Judge agrees to withdraw woman’s manslaughter guilty plea in toddler stepson’s death

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/03/2023 (949 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman charged in the death of her two-year-old stepson has won her bid to withdraw her guilty plea to manslaughter.

Victoria Thiessen, 23, entered her guilty plea in 2021, but later filed a motion to withdraw it, arguing she had been pressured by police to confess and that her lawyers at the time had not properly informed her about the impact of her decision.

“It would not be in the interests of justice for Ms. Thiessen’s guilty plea to be maintained,” provincial court Associate Chief Judge Tracey Lord wrote in a decision delivered Monday.

Two-year-old Brett White died March 26, 2020, two days after he suffered a head injury while allegedly in Thiessen’s care.

Thiessen was “feeling overwhelmed” as she cared for Brett and two other young children, and was separating Brett and another child when she “lost her temper” and threw Brett across the room, Crown attorney Debbie Buors alleged when Thiessen entered her original guilty plea before Lord on July 6, 2021.

Thiessen initially told investigators Brett had fallen or had been struck by an older sibling. Police arrested Thiessen two weeks after Brett died, saying at the time her explanations did not account for the seriousness of his injuries.

Thiessen told court last summer she suffers from depression and anxiety and has a learning disability. She said during an 11-hour interrogation police did not allow her access to her anti-depressants.

Without medication, “I get really anxious and I have suicidal thoughts,” she said.

Thiessen said while she told investigators she was responsible for the child’s death, that was not true.

“I just wanted to get out of (the police interrogation)… I was so scared and anxious. An officer told me he just wanted to hear anything. I assumed it would get me out of there,” she said.

Thiessen’s lawyers at the time did not arrange for the preparation of a forensic psychiatric report prior to her entering her guilty plea. A subsequent report prepared by Dr. David Kolton confirmed she suffered a brain injury following a motor vehicle accident and had an “extremely low” IQ of 64.

Kolton, testifying at Thiessen’s motion to withdraw her guilty plea, said she had difficulty with problem-solving and abstract concepts such as “manslaughter” and “guilty plea.”

Thiessen said her lawyer at the time had negotiated a plea bargain with the Crown that would recommend she be sentenced to two years less a day in jail. She told the lawyer she didn’t assault the child but he “didn’t want to know what happened,” she said.

Thiessen said her lawyer told her there was a 50-50 chance she would be convicted if she took the matter to trial and she could face a sentence of six to 12 years.

A two-year-less-a-day sentence served at the Women’s Correctional Centre in Headingley would allow her to visit with her children once a week, while a conviction after trial would likely see her serving a prison sentence in Edmonton, with virtually no family contact, Thiessen said.

“Given that Ms. Thiessen was particularly concerned about maintaining contact with her children if sentenced to jail, this offer was an attractive one,” Lord said.

Thiessen’s then-lawyer told court an instruction document she signed indicated the Crown “may” join in a joint recommendation, but this was not explained to her.

Lord said she was not satisfied Thiessen was “fully informed about the consequences of her guilty plea. She was not advised that the joint recommendation was not a firm agreement, but a hopeful plan.”

Before entering a guilty plea, every accused is required to answer a series of questions called a “plea inquiry” to satisfy the court they understand what they are doing and that their guilty plea is voluntary.

Lord said when Thiessen entered her guilty plea there was “nothing apparent” in her answers or demeanour to suggest her plea should not be accepted.

“Had the court known of her potential difficulties, the plea inquiry could… have been more tailored to her needs,” she said.

Lord said the same cognitive issues that gave rise to Thiessen’s motion to withdraw her guilty plea could support an argument at trial her statement to police was not voluntary.

“In light of the fact the statement forms the foundation of the Crown’s case, this is significant,” Lord said.

The matter will proceed to trial, but no dates have yet been set.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca