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Dr. Brian Nadler acquitted of murder, negligence charges
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# 'A day of vindication': Dr. Brian Nadler acquitted of murder,
negligence charges
Nadler's lawyer successfully argued the Crown's expert witness was not
properly qualified to speak to issues 'that were central to this case,
namely the cause of death'.
Published Jul 02, 2024 • Last updated 9 hours ago • 4 minute read
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July 2, 2024 — Dr. Brian Nadler walks into court in Ottawa Tuesday.
Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia
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Dr. Brian Nadler's defence lawyers called it "a day of vindication" as
the former Hawkesbury doctor was acquitted Tuesday of four first-
degree murder charges and four counts of criminal negligence causing
death.
Nadler's high-profile murder trial was set to commence Tuesday, but he
was acquitted of all counts after the Crown declined to call any
evidence or witnesses to testify on behalf of the prosecution.
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Nadler replied, "Not guilty," as each of the eight charges was read
into the court record.
After the Crown elected to call no evidence, Superior Court Justice
Kevin Phillips entered an acquittal on all charges.
"You are innocent of these charges," the judge told Nadler. "You are
free to go."
Nadler was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and
criminal negligence causing the deaths of Albert Poidinger, 89; Claire
Brière, 80; Lorraine Lalande, 79; and Judith Lungulescu, 93 — all
elderly patients at the Hawkesbury & District General Hospital, where
Nadler worked as an internal medicine specialist at the time.
During a pretrial hearing last week, Phillips ruled that a volume of
expert evidence should be excluded from the Crown's case. That left
the prosecution with no reasonable prospect of a conviction against
Nadler, Crown attorney Robin Flumerfelt told the court Tuesday.
According to Nadler's defence lawyers, the Crown's prospective witness
was disqualified as an expert by the judge and the evidence was ruled
inadmissible.
Following Tuesday's hearing, defence lawyer Brian Greenspan said the
judge "properly found" the expert was not qualified to speak to the
issue of the four elderly patients' causes of death, which was
"central to this case."
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Flumerfelt said the Crown reviewed its case after the judge's
decision, and concluded "this court's rulings, including the exclusion
of the Crown's expert evidence, have made it impossible to continue
the prosecution at this point," he told the court. "For all practical
purposes, these rulings have decided the case against the Crown."
Flumerfelt requested Nadler be arraigned, meaning his eight charges
were read aloud, and Nadler entered not guilty pleas, in order to
preserve the Crown's right to appeal.
"In response to that we will call no evidence and ask for a directed
verdict of acquittal," Flumerfelt said.
The Crown can't appeal when charges are withdrawn or stayed, but can
lodge an appeal in the case of an acquittal. Flumerfelt suggested to
the judge that an appeal may already be in the works.
Phillips said Nadler had been "shrouded in the presumption of
innocence" since the beginning of the case, "and that innocence has
not been rebutted in any way."
Hawkesbury OPP were first called to the hospital where Nadler worked
on March 25, 2021, to investigate Poidinger's death. Nadler was
charged in Poidinger's death within 24 hours, and at the time, police
said the investigation pointed to multiple suspicious deaths at the
hospital. Three additional murder charges were laid in 2022. Police
said Brière, Lalande and Lungulescu died "on or about" the same date
that Poidinger died in 2021.
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Following Nadler's acquittal, his legal team made a brief appearance
outside the Ottawa courthouse. Nadler himself did not speak.
Greenspan said the acquittal was "a day of vindication," for Nadler,
and an unprecedented outcome in his 50 years of practising law.
Greenspan successfully argued the Crown's prospective expert witness
was not properly qualified to speak to issues "that were central to
this case, namely the cause of death," he told reporters.
The Crown's expert witness was a hematologist, who diagnoses, manages
and treats blood disorders.
"Not a pathologist, not a toxicologist, but a hematologist," Greenspan
said.
Greenspan said postmortem exams of the four deceased determined they
died of COVID-19 or had pre-existing conditions before contracting the
virus in the midst of an outbreak of the Delta variant at the
Hawkesbury hospital, calling these "critical facts which, until today,
were the subject of a publication ban."
The Crown did not provide forensic pathological evidence to the
contrary, he added.
Greenspan said the defence was prepared to call its own expert to
rebut the findings of the Crown's expert.
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"In addition, had the trial proceeded, the jury would have heard from
an eminent Canadian clinical toxicologist, who concluded after a
detailed review of each of the four cases that the medications
administered by Nadler would not have caused, or contributed
substantially to any of the four deaths."
Keara Lundrigan, a partner at Ottawa-based AGP LLP, a firm that
specializes in criminal trials and appeals, said it's "incredibly
rare" for an expert witness to not be accepted by the court.
But, she added, it's become more commonplace in recent cases after a
"bombshell" decision from Ontario's Court of Appeal. R v. Hanson was
released in May and places expert evidence under the microscope.
"As report after report have demonstrated, such evidence may result in
miscarriages of justice that can impose severe and unjustified
consequences on accused persons. These risks can sometimes exist even
in cases involving highly experienced expert witnesses," reads the
decision from Chief Justice of Ontario Michael Holland and Justices
Lorne Sossin and Jill Copeland.
"While all justice system participants have a responsibility to guard
against these risks, judges are the last line of defence. By carefully
scrutinizing expert evidence and issuing decisions concerning its
admissibility and weight, they alert everyone in the justice system to
concerning red flags regarding particular experts."
This newspaper has asked the Crown if it intends to appeal Nadler's
acquittal, but did not immediately receive a response.
Ontario's Ministry of the Attorney General declined to comment on the
case, saying, "as this matter is in the appeal period, it would be
inappropriate to comment further."
Greenspan said Nadler's legal team would "respond to an appeal
accordingly."
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