Delay in Ashley Smith inquest

There has been a delay in the charge to the jury at the inquiry into the death of Ashley Smith. The 19-year old strangled herself inside her segregation cell at the Grand Valley Institute for Women in 2007. She died while prison guards looked on.

This is video taken during Smith’s time in the prison system. Monday, her family and others challenged the final submission from the coroner’s counsel and whether jurors were told a verdict of homicide was legally unavailable to them. Smith’s family has urged jurors to find an order given by senior prison management for guards stay out of Smith’s cell significantly contributed to her death. Ashley Smith was first imprisoned at the age of 15 after she was caught throwing crab apples at a postal worker. The jury’s recommendations are expected to cover a broad range of problems with how Corrections Canada deals with the mentally ill.