Final Judgement: unedited copy and comparative Analysis

The order:  The good - The Bad - the inaccurate?

The Ezekiel Stephan case has been one of the most controversial cases in Canadian History.  All sides have cried foul.  

The Stephans complained about withheld evidence that would have severely damaged the crowns case as well as falsified reports used to prosecute them.  

The legal community claims they have been damaged by the negative publicity and the media has made bank off of inaccurate and contradictory reports that have sold papers and attracted viewership from around the globe.

The public has cried out over the medical cutbacks that led to an ambulance being de-stocked of pediatric equipment and parents across Canada have begun to fear prosecution over the use of things like vitamin C and an inability to diagnose their children above the ability of medical professionals.  

At the end of the case, evidence that David had been previously been profiled by Alberta Justice as possibly armed and dangerous surfaced.  His work with Truehope, a company who has repeatedly sued and been sued by the Government Of Canada over Constitutional and Charter Rights infringements has led many people to conclude that this case is just the tip of the iceberg.
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So here we are... Some say this is the end of a long and conflicted case, others say there is more to come.  Lets take a look at what was actually in the order and what the implications are for the Stephans.  As there are a significant number of items in the order we are going to pick just a few of the more obvious ones today.

The Good

Justice rules, it was not abuse, parents are caring and attentive, of good character, stable and responsible.  They were not found guilty in Ezekiel's death

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The Bad

The Justice found that the Stephans were guilty of endangering the life of Ezekiel on March 12th as a result of not taking him in to see a doctor.  He found that a day later the swelling in his brain resulted breathing cessation and then cardiac arrest. 

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The inaccurate

It is important to note that in a case that has over six weeks of evidence, the most emotionally significant evidence is the evidence that will likely be remembered.  As such, Judges and Jurys often do not place the weight they should on the often dry and stark medical records.  It is for this reason that we believe evidence relied on to come to the conclusions was contradictory to the paramedics report, CT scans, radiologist report, 911 call transcripts and findings of fact.

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CT scans show no signs of tonsilar herniation that would take place before compression would result in breathing cessation.

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Paramedics reported that Ezekiel's appearance was ashen and not blue.  The two colors mean very different things with respect to oxygenation

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The radiologist report found that Ezekiel's brain injury was the result of Hypoxic Insult and was lacking herniation that would have taken place if he had meningitis related injuries.

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911 call transcripts and events referenced in the findings of fact show the symptoms of Ezekiel's passing as related to the sudden onset of tracheal constriction.  Possibly the result of a second virus he had contracted after recovering from the first. 

Although I have found over 35 such items in the findings of fact, these are the most obvious and easy to compare.  Please feel free to view the full text copy of the judgement below.

David and Collet Stephan Final Judgement Unedited

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