An association of Ottawa defence lawyers is calling for an independent review of all the homicide autopsies handled by a senior forensic pathologist after serious questions about his work were recently raised at a public inquiry.

Ontario's former chief forensic pathologist, Dr. David Chiasson, told a provincial commission that he had "significant concerns" about the work of Dr. Brian Johnston dating back as far as 1994 and had unsuccessfully sought to have him removed from his position as head of the Eastern Region forensic pathology unit 10 years ago.

However, Dr. Johnston continued to work as the director of the unit until last January, shortly before regional coroner Dr. Andrew McCallum ordered all of Ottawa's criminally suspicious deaths to be autopsied in Kingston or Toronto.

Now, defence lawyers in Ottawa want a thorough review of Dr. Johnston's work by professionals without ties to the coroner's office because they fear the doctor's findings could contain errors that have led to the jailing of innocent people - which has already happened in one case.

"Anybody who did a case where he was a pathologist has got to be worried that maybe something went wrong," said Mark Ertel, president of the Defence Counsel Association of Ottawa.

"There should be some real review done of all the cases he did to make sure nothing went wrong."

Dr. Johnston, who continues to work in the unit, but is scheduled to retire soon, declined to comment.

A review of Dr. Johnston's work could potentially involve more than 100 homicide cases in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario, since he was head of the unit for more than a decade.

Mr. Ertel's call for a review follows testimony at the Goudge Commission, a provincial inquiry examining systemic problems in Ontario's coroner system. The inquiry was launched because of longstanding concerns about the work of Dr. Charles Smith, a Kingston pathologist who specialized in investigating the deaths of children.

Handwritten notes by Dr. Chiasson entered into evidence at the inquiry described Dr. Johnston's autopsy reports as confusing, poorly organized and repetitious. He added that they resulted in "unwarranted conclusions" not supported by the evidence.

Dr. Chiasson also described Dr. Johnston as having an "isolationist" attitude; he called him someone who refused to ask for assistance. Attempts to make him go for remedial training were also refused.

Dr. Chiasson testified he had concerns about Dr. Johnston's findings in two cases in particular. In one of those cases, murder charges were laid against an innocent man.

Dr. Johnston found that 40-year-old Marcel Vanasse had been strangled in 1998, but Dr. Chiasson told the inquiry that when he reviewed the file, it was clear there were other potential explanations for the death. It was later ruled that Mr. Vanasse died of a combination of a drug overdose and coronary heart disease.

Michael Burns, who spent more than three months in jail for the crime, later sued Dr. Johnston and Ottawa police investigators. The lawsuit was dismissed.

In the second case, Dr. Chiasson testified that Dr. Johnston's autopsy report on a man's shooting death contained opinions and conclusions that could not be supported by a pathologist's examination.

Dr. Chiasson testified he continued to monitor Dr. Johnston's post-mortem reports with a "heightened degree of care," but he didn't see any major change in his approach to handling cases.

In a 1998 memo to the province's chief coroner, Dr. Chiasson sought to have Dr. Johnston removed from his position as head of the Eastern Region forensic pathology unit.

However, he also testified it was not his intent to have Dr. Johnston removed from the unit entirely. The "ideal approach" was to have him work under the supervision of "somebody we had confidence in as a forensic pathologist," he testified.

Removing Dr. Johnston from the unit wasn't an option, Dr. Chiasson said, since there was a shortage of qualified forensic pathologists and losing him would have created "major" human resource problems and have a "devastating impact" on Dr. Johnston's life.

"There was just nobody to take up the slack," he said, adding that the chief coroner, Dr. James Young, never replied to his 1998 memo.

At one point, Dr. Chiasson testified, the coroner's office and The Ottawa Hospital attempted to recruit a pathologist from New Mexico to replace Dr. Johnston. When that attempt failed, no further efforts were made to find a new director, he said.

"It, perhaps, just fell through the cracks," said Dr. Chiasson. "I guess at some point, (with the) frustration about our inability to deal with the problem, it was just left there on the backburner."

Ottawa lawyer Lawrence Greenspon, who represented Mr. Burns in his civil suit against Dr. Johnston, said he was "extremely disappointed" to hear the coroner's office had concerns about Dr. Johnston's work, but allowed him to remain in a senior position.

Mr. Burns' case "points out the incredible importance of having pathologists doing work that is error-free," he said. "It's frightening that errors can and are being made in this area."

Mr. Ertel said the revelations are nothing new to Ottawa defence lawyers, who have been complaining about Dr. Johnston's work for years.

"There were plenty of complaints being made and nothing was coming of it," said Mr. Ertel, adding an accurate pathologist's report is critical in homicide cases since the victim is no longer able to tell investigators what happened.

Mr. Ertel said errors in a pathologist's report could result in wrongful convictions.

"This is serious business. These guys are in jail for the rest of their lives," he said.

Mr. Ertel said his immediate concern is that autopsies in criminal cases are continuing to be sent to Toronto or Kingston, resulting in long delays and difficulties for law-yers defending homicide cases.

"It's a disaster from our point of view," said Mr. Ertel.

"If you have a guy who is charged with a murder where a lot of the evidence depends on forensic opinion, you can't even try to get that guy out on bail until you have that forensic opinion," he said.

"Sometimes, the for-ensic opinion sets the guy free. People can be in custody for a long time without knowing if there is really a case against them or not."

Lawyer Louis Sokolov, a director with the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted, agrees that a review should be launched into wrongful convictions that might have resulted from poor quality of work at the Ottawa pathology unit.

"It raises very serious concerns given what we know about flawed pathology causing wrongful convictions," said Mr. Sokolov in an interview yesterday. "There has got to be some concern about the quality of work that has come out of that unit and potential miscarriages of justice."

Mr. Sokolov's association has been involved in the overturning of several high-profile convictions, including the David Milgaard, Guy Paul Morin and Steven Truscott cases.

Although Dr. Chiasson's evidence at the inquiry is troubling, Mr. Sokolov said, the evidence presented at the inquiry about Dr. Johnston personally is "very limited.

"It's hard to take from the evidence of the inquiry that there was a larger pattern," he said, "but flawed pathology has caused wrongful convictions across Canada and internationally and it's been very difficult to overturn these convictions. Historically, the institutions that have contributed to the prosecutions have often been extremely reluctant to aid in the process of examining these cases."

Dr. McCallum, the regional coroner for Eastern Ontario, did not respond to questions about whether Dr. Johnston's cases would be subject to further review in light of the recent testimony and evidence entered at the Goudge Commission.

Already, all cases involving criminally suspicious deaths are subject to an internal review.

Dr. McCallum would also not comment on concerns surrounding Dr. Johnston pending the conclusion of the public inquiry.

Dr. McCallum maintained it was a "resource" issue that prompted him to transfer criminally suspicious autopsies to other cities. He expects it will be at least another six months before criminally suspicious deaths will be autopsied again in Ottawa.

Autopsies in cases of accidental and natural deaths are still being conducted in Ottawa.

Dr. Jean Michaud, head of pathology at The Ottawa Hospital, where Dr. Johnston works, told the Goudge inquiry last month that the decision to conduct criminally suspicious autopsies elsewhere is "pushing the precaution to the limit."

"There is an insidious message about our capacity to do these cases," Dr. Michaud testified. "I don't have any evidence whatsoever that there is a lack of competence in our group."

Dr. Michaud testified that two new forensic pathologists have been hired and are scheduled to start in July. One of them will be named the new head of the unit.

aseymour@thecitizen.canwest.com

With files from Chris Cobb