An Alberta court is scheduled to hear the Crown’s appeal of the acquittal of David and Collet Stephan on June 11.
In September 2019, the couple was found not guilty in the 2012 death of their 18-month-old son Ezekiel, who died in 2012.
At trial, the couple had testified they thought their son had croup and used herbal remedies to treat him, but called for an ambulance after he had stopped breathing.
In his ruling, Justice Terry Clackson sided with an expert for the defence, who said the child died from a lack of oxygen and not bacterial meningitis, as reported by the original medical examiner.
In his decision, the judge noted the Nigerian-born medical examiner spoke with an accent and was hard to understand.
The Crown believes the judge took into account “irrelevant considerations” in his ruling.
Its appeal also claims the judge erred by insisting prosecutors had to prove taking the toddler to the doctor would have saved the boy’s life.
WATCH: (Sep. 28, 2019) The justice who found David and Collet Stephan not guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life to their 18-month-old son is now the subject of a letter of complaint. It’s signed by more than 40 medical and law experts and alleges he made comments that may be perceived as racism. Jasmine Bala reports.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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