Ontario woman appeals conviction in infant son’s death based on new medical evidence

An Ontario woman found guilty of manslaughter in the death of her infant son more than 20 years ago is asking the province’s top court to quash her conviction.

Jennifer Gaskin was convicted in 2002 in the death of her 2 1/2-month-old son Joeseph after two medical experts testified the child had died as a result of shaken baby syndrome.

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Significant concerns about that medical evidence emerged years later as the province examined shaken-baby cases from the mid-1980s to the mid-2000s, and Gaskin’s legal team eventually retained three more experts to look over the file.

Court documents say the three experts couldn’t rule out the possibility of an inflicted injury, but found Joeseph — a premature baby who spent the first two months of his life in hospital — could also have died from sudden infant death syndrome.

In its submissions ahead of today’s appeal hearing, the Crown says the new findings should be admitted as fresh evidence and Gaskin should be acquitted.

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It says the original expert evidence supporting her conviction has been “wholly undermined and placed in grave doubt.”