It's impossible to know whether an injury from a thrown trailer hitch eventually caused an Indigenous woman's death months later since she also suffered from liver disease, a defence lawyer argued in a Thunder Bay, Ont., court Wednesday.
In cross-examining a forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Barbara Kentner, lawyer George Joseph argued there was no medical certainty to be had in concluding the cause of death.
Brayden Bushby, 21, has admitted to throwing the hitch that hit Kentner in 2017 but has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter at the judge-alone trial.
Dr. Toby Rose has testified that injuries from the trailer hitch ruptured Kentner's small intestine and ultimately caused complications that led to the woman's death five months later.
Joseph argued, however, that there could be other explanations for Kentner's death.
"If I were to suggest to you, ma’am, that Ms. Kentner, had she never suffered a traumatic bowel rupture - you’re not in a position to dispute the fact that she could still have passed away on the 4th of July 2017 from her liver,” Joseph asked the pathologist.
"That would still be possible, correct,” Rose said.
Rose's autopsy has noted that Kentner's end-stage liver disease was a contributing condition in her death, but not the direct cause.
Joseph asked if Rose could define "how much" the hitch injury hastened Kentner's death.
"I believe that the injury and the complications of her injury hastened her death, but by how much, I don’t know," Rose told the court.
Rose agreed with Joseph that a lot of things can happen to complicate a patient's health in the time between an injury and death.
But she said it's not uncommon to connect an injury that occurred months or even years earlier to the cause of a death.
Under re-examination from Crown attorney Andrew Sadler, Rose said that Kentner's injury is a well-known cause of the type of infection that killed her.
The doctor said observations she made during the autopsy support her opinion that the hitch injury led to worsening health and eventually, death.
Bushby's trial began Monday and will hinge on the question of whether evidence proves that the man's actions contributed to Kentner's death.
Kentner's sister, who was with her at the time, has told the trial she remembers someone hanging out of a vehicle saying "I got one'' after the hitch was thrown.
The trial continues Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2020.
Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press
