AIDWYC Exonerations: Individual Cases

Richard Brant

On May 4, 2011, the Ontario Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of Richard Brant and entered an acquittal.  

Mr. Brant was convicted of aggravated assault in 1995. The conviction stemmed from the November 18, 1992 death of his nine-week-old son, Dustin. At autopsy, Dustin was determined to have died of pneumonia, but police sought a second opinion from Dr. Charles Smith. Smith concluded that Dustin had been a victim of shaken baby syndrome, and in his report went so far as to impugn the work of the neuropathologist attending at autopsy. Critically, Dr. Smith's opinion was rendered without the aid of any physical evidence - since Dustin's brain had been accidentally destroyed following autopsy.  

Charged with manslaughter, and faced with Dr. Smith's then-overwhelming reputation, Mr. Brant was encouraged to enter a guilty plea to the lesser charge of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. Following the referral of Mr. Brant's case to the Goudge Inquiry, six experts examined the opinions of both Dr. Smith and the attending neuropathologist and determined that there was no basis for Dr. Smith's opinion. Four of these suggested that the original diagnosis of pneumonia as an underlying cause may have been a correct one.