WINNIPEG – Police investigators returned Wednesday with a warrant to the home of the woman charged in the case of six dead infants found in a Winnipeg storage locker, while lawyers clashed in court over autopsies.
Crown attorneys and the defence lawyer for Andrea Giesbrecht, the woman accused of concealing the infants bodies, are at loggerheads.
An emergency motion was filed Tuesday seeking to halt the autopsies on the infants found in a U-Haul storage locker October 20th until an independent, defence-appointed pathologist can attend and observe as evidence is gathered.
READ MORE: Woman charged after six infant bodies found in storage locker
Greg Brodsky, Giesbrecht’s lawyer, initially made the request during a bail hearing on Oct. 23, but the judge said a formal motion would have to be filed.
Brodsky told an emergency hearing Wednesday that his pathologist would observe the examination “with his hands in his pockets and Velcro on his mouth.”
It’s an unprecedented move that Crown attorneys are fighting.
“All I want is for a pathologist to attend and observe, that’s all I want. He’s not to direct anything, he’s not to participate in the autopsy, except to look. There’s nothing to hide,” said Brodsky.
Giesbrecht was present in court, listening intently and showing no emotion. She is charged with six counts of concealing a body and one count of breaching probation.
When Brodsky spoke to Global News last week he said this was “a weird case, a very difficult case, a case that should be investigated thoroughly,” and that’s why he was filing the motion.
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READ MORE: Bail hearing Nov. 12 for woman arrested in Winnipeg dead babies case
During the heated hearing, the medical examiner’s office stated 90 per cent of the autopsies are complete. But those results will remain under wraps until the judge rules on the emergency court application.
Last week it was reported the infants’ bodies were found in individual containers with liquid inside. The medical examiner is working to determine if that liquid was meant to help prevent or to help speed up decomposition.
READ MORE: Infants’ remains found in Winnipeg storage locker
Police have said it could take months of forensic examination before they figure out how the infants died and whether they were full term.
The hearing is adjourned until Friday morning.
— With files from Ashley Carter and The Canadian Press
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