Day 2 of Smith Inquest
Posted May 17, 2011 04:49:32 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After Day 1 at the Ashley Smith inquest got bogged down in freedom of information arguments, Day 2 is on schedule today to start to hear evidence.
The inquest is looking into the how’s and why’s of the 19-year old Smith’s death in an isolation cell at Grand Valley Institution for women in Kitchener in October 2007.
Coroner, Dr. Bonita Porter refused to hear arguments yesterday, or any time soon, regarding a last-minute request by the Correctional Service of Canada to suppress all publication of evidence until the conclusion of the inquest — which could be five months away.
Porter will hear those arguments at a later date, but told the Counsel for the CSC to file a formal motion with supporting evidence why there should be such a ban.
Porter would not delay the inquest until those arguments, instead, it will proceed as planned with evidence being presented starting today.
Porter expects five crucial videos to be submitted as evidence in the first few days of the inquest.
Counsel for the Smith family, Julian Falconer, called the CSC request unprecedented and “trial by ambush.”
Porter also turned down a suggestion by her own counsel to have media outlets sign a form preventing videos and photos from ending up on YouTube or other non-media internet sites.
Porter did express several concerns, however, during Day 1, that inquest evidence ending up on YouTube would somehow be an abuse of evidence, but never explained why.
Porter is willing to hear arguments on May 24 about possibly ordering media to blur the faces of any correctional officers shown in photos or videos presented as evidence.
Several hundred pieces of evidence are expected throughout the inquest, including 30,000 pages of documents.
The inquest is being held at the Coroners Court in downtown Toronto.
