Inquest delayed
Posted Sep 30, 2010 03:43:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The inquest into the death of Ashley Smith at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener will be delayed.
It was slated to begin November 1st, but Ontario Coroner Dr. Bonita Porter has now tentatively rescheduled it to begin January 10, 2011.
The Toronto Star reports the decision follows a plea from the New Brunswick teen’s family to have a wide open inquest and not one narrow in focus.
Instead, starting November 1st, Porter will hold open hearings, allowing the family to make their arguments on why the probe should cover the entire time Smith spent in Canadian institutions and not just the 13 weeks she was locked up in Kitchener.
The Star reports in the final year of the 18-year-old’s life, she had been placed in 17 different institutions across the country.
Smith died in October 2007 after strangling herself in her Kitchener prison cell.
Porter is expected to rule on the motion for a wide open inquest by November 15th.
