Another medical examiner will be asked to review evidence in two Red Deer court cases that are affected by a sweeping investigation into the potentially flawed work of a Calgary pathologist.
“We are satisfied that we can deal with these cases by calling in another medical examiner to go over the material,” said Anders Quist, the chief Crown prosecutor in Red Deer.
“The Crown will not be calling Dr. Belenky as a witness in either case,” Quist added.
A dozen autopsy reports done by former Calgary pathologist Dr. Michael Belenky are being reviewed by an Alberta Justice investigation after one of Belenky’s findings was found to be wrong by Calgary police.
Spotting one obvious mistake brings Belenky’s other findings into question, said Alberta Justice spokesman David Dear, explaining the need for a review.
Dear didn’t want to say specifically which Red Deer cases involved autopsy reports done by Belenky because the court cases are still active and he did not want to prejudice them.
But he said there are nine affected cases in Alberta that are still before the courts — seven alleged homicides and two alleged criminal negligence causing death cases.
People involved were informed that the evidence will be reviewed by another medical examiner, said Dear.
Quist said the Crown prosecutors’ office is confident that there’s enough evidence to move ahead with the two Red Deer cases.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com