B.C. Court of Appeal quashes conviction of woman in toddler's death, calling it 'miscarriage of justice'

The B.C. Court of Appeal has quashed the conviction of a British Columbia woman jailed for the 2011 death of a child in her care. 

The ruling released Wednesday called Tammy Bouvette's conviction for criminal negligence causing death "the product of a miscarriage of justice," and ordered a stay of proceedings because retrying her case would be an "abuse of process."

Bouvette, 39, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of 19-month-old Iyanna Teeple in Cranbrook, B.C.

The Court of Appeal noted that she pleaded guilty in 2013 to the lesser charge without the Crown disclosing it had evidence that raised questions about the case's pathology evidence.

"The conviction must be set aside as the product of a miscarriage of justice, as the evidence and circumstances establish a reasonable possibility that the appellant would not have pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death had full disclosure been made," the panel of judges said in their written decision posted online.

Bouvette, then 28, had been babysitting the girl when she became unresponsive in the bathtub. The toddler was flown to a Calgary hospital, where she later died.

Bouvette, who has maintained she did not abuse or kill the child, was charged with second-degree murder. After pleading guilty to criminal negligence, she was sentenced to 12 months in jail. She told the CBC's The Fifth Estate later that she had wanted to avoid a lengthier prison sentence for a murder charge.

The case became the subject of an investigation by The Fifth Estate in 2020 after CBC journalists uncovered a report that criticized pivotal pathology evidence in the Crown's case against Bouvette.

Her former defence lawyer told The Fifth Estate that he had not received that report from the Crown during the prosecution. 

The B.C. Court of Appeal has determined that the BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) failed to disclose to her defence lawyers several items of key evidence, including that report, which supported Bouvette's claim she had not hurt or neglected the child.

"To be clear, we make no finding of bad faith or malice on the part of the Crown. But neither can we ignore that the disclosure breaches were not isolated or confined to information of dubious value to the appellant," the judges wrote.

"As a consequence of material non-disclosure, the appellant was deprived of the opportunity to make an informed decision about how to plead apprised of the strengths and weaknesses of the case against her on fundamental issues."

A spokesperson for the prosecution service declined an interview Wednesday with The Fifth Estate and sent a statement saying the agency has implemented a series of checks and balances to prevent future disclosure problems.

"Our failings in that regard … were significant and resulted in a miscarriage of justice," Dan McLaughlin said in an email. "The BCPS acknowledges mistakes were made."