TORONTO - Both the defence and the Crown are asking Ontario's highest court to acquit a man who pleaded guilty in the death of his infant son 19 years ago.
Dinesh Kumar was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his five-week-old son Gaurov but pleaded to criminal negligence causing death.
Dr. Charles Smith, who is described as having a God-like reputation at the time but has since been disgraced, concluded Gaurov died of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
New opinions from various medical experts have found that while Smith's conclusion would have been the prevailing view of the time, it is no longer scientifically valid.
Kumar's lawyer, James Lockyer, writes in court documents that Kumar accepted the plea because of the weight of Smith's evidence and he was told he could avoid deportation to India.
In material filed with the Court of Appeal for Ontario, both Kumar's defence and Crown lawyers call for the conviction to be set aside and an acquittal entered at a scheduled Jan. 17 hearing.
