A hearing into the conviction of a Calgary woman found guilty in the March 2013 death of her seven-year-old son Ryan has been adjourned until Nov. 17.
Through a so-called Jordan application, Tamara Lovett‘s lawyer is seeking to have her conviction overturned because of delays in the legal proceedings.
Lovett was found guilty in her son’s death in January.
Lovett treated Ryan with dandelion tea and oil of oregano instead of giving him antibiotics when he developed an infection that kept him bedridden for 10 days.
Justice Kristine Eidsvik said Lovett “gambled away” his life by diagnosing what remedies would be useful without seeking medical help.
During the course of the trial, court heard Lovett and her son lived in extreme poverty.
Watch below from Jan. 23: Tamara Lovett was found responsible for the death of her young son. Tracy Nagai reports.
Barabara La Pointe, a former friend of Lovett, testified Lovett would often drop Ryan off at La Pointe’s home for extended periods of time while she did odd jobs.
La Pointe described the pair’s home as “a building of people living in the darkest realms of poverty.”
Lovett was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death.
At a September sentencing hearing, the Crown asked for between four and five years; the defence asked for one year plus probation.
But the Jordan application could see the conviction overturned, due to postponements in the proceedings.
Several times during Tuesday’s hearing, Eisdvik questioned the trial delays taking place in Alberta and across the country.
At one point she said, “What’s up in Canada that this issue keeps coming up…that we can’t have reasonable times for trials?”
“Why in other jurisdictions can they do it? I don’t get it,” Eidsvik said.
Lovett’s lawyer contends 38 months passed between Lovett’s arrest and her trial.
But the Crown argues it was only 32 months, and that the defence’s busy schedule actually got in the way of setting a trial date in June 2016 instead of November the same year.
The Supreme Court Jordan ruling stipulates delays should not exceed 30 months in superior courts.
It has led to charges being dismissed in cases across the country.
If the court agrees with the defence’s arguments, the proceedings could be stayed, and Lovett’s conviction ultimately annulled.
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