By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Collet Stephan cross examines doctor during couple’s case management hearing in Lethbridge

Mar 1, 2019 | 3:31 PM

LETHBRIDGE – It was not something Collet Stephan was prepared for or anticipated doing – cross-examining the child-abuse pediatrician who questioned her on March 15, 2012, the day before her 19-month-old son Ezekiel died of meningitis.

But that’s what she did Friday, in Court of Queens Bench in Lethbridge, sometimes taking several minutes between questions, and appearing confused at times while frequently consulting her husband David.

David had anticipated cross-examining Calgary’s Dr. Jennifer D’Mello, however Justice J.D. Rooke told him because it was Collet who was interviewed by the doctor seven years ago, and he was not her lawyer, that only his wife could do it.

A two-week case management or pre-trial hearing is underway in Court of Queen’s Bench in Lethbridge, ahead of a new trial that was ordered for the Stephans by the Supreme Court of Canada last year, after it found the judge in the Stephan’s original case erred in his instructions to the jury.

The hearing will determine what information will be allowed during the new trial in early June.

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As a Crown witness, Dr. D’Mello described her dual role as an emergency department physician at Calgary Children’s Hospital, and as a child abuse consultant who was asked by various doctors on many occasions, to identify as best as possible whether a child had possibly been abused and whether any other possibilities for injury or illness existed.

D’Mello described how she had spoken with Collet in a sit-down interview in Ezekiel’s hospital room in the Intensive Care Unit. Questions included what led up to the child’s hospitalization, and past health and medical history, including the last time Ezekiel had been completely healthy.

The Stephans are currently representing themselves, after they failed to submit applications for a court-appointed lawyer. Collet asked that David act as her “Mackenzie Friend,” or support person, during the cross- examination.

She asked  Dr. D’Mello why she didn’t identify herself initially as a child-abuse consultant and whether it amounted to “trickery”, to which the doctor replied she was not trying to “trick” anyone, and that she felt it might be difficult for the family to understand why she might be in attendance, or that it may affect the family’s subsequent relationship with the health care staff.

D’Mello was also asked whether she told the Stephans they were not required to speak with her, to which she responded, “no.” Other questions included whether D’Mello had known of, or was told about any other reason for Ezekiel’s brain swelling other than meningitis, whether there may have been any hypoxic injuries to the child (oxygen deprivation) and whether Ezekiel appeared to be stiff.

The doctor replied that she didn’t recall anything to suggest illness outside of meningitis, that she did not recall anything on Ezekiel’s charts that she had noticed regarding hypoxic injuries, and that because Ezekiel had so much medical equipment in and around him in the ICU, she didn’t want to move it.

Several questions were also disallowed by Justice Rooke, including those he deemed speculative, inappropriate or irrelevant- including one regarding whether D’Mello felt a specific doctor was “intimidating.”

“That is not a proper line of questioning,” said Rooke.

Earlier in the week, court once again heard both David and Collet’s initial police interviews, and testimony from Crown witnesses with Alberta Child and Family Services.

The case management hearing is expected to continue next week and a four- week trial will begin June 3.

The Stephans were found guilty following their original trial in 2016 of failing to provide the necessaries of life for their 19-month-old son Ezekiel, who died of meningitis in 2012. David received a four-month sentence in jail, while Collet was given three months of house arrest.