Canada - Ezekiel Stephan, 19 mos, dies of meningitis, 13 March 2012

[YESorNO]

Global Lethbridge‏Verified account @GlobalLeth 21h21 hours ago
Former Chief Medical Examiner took stand in David and Collet Stephan retrial Monday & disputed findings of autopsy performed on 18-mth-old Ezekiel https://trib.al/WxQngjm #yql #abcourt #abjustice

Former Alberta Chief Medical Examiner takes stand in David and Collet Stephans’ retrial (with clip)

August 26, 2019

"About a dozen family and friends of David and Collet Stephan filled the courtroom Monday and heard Alberta’s former Chief Medical Examiner dispute the findings of the autopsy performed on the Stephans’ 18-month-old son....

Dr. Anny Sauvageau was Alberta’s Chief Medical Examiner from 2011 to 2014. She took the stand in a voir dire, with the defence going through her qualifications as an expert forensic pathologist.

Sauvageau is responsible for hiring Dr. Bamidele Adeagbo, the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Ezekiel.

Adeagbo spent several days on the stand throughout the trial, testifying it was clear the child had died from bacterial meningitis.

However, Sauvageau told court she disagrees, noting that while the autopsy did find meningitis, it wasn’t the cause of his death.

In a report Sauvageau wrote on Ezekiel’s death, she concluded he died from hypoxic brain injury after a medical misadventure — referring to when he was without oxygen for about nine minutes while being transported to the hospital in an ambulance.

The defence pointed out Sauvageau’s extensive research in asphyxia, a condition that occurs when the body is deprived of oxygen, and she testified that some people consider her a leading expert on the topic.

Adeagbo told court earlier in the trial that while hypoxic injury could have been a possibility, there was no evidence showing it.

His testimony was given entirely in a voir dire as defence questioned his qualifications as an expert on forensic pathology. The judge has since ruled to accept his testimony into evidence.

Sauvageau is expected to be on the stand for most of this week."

Former Alberta Chief Medical Examiner takes stand in David and Collet Stephans’ retrial

 

[YESorNO]

Stephan trial could wrap up this week

Aug 26, 2019

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The case of the death of 19-month-old Ezekiel Stephan from March 2012 resumed this week and could be near its conclusion.

Justice Terry Clackson said Monday that he wants to finish the trial by the end of the day Friday, August 30th...."

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2019/08/26/stephan-trial-could-wrap-up-this-week/

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Stephan told Justice T.D. Clackson that while former medical examiner Bamidele Adeagbo’s file was 204 pages long, there were 661 pages he never received that would have helped him during the autopsy of 18-month-old Ezekiel.

Missing, Stephan said, were lab reports, nurse’s notes, doctors’ consultation notes of the first hour of the child’s critical care, an ambulance report showing Ezekiel could not be intubated and went without oxygen for more than eight minutes, a radiology report showing swelling on the brain from lack of oxygen, a CT scan that ruled out bacterial meningitis, and even transcripts of Stephan’s 911 call.

Stephan said Adeagbo believed Ezekiel was dead long before the 911 call, yet if he had received the recording, he would have heard the child breathing in the background.

Stephan said files were “cherry picked” and information that was “pertinent” to the case was missing.
Closing arguments begin for Stephans

 

[katydid23]

If I was a juror, this is what I would be wondering about.

Both of these Medical Examiners agreed that the child did have meningitis.

One said that was the cause of his death.

The defence said, yes, he had meningitis, but his death was caused because the child didn't have proper oxygen mask on the ambulance ride from his home.


Does this^^^ help the parents much? That child, which did in fact suffer from Meningitis, was kept home, until his illness was so critical and severe, that he couldn't survive 9 minutes without an oxygen machine ?

That seems to imply that the parents were negligent, correct?

 

[YESorNO]

Delon Shurtz‏ @DShurtzHerald 17h17 hours ago
Defence has concluded its case in David and Collet Stephan's necessaries of life trial. Closing arguments have begun.#yql

 

[YESorNO]

If I was a juror, this is what I would be wondering about.

Both of these Medical Examiners agreed that the child did have meningitis.

One said that was the cause of his death.

The defence said, yes, he had meningitis, but his death was caused because the child didn't have proper oxygen mask on the ambulance ride from his home.


Does this^^^ help the parents much? That child, which did in fact suffer from Meningitis, was kept home, until his illness was so critical and severe, that he couldn't survive 9 minutes without an oxygen machine ?

That seems to imply that the parents were negligent, correct?

BBM That's how I see it. If they had a MD for Ezekiel, his death wouldn't have happened, IMO.

 

[katydid23]

Toddler who died of meningitis could have lived if ambulance had proper equipment: medical expert

Toddler who died of meningitis could have lived if ambulance had proper equipment: medical expert
Court has heard how Ezekiel Stephan's parents gave him natural remedies, including smoothies with hot peppers and horseradish because they thought he had croup and the flu

The medical examiner has testified the boy died of bacterial meningitis but Sauvageau said the boy likely had viral meningitis and she has never seen a child die of that form of the disease.

Sauvageau said Ezekiel died because paramedics couldn’t establish an airway quickly and he probably would have been fine if the ambulance had the proper equipment.

He also told the jury that an endotracheal tube managed to provide the child with some oxygen, but it was only partially effective because the tube was also the wrong size. He said by that time the toddler had been without oxygen for more than eight minutes.
==================================================================

So, in my opinion, this proves how seriously ill this poor child was, by the time he was taken in for treatment.

I suppose it is partially the ambulance company's fault if they didn't have all the proper size tubing available.

But it shouldn't have been a situation where this toddler was home for weeks, with a severe illness, and was not given proper medical intervention until things were so critical.


They couldn't establish an airway. He wasn't breathing on his own. That is how severely ill this poor baby was by the time he was transported to the hospital.

 

[YESorNO]

Defense lawyer presents closing arguments in Stephan trial

Aug 28, 2019

"...Defense Lawyer Shawn Buckley, however, painted the picture in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench that the family did everything they could to keep their son alive.

When Ezekiel first became sick, Buckley recounted that Collet Stephan had phoned the Lethbridge Naturopath Medical Clinic and spoke to the receptionist for Tracey (Pike) Tannis. At the time, Collet thought Ezekiel might have meningitis and was looking for something to boost his immune system.

The receptionist recommended a product, which was given to Ezekiel in the recommended doses.

When it appeared he was getting better, the family took him off of the supplements. After a 48 hour period where Buckley claims things were looking up for the child, he “went lethargic” and “suddenly stopped breathing”.

Fast forward to when Ezekiel was at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, Buckley told court that the statements made by the parents to police were not completely reliable.

At this point, Collet and David had been awake for the last 43 and 45 hours respectively, only being able to doze off for no more than half an hour at one point. David went into a self-imposed 30-hour fast.

David Stephan described themselves as being “emotionally traumatized”, especially after being told by doctors that their son could “die at any moment” and were being asked to give statements to several doctors....

Given that doctors at the time believed Ezekiel died of bacterial meningitis, that is what they told to police.

As well, Buckley said the while doctors did mention that he underwent several seizures, meaning a “sudden, uncontrolled electrical disturbance in the brain”, the parents misinterpreted that to mean Ezekiel had passed out of conciousness and mentioned that to police as well.

The defense told Justice Terry Clackson that no one under these conditions would be in the right state of mind to give an accurate statement. Essentially, he argued that David and Collet Stephan “confessed to a crime that they did not commit”....

Following Buckley’s closing statements, it was David Stephan’s turn as he is self-representing in the case.

By the time Justice Clackson called him up to make his presentation, Stephan said that he had not finished putting his arguments together, but started with what he had.

He had serious concerns with the way that the autopsy was performed by Dr. Bamidele Adeagbo, claiming that there was missing and tampered evidence....

David Stephan is expected to finish his closing arguments Thursday morning, while another defense lawyer and the Crown Prosecutors are expected to do so Thursday as well.

Justice Clakson wants to see the trial wrap up by the end of Friday."

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2019/08/28/defense-lawyer-presents-closing-arguments-in-stephan-trial/

 

[YESorNO]

Doctors disagree on cause of Ezekiel Stephan’s death

Aug 27, 2019

"LETHBRIDGE, AB – Dr. Anny Sauvigeau returned to the stand Tuesday to continue her testimony into the death of the 19-month-old in March of 2012.

At the time, she was the Chief Medical Examiner with Alberta Health Services and hired Dr. Bamidele Adeagbo to be the lead coroner.

The two have made it clear that they did not agree on the cause of death for Ezekiel, the child of David and Collet Stephan, who are each on trial for one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life...."

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2019/08/27/doctors-disagree-on-cause-of-ezekiel-stephans-death/

 

[YESorNO]

David Stephan argues in closing that medical professionals failed son who died of meningitis

Aug 29, 2019

"...Stephan, who is representing himself, said in his final arguments Thursday that evidence suggests a failure to properly intubate his son by medical professionals is the real reason Ezekiel died....

Stephan also told the judge he feels there were elements of prejudice against him and his wife because they were "sovereign citizens" — people who refuse to accept the legitimacy of the government or the court systems...."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calg...idge-meningitis-toddler-death-trial-1.5264901

 

[YESorNO]

David Stephan claims prejudice at Alberta Children’s Hospital because they are “sovereign citizens”

Aug 29, 2019

"...In his remarks, he claimed that the couple were victims of prejudice at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.

Lethbridge News Now asked Stephan about this during a break in the court proceedings.

“When we got into the Alberta Children’s Hospital, there was warnings going out to the Child and Family Services Agents, to the doctors, to the police officers, anyone who was engaging with us, that we were sovereign citizens. It eventually grew into being fundamentalist mormons, they were concerned we were going to bury the body of Ezekiel in our property. There was just a lot of misconceptions about who we were that created a state of prejudice where people would have had more of a motive to engage in withholding the evidence or that would have tainted the evidence.”

The definition of sovereign citizen, according to Wiffen Litigation, reads as follows:

“While these sovereign citizen groups take many forms, a common thread is their refusal to accept the legitimacy of the government or the court systems. As some courts across Canada have seen, this is not a movement that is isolated to the US.”

Stephan, however, seemed to not be entirely sure of the phrase’s meaning.

“I’m not even sure what a sovereign citizen is, because, if I understand it somewhat correctly, somebody who has been labeled as that is saying that they are not even a citizen. The whole concept of a sovereign citizen is confusing to me at best, but anyways, I think many times the term is freeman as well.”

At the time, Stephan goes on to elaborate that people using the term sovereign citizen “were being classified alongside radical Islamic terrorists and stuff like that, so it was really an aggravating circumstance for all the police officers that showed up on scene.”

“That’s why there was six police officers that did show up from the Calgary Police Service is because they had been warned off and they were concerned about me being heavily armed and all that.”

Despite this, Stephan does not believe that the use of the term sovereign citizen both at the Children’s Hospital and in court will have any impact on the judge’s ruling.

Later Thursday afternoon, Crown Prosecutor Britta Kristensen is expected to make her closing arguments...."

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2019/...hospital-because-they-are-sovereign-citizens/

 

[YESorNO]

David Stephan argues medical professionals failed son who died of meningitis (with clip)

August 29, 2019

"An Alberta man whose son had meningitis told court Thursday that the Crown has failed to prove he and his wife were responsible for the boy’s death and it was a poorly stocked ambulance that was the problem....

Jason Demers, arguing on behalf of Collet Stephan, said the parents thought they were doing the right thing in caring for Ezekiel.

“They are not stupid and I would submit to you that if they believed there was a problem they would have taken Ezekiel to a hospital,” Demers told Justice Terry Clackson, who is hearing the case without a jury.

“These parents are still looking for answers. They still don’t quite understand how it happened. It’s been a quest for truth for them for seven years.”

Not even a prudent parent makes the right decision all of the time, Demers said.

“Parenting, like the practice of medicine, is not like looking in a crystal ball,” he said. “Bad things happen to good children without rhyme or reason and bad things happen to good parents.”"

David Stephan argues medical professionals failed son who died of meningitis

 

[YESorNO]

Delon Shurtz‏ @DShurtzHerald 15h15 hours ago
Defence and the Crown in David and Collet Stephan's necessaries of life trial have concluded their closing arguments. Justice Terry Clackson is expected to give his decision Sept. 19.#yql
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Judge to make ruling on Stephan trial September 19th

Aug 29, 2019

"LETHBRIDGE, AB – In three weeks time, David and Collet Stephan will learn their fate...

In the original trial in 2016, a jury found the pair guilty. This trial, however, does not have a jury and will solely be up to Justice Terry Clackson."

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2019/08/29/judge-to-make-ruling-on-stephan-trial-september-19th/

 

[YESorNO]

'Bad things happen to good parents,' defence argues at trial of Alberta couple in son's meningitis death

Aug 29, 2019

"...The Stephans have testified that they originally thought Ezekiel had croup, an upper airway infection, and that they treated him with natural remedies, including a tincture of garlic, onion and horseradish added to a smoothie.

They said he appeared to be recovering at times and they saw no reason to take him to hospital despite his having a fever and lacking energy.

A family friend, who is a nurse and midwife, testified that she advised Collet to get a medical opinion the day before the boy stopped breathing. The friend feared "something more internal like meningitis."

"It's the Stephans failure to respond to what I would say to increasingly alarming information or feedback from their child during that period of time," said Crown prosecutor Britta Kristensen in her closing argument Thursday.

"Both parents knew the child had meningitis."

Kristensen said by doing so the Stephans endangered Ezekiel's life.

"Knowing that he had meningitis — there were forms of it that are fatal and fast acting — it was incumbent on them to see a doctor and a doctor's supervision," she said.

"There was no decision to take him to a physician notwithstanding his declining health over the next two days.".....

"It is my position that the Crown has not proven its case," said Stephan. "I respectfully ask that it be a not guilty verdict."...

Justice Clackson said he would render his verdict on Sept. 19."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calg...idge-meningitis-toddler-death-trial-1.5264901

 

[musicaljoke]

David Stephan claims prejudice at Alberta Children’s Hospital because they are “sovereign citizens”

Aug 29, 2019

"...In his remarks, he claimed that the couple were victims of prejudice at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary.

Lethbridge News Now asked Stephan about this during a break in the court proceedings.

“When we got into the Alberta Children’s Hospital, there was warnings going out to the Child and Family Services Agents, to the doctors, to the police officers, anyone who was engaging with us, that we were sovereign citizens. It eventually grew into being fundamentalist mormons, they were concerned we were going to bury the body of Ezekiel in our property. There was just a lot of misconceptions about who we were that created a state of prejudice where people would have had more of a motive to engage in withholding the evidence or that would have tainted the evidence.”

The definition of sovereign citizen, according to Wiffen Litigation, reads as follows:

“While these sovereign citizen groups take many forms, a common thread is their refusal to accept the legitimacy of the government or the court systems. As some courts across Canada have seen, this is not a movement that is isolated to the US.”

Stephan, however, seemed to not be entirely sure of the phrase’s meaning.

“I’m not even sure what a sovereign citizen is, because, if I understand it somewhat correctly, somebody who has been labeled as that is saying that they are not even a citizen. The whole concept of a sovereign citizen is confusing to me at best, but anyways, I think many times the term is freeman as well.”

At the time, Stephan goes on to elaborate that people using the term sovereign citizen “were being classified alongside radical Islamic terrorists and stuff like that, so it was really an aggravating circumstance for all the police officers that showed up on scene.”

“That’s why there was six police officers that did show up from the Calgary Police Service is because they had been warned off and they were concerned about me being heavily armed and all that.”

Despite this, Stephan does not believe that the use of the term sovereign citizen both at the Children’s Hospital and in court will have any impact on the judge’s ruling.

Later Thursday afternoon, Crown Prosecutor Britta Kristensen is expected to make her closing arguments...."

https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2019/...hospital-because-they-are-sovereign-citizens/

Stephan's closing remarks are completely loopy. He was treated with prejudice? That's his defense?

 

[YESorNO]

Verdict day for David and Collet Stephan, accused of failing to take dying toddler to doctor

Sep 19, 2019

"An Alberta couple accused of failing to take their dying toddler to a doctor will learn today whether they are guilty following a retrial. ..."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/david-collet-stephan-ezekiel-trial-decision-1.5288343
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David and Collet Stephan, charged in toddler son’s death, to learn fate from judge (with clip)

Sep 19, 2019

"...Timeline of the case

Aug. 20, 2010: Ezekiel Stephan is born at home with the help of birthing assistant Terry Meynders, who is also a registered nurse.

Feb. 27, 2012: Ezekiel takes ill at the family home in Glenwood, Alta. His mother would describe him at trial as having a cold, stuffy nose and trouble breathing.

Feb. 28-March 5, 2012: The parents treat Ezekiel for what they believe to be an upper airway infection that leads to a barking cough. They add tinctures with garlic, hot peppers and horseradish to some of his smoothies. They also attempt to help his breathing with cool air and a humidifier.

March 5, 2012: Ezekiel seems to improve. His father later testifies that the boy is not 100 per cent, but no longer has any difficulty breathing and is able to go to preschool. He plays with his toys and eats some solid food.

March 6, 2012: Ezekiel is “unusually lethargic,” lies in bed the entire day and his only response is to moan unhappily. He doesn’t eat or drink and is exhibiting unusual neurological symptoms.

March 7, 2012: Ezekiel seems to improve again. His abnormal movements stop and he can watch TV, but still isn’t playing normally.

March 8-10, 2012: Ezekiel’s parents note that he seems to be gradually improving. He regains a bit of his appetite, but is not active or playful.

March 11, 2012: Ezekiel’s symptoms worsen again. He refuses to eat or drink and is lethargic. His parents notice his body is very stiff.

March 12, 2012: Ezekiel’s body remains stiff. He is getting fluids through an eyedropper because he will not drink on his own. Meynders comes to the home and suggests he might have viral meningitis. She tells Collet Stephan she should take the boy to a doctor.

March 13, 2012: The Stephans head to Lethbridge, Alta., to pick up an echinacea mixture from a naturopath. At home that evening, the boy stops breathing on a couple of occasions before his parents leave home to meet an ambulance. The breathing equipment in the ambulance is too large for a small child and he is without oxygen for nearly nine minutes. Ezekiel is taken to two area hospitals before he is transported to Calgary by air.

March 14, 2012: Ezekiel arrives at Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, where doctors tell the parents the boy is showing little brain activity and the prognosis is bleak. He is put on life support.

March 16, 2012: Ezekiel dies.

Feb. 14, 2013: The Stephans are charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.

April 27, 2016: A jury finds both parents guilty.

June 24, 2016: David Stephan is sentenced to four months in jail and his wife to three months of house arrest. They say they will appeal.

Nov. 17, 2017: The Alberta Court of Appeal upholds the convictions but, because the ruling wasn’t unanimous, the Stephans have an automatic right to take their case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

May 15, 2018: The Supreme Court quashes the convictions and orders a new trial.

June 3, 2019: The second trial begins in Lethbridge, Alta., this time before a judge alone. Originally scheduled to last four weeks, it stretches out over three months.

Sept. 19, 2019: Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Terry Clackson is scheduled to hand down his verdict."

David and Collet Stephan, charged in toddler son’s death, to learn fate from judge

 

[katydid23]

WOW, we find out the verdict today?

 

[YESorNO]

WOW, we find out the verdict today?

I'm waiting for some news...

 

[katydid23]

Alberta parents David and Collet Stephan found not guilty in their toddler's meningitis death after 2nd trial

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/david-collet-stephan-ezekiel-trial-decision-1.5288343

 

[katydid23]

Alberta's former chief medical officer, Dr. Anny Sauvageau, had told court she does not believe Ezekial actually died from bacterial meningitis.

Sauvageau said she believes the toddler in fact died of viral meningitis, rather than the bacterial form. She also suggested Ezekiel might have lived had the first ambulance to Cardston been better equipped to treat a child his age with breathing difficulties.

In his written decision, the judge wrote that he accepted Sauvageau's opinion.

"In this case, we know there is no specific treatment that is effective for viral meningitis," Clarkson wrote.

"It follows that the Crown did not prove medical attention would have saved (Ezekial's) life or that if he had viral meningitis and it was life-threatening (which is not established in the evidence), medical attention even could have saved his life."