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Innocence Canada Panel Talk
October 20 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
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Cost: Free, registration required
When: Sunday October 20, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Where: Bata Shoe Museum (327 Bloor St. W.)
Inspired by our current exhibition, Exhibit A: Investigating Crime and Footwear and in honour of the 10th Anniversary of International Wrongful Conviction Day (Oct 2) join The Bata Shoe Museum and Innocence Canada for an honest, and impactful look at wrongful convictions in Canada. This panel talk will look at wrongful convictions through the experiences of those who have lived through it, and those who have made a significant impact through their efforts to help clear the names of the victims of wrongful incarceration. Innocence Canada co-founder and Director of Client Services Win Wahrer, co-founder, and lawyer James Lockyer, and two of Canada’s wrongly convicted, Dinesh Kumar and Tammy Marquardt Wynne will share their stories, and help us to understand the question, “How could this happen to an innocent person?”
Please note, this event will be held during a ‘Free Sunday’. When you arrive, please check in with the front desk to acquire your admission ticket, or reserve in advance online. Limited seats for the panel will be available. Please contact shan@batashoemuseum.ca with any questions.
MEET THE SPEAKERS:
Tammy Marquardt Wynne was convicted in 1995 of second-degree murder in the 1993 death of her 2-year-old son, Kenneth. Tammy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 10 years after Charles Smith, who at the time was considered an expert on criminally suspicious pediatric deaths, conducted the autopsy and concluded that Kenneth had been strangled or smothered. This was later deemd “illogical and completely against scientific evidence-based reasoning.” Tammy was released in 2009 after spending 14 years incarcerated and on June 7, 2011, the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned her conviction and ordered a new trial. The Crown later withdrew all charges against Tammy.
Dinesh Kumar arrived in Canada in 1990, eleven days after his wife Veena gave birth to their first son Saurob. In February 1992 Dinesh’s second son Gaurov was born, and unfortunately died when he was five weeks old. Dinesh was charged with second degree murder in the death of his son based on the opinion of Charles Smith. Faced with a life sentence, deportation, and the removal of his first son, Dinesh accepted the Crown’s offer to plead guilty to criminal negligence causing death with a ninety-day sentence to be served on weekends. It was almost twenty years before Dinesh’s conviction was set aside after Dr. Smith’s testimony was debunked and his cases were reviewed by board certified forensic pathologists.
James Lockyer C.M., is a partner in the Toronto office of Lockyer Zaduk Zeeh. Mr. Lockyer obtained his LLB at the University of Nottingham in 1971 and in 1974 was called to the Bar in England as a barrister. In 1977, he was called to the Ontario Bar and began to practice criminal law. He has been a criminal lawyer for 47 years doing trial defence and appeal work. Since 1992, much of his practice has involved unravelling wrongful convictions.
Mr. Lockyer is a founding director of Innocence Canada (formerly known as the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC)), a Canada-wide organization that advocates for the wrongly convicted. In that capacity, he has been involved in several high-profile cases which he demonstrated were wrongful. Mr. Lockyer is presently working on a number of other wrongful conviction cases in Ontario, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.