AIDWYC Exonerations: Individual Cases

Tammy Marquardt

On June 7, 2011 Tammy Marquardt appeared before Mr. Justice Ted Minden at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Oshawa for the new trial ordered by the Ontario Court of Appeal on April 30 of this year.  

The Crown withdrew the charge, following which Mr. Justice Minden issued an apology to Ms. Marquardt for the suffering she has endured since the 1993 death of her son Kenneth.  

Ms. Marquardt was convicted following the 1993 death of Kenneth -- then 2 1/2 years old. Her conviction rested in part on the evidence of Charles Smith, who testified to his belief that Kenneth had been strangled or smothered. More recent pathological examination undermines this theory, and supports the alternative theory that Kenneth may have died as the result of a seizure. Ms. Marquardt spent 13 years in prison prior to gaining her release in the wake of Smith's having been discredited.