The CBC documentary news program the fifth estate produced two separate episodes on the life and death of Ashley Smith.[1][2] The documentaries not only describe the circumstances of the death, but also depict some disagreement inside the Correctional Service. the fifth estate claims "Corrections Canada filed an unprecedented publication ban on all exhibits presented at the coroner's inquest into her death."[2]
The inquest was frequently interrupted by multiple legal challenges and a change of coroner, before finally being terminated as a mistrial on 30 September 2011; a new inquest into Smith's death began on 20 September 2012.[3]
Contents |
Early life
| Ashley Smith | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 29, 1988 New Brunswick, Canada |
| Died | October 19, 2007 Grand Valley Institution for Women, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | minor; young offender |
| Known for | death by self-inflicted strangulation while on suicide watch |
On 29 January 2006, Ashley Smith turned 18; on 29 July a motion was made under the Youth Criminal Justice Act to transfer her to an adult facility. Smith hired a lawyer to fight the transfer, but was unsuccessful. On October 5, Smith was transferred to the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre (SJRCC). Due to her behaviour at SJRCC, Smith spent most of her time there in segregation; she was tasered twice and pepper-sprayed once. On October 31, Smith was transferred to the Nova Institution for Women in Nova Scotia (a federal institution). Through 2007, Smith was transferred a total of 17 times between the following 8 institutions during 11 months in federal custody:[4]
- Nova Institution for Women, Truro, Nova Scotia
- Joliette Institution, Joliette, Quebec
- Regional Psychiatric Centre, Prairies, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- L’Institut Philippe-Pinel de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec
- Grand Valley Institution for Women, Kitchener, Ontario
- Grand River Hospital, Kitchener, Ontario
- St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital, St. Thomas, Ontario
- Central Nova Correctional Facility, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Death
While at Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario, on 16 October 2007, Smith requested transfer to a psychiatric facility; she was placed on a formal suicide watch on 18 October. In the early hours of 19 October, Smith was discovered in her cell with a ligature around her neck; guards did not immediately enter the cell and several hours passed before she was examined and pronounced dead.[5]Aftermath
On 25 October 2007, 3 guards and a supervisor at the Grand Valley Institution for Women were charged with criminal negligence causing death in relation to Smith's suicide; the warden and deputy warden were fired. The criminal charges were later dropped. On October 8, 2009, Smith's family launched an C$11 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Correctional Service of Canada, which was eventually settled in May 2011 for an undisclosed amount.[6]Documentaries by the fifth estate
Out of Control
On January 8, 2009, CBC News Network's the fifth estate broadcast a documentary about the case titled "Out of Control". In the documentary, reporter Hana Gartner describes Smith as a fourteen year old placed in a youth facility for one month in 2003 after throwing crab apples at the mailman. Smith was placed in solitary confinement after disruptive behavior on her first day. Her initial one month sentence would last almost four years, entirely in isolation, until her suicide in 2007. Often violent and unpredictable, her behaviours and the force required to intervene were always filmed and recorded, then listed on daily logs. Behaviour which Smith exhibited included many attempts at choking herself into unconsciousness; guards responding were often attacked by Smith, sometimes with weapons she'd manufactured and concealed.[1]The frequent "use of force" reports required to document responses became a source of concern for facility officials. According to an internal document obtained and partially read aloud by Gartner, eventually Corrections Canada administrators instructed guards and supervisors not to respond to self-strangling attempts by Smith, "...to ignore her, even if she was choking herself".[1] CSC officials kept transferring her to other facilities, preventing the implementation of a Canadian law requiring mandatory review of prisoners kept in isolation for more than sixty days[1]
After Smith's death, and the firing of both wardens and four directly-involved officers, the four officers were charged with negligent homicide. The spokesman for the union for the four guards alleges the guards were "scapegoated" by senior management: "There was daily direction given right from the highest levels of management all the way to the front line staff, and we're not talking once or twice, we're talking everyday, repeatedly, 'you are not to go in the cell; this is your orders'".[1] The union's spokesman relayed his organization's stance that the guards' prosecution was part of a cover up by those in CSC management.[1]
At the conclusion of the documentary, Smith's mother raises the question of responsibility: "Who gave that order, Hana?... Who gave the order to keep that child, we're talking about a child in the youth center, segregated that length of time? Who gave the order 'don't intervene' if she's still breathing?"[1] Guards saw the charges against them dropped. They were all reinstated, but declined to talk to the fifth estate. Correction Canada sees the case as closed, and while the current minister did talk to Hana Gartner, the Correctional Service of Canada refused any interviews with the reporter, while a lawsuit was pending.[1]
] Behind the Wall
A second documentary titled "Behind the Wall" was first broadcast on November 12, 2010, and looks at the case of another similar detainee, while probing more closely at a four-month period in Ashley Smith's detention while at Regional Psychiatric Centre, Prairies, Saskatoon. The program also depicts the two-year conflict between the fifth estate and CSC to broadcast more footage of the last days of Ashley Smith.[2]Inquests
2011 Inquest
The first coroner's inquest into Smith's suicide began in May 2011.[7] The inquest, initially led by deputy chief coroner Dr. Bonita Porter, was controversial; it was originally scheduled to begin in November 2010, but was delayed by a legal challenge by the Smith family.[8] As a result of this challenge, the scope of the inquest was broadened to cover the entire 11-month period of Smith's incarceration under the federal Correctional Service.[9] Further, a panel of judges with the Ontario Divisional Court ruled in May 2011 that Dr. Porter should not have excluded video evidence of Smith's forced medication at the Joliette Institution in Quebec.[10] On June 21, 2011, the proceedings of the inquest were suspended until September 12; the reason for the delay was apparently to allow the proceedings to be webcast.[11] In late June 2011, Dr. Porter was replaced as the presiding coroner, apparently due to her impending retirement in November 2011; the replacement presiding coroner was Dr. John R. Carlisle.[12] The sudden and unexpected replacement led Smith's family to formally accuse the chief coroner of interfering in the inquest with no legal basis; Dr. Porter had apparently indicated that she would deliver three outstanding rulings in July, days before the announcement of her replacement.[13] The inquest resumed briefly on 12 September, only to be suspended once again until 19 September, when the Smith family lawyer challenged the right of the new coroner to continue the inquest, and called for a mistrial.[14] On 30 September 2011, the Ontario Coroner's Office formally terminated the inquest and dismissed the jury.2012 Inquest
A second inquest began on 20 September 2012, opening with a hearing for those who wished to apply for standing at the proceedings.[3] Dr. John Carlisle continued as presiding coroner, and in a lengthy ruling released on 25 September 2012, granted standing at the inquest to Smith's family, prison authorities, inmate advocacy groups, and a group of current and former mental-health patients known as the Empowerment Council. Dr. Carlisle further widened the scope of the inquest to include the effects of long-term solitary confinement, repeated transfers between institutions across the country, the role of mental health care and the management of Smith as an inmate by prison authorities, and all youth-custody issues arising from Smith's death.[15]Motion hearings for the inquest took place on 23–24 October 2012.[16] Lawyers for the Correctional Service of Canada filed a motion to seal video materials and documents related to Smith's forced restraint and medication while incarcerated in the Quebec prison facility;[17] when the motion was denied by the presiding coroner, the government lawyers requested a temporary injunction to stay the inquest proceedings through Ontario Divisional Court. This motion was also denied and the video and documentary material will be available to the inquest, which will proceed as planned.[18]
Additionally, three doctors involved in Smith's treatment during her incarceration have challenged the expansion of the inquest to include events which took place outside the province of Ontario. Formal hearings for the inquest are scheduled to begin on 13 January 2013.[19]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Out of Control". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2009-2010/out_of_control/. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
- ^ a b c "Behind the Wall". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/behindthewall/. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ a b "Ashley Smith inquiry to resume Sept. 20". CBC News. 29 August 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/08/29/ashley-smith-ontario-inquest.html. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- ^ "17 Transfers". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/behindthewall/transfers.html. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ "Timeline". CBC News. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2010-2011/behindthewall/timeline.html. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Smith family settles C$11M suit". CBC News. 4 May 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/05/03/ashley-smith-family-settles-suit.html. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Smith inquiry begins Monday". CBC News. 15 May 2011. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/05/15/ashley-smith-inquest.html. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Smith suicide inquest delayed". CBC News. 29 September 2010. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2010/09/29/nb-ashley-smith-coroner.html. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Smith inquest broadened". CBC News. 12 November 2010. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/11/12/ashley-smith.html. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Smith coroner erred: panel". CBC News. 19 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/05/19/toronto-smith-seglins.html. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ "Christie Blatchford: Long-delayed Ashley Smith inquest off until September". http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/06/21/christie-blatchford-long-delayed-ashley-smith-inquest-off-until-september/. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ "New coroner to lead Ashley Smith inquest". CBC News. 29 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/06/29/ashley-smith-coroner-replaced.html. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Smith's family questions coroner's removal". CBC News. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/07/20/nb-family-ashley-smith-coroner-removal.html. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
- ^ "Ashley Smith inquest delayed again". CBC News. 12 September 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/story/2011/09/12/nb-smith-inquest-delayed.html. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Isolation, mental health probed in Ashley Smith jail death". CBC News. 25 September 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/09/25/toronto-ashley-smith-inquest.html. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ "Motion Hearing Dates For The Inquest Into The Death of Ashley Smith Announced". Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. 4 October 2012. http://www.mcscs.jus.gov.on.ca/english/DeathInvestigations/NewsReleases/OCC_release_smith_date_oct2012.html. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
- ^ "Ashley Smith family lawyer alleges 'coverup' of videos". CBC News. 15 October 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/15/ashley-smith-inquest-videos.html. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
- ^ "Ashley Smith inquest to see treatment videos". CBC News. 24 October 2012. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/10/24/toronto-ashley-smith-inquest.html. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
- ^ "Doctors fight scope of inquest into Ontario prison death of teenager Ashley Smith". National Post. 27 September 2012. http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/27/doctors-fight-scope-of-inquest-into-ontario-prison-death-of-teenager-ashley-smith/. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
