Third trial finds mother guilty of manslaughter

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This article was published 24/04/2009 (6246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — MICHELLE Camire says she is a good mother who made a tragic mistake in a moment of sleep-deprived frustration. But a Winnipeg jury says Camire is a killer, finding she went too far in trying to quiet her temperamental triplet by throwing him into his bassinet and causing a fatal head injury.

Camire, 27, was convicted Thursday afternoon of manslaughter for the October 2004 death of her son, three-month-old Michael Helgason. The seven-man, five-woman jury needed only three hours to reach its verdict — a surprising development considering two prior trials against Camire ended with jurors unable to reach verdicts following days of deliberations.

"It’s the right decision," Crown attorney Brian Bell said outside court. He prosecuted Camire at her original trial in 2007, the retrial in 2008 and the third case, which began on Monday. The same evidence was used every time, with the only difference being the 12 citizens selected to hear each case.

A clearly upset Camire was comforted by her lawyer, Rod Brecht, upon hearing the verdict. Her sentencing will be held later this year and the Crown didn’t ask for her to be taken into custody. She quickly left court without speaking to reporters and remains free on bail. There is no mandatory minimum sentence for manslaughter, and Camire will no doubt be seeking a community-based sentence that keeps her out of jail. It’s not known if the Crown will be seeking custody.

Camire contacted the Free Press earlier this month, pleading with the newspaper not to cover her latest trial for the sake of her three other children.

"It’s taken me a long time to get the courage to contact you. I’m asking that you please leave me and my case alone. What you may not know is that I am a part of my kids’ lives. No matter what the outcome of this third trial — I will be with my children. I’m begging you, please leave us be," she wrote.

Camire claimed Michael’s death was a tragic accident, not a criminal act. In closing arguments Wednesday, Brecht said his client acted like any other parent when she threw Michael into his crib and he urged jurors to put themselves in the shoes of Camire and find her not guilty.

"Unless you’ve been in a similar circumstance… it may be difficult to appreciate what she was feeling," Brecht said. "Throwing Michael into a padded bassinet was never meant to be an assault on him. Many loving and caring parents may throw their children into a crib."

Camire knows she was too rough with her son and must live with regrets, he said. But convicting her would cause "our justice system to be swamped with otherwise loving and caring parents" who make similar mistakes.

"There are circumstances where a frustrated parent may handle their child in a rough manner without meaning to assault them," he said.

The Crown told jurors the best evidence against Camire came in her frantic 911 call after finding her son wasn’t breathing.

"My three-month-old baby, I’ve killed him. I was tired and frustrated earlier, and I slammed him down when I put him down… Oh my God, what has mommy done. I’m going to go to jail, aren’t I?" she said. The operator began instructing Camire on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Camire wept and repeatedly asked how could she do such a thing to her baby.

Michael was pronounced dead after he was rushed to hospital from the family’s Rothesay Street townhouse. He suffered a fractured skull and severe brain injury. Doctors concluded a "considerable" amount of force was used to cause the fatal injury.

www.mikeoncrime.com