.
“It’s very hard to explain…when you suffer these type of situations,” Kumar said Wednesday. “Those pains, nobody can explain it.”
Despite his vehement claim that he had nothing to do with the death, Kumar still pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death rather than face Smith’s testimony — which at the time was considered infallible.
He served just three months in jail but has had to live with the stigma of being called a baby killer.
“It was very painful for me…especially when they charged me, I was totally destroyed.”
Now he’s determined to clear his name.
He’s being represented by attorney for the wrongfully accused, James Lockyer, who has filed a formal notice of appeal. They hope that once the Crown has a closer look at the evidence, he’ll be exonerated without having to go through a full trial.
