How hard a door was opened. The colour of a wagon. The recollection of a conversation. The mother of a deceased toddler was cross-examined Friday in a London, Ont. courtroom about her memory of events just prior to the child’s death 10 years ago.
“You opened that door with a significant amount of force,” defence lawyer Geoff Snow said to Rose-Anne Van De Wiele, mother of 15-month-old聽Nathaniel McLellan, whose death is the subject of the criminal trial. Snow’s client, Nathaniel’s聽former babysitter Meggin Van Hoof, is charged with manslaughter and has pleaded not guilty.
Snow appeared to be suggesting that the injury to Nathaniel came from a “door bump” at the family home the night before his client looked after the toddler.
“No,” Van De Wiele replied. “I said that I was guessing because I usually move quickly. There was potential that I opened it with force. But as I said before I had nothing to be rushing for that night.”
Van De Wiele has testified that six doctors told her the “door bump” had nothing to do with her son’s death in October, 2015. Crown attorney聽Meredith Gardiner has advanced the theory that Nathaniel’s death was caused by something that occurred at the babysitter’s home the day after the “door bump.” Van Hoof ran an unlicensed daycare in Strathroy, Ont., and looked after Nathaniel two days a week.聽
As court heard earlier in the judge-alone trial, the “door bump”聽happened while Van De Wiele was tidying a room in the family home in Parkhill,聽a rural community in southwestern Ontario. She has testified she opened a door, bumping her son who was on the other side. Nathaniel fell down, cried, she soothed him and within minutes he was his normal smiling self. Van De Wiele said her son had a good dinner and sleep that night, and then breakfast, and was fine when she dropped him at Van Hoof’s home聽in Strathroy the next morning.
Van De Wiele earlier testified that six doctors involved in her son’s care said the “door bump” could not have been to blame for his death.
“I knew that my son was fine when I dropped him off at Meggin’s,” Van De Wiele testified. She taught at an elementary school close to the babysitter’s home.
Van De Wiele was in her sixth day of cross-examination, as lawyer Snow attempted to poke holes in her testimony and statements she made to police in an investigation where, she says, she originally felt like a suspect in her son’s death.
In her explanation of how she responded to police questions about the level of “force” exerted when she opened the door, Van De Wiele replied: “I had just lost my son. My focus wasn’t as good as it should have been.”
In other questioning, Snow took issue with Van De Wiele’s statement to police that Van Hoof telephoned her and said Nathaniel “hit his head”聽鈥 the statement that brought Van De Wiele out of the school where she taught聽to pick her son up and rush him to hospital. (Nathaniel died five days later from massive head trauma.)
Snow: “With respect to this fall and hit聽his head, (is it) fair to say Meggin could have said to you, he collapsed or he fell?”
Van De Wiele: “She absolutely did not.”
Snow: “Absolutely certain?”聽
Van De Wiele: “Absolutely certain,” she replied.
Snow asked if there was a possibility she put her own “perception” or “twist” on her recollection when speaking to police. The lawyer had earlier suggested Van De Wiele had her mind set on his client being arrested and charged. Van De Wiele replied she was giving an accurate recollection of what the babysitter told her.
Snow also questioned Van De Wiele on her memory of the colour of a wagon that his client was pulling when she brought Nathaniel to meet Van De Wiele (after Van Hoof called the school). Court has heard that Van Hoof was carrying Nathaniel, his body stiff and “unresponsive.” Van De Wiele has previously testified that she grabbed her son, got him into her vehicle, and roared off to the hospital.
“In court, you testified about a red wagon,” Snow said, putting a statement made earlier in the trial to Van De Wiele.
“The wagon is not red,” Snow said. He produced in court a photo of a garage at the Van Hoof home. A wagon can be seen in the photo.
“The wagon is sort of a brown, wood colour,” Snow said.
Van De Wiele replied, “I may have gotten that wrong ... in my mind it had red on it.”
Court broke one hour early when Van De Wiele, through a victim support worker, asked for a break, saying she was “extremely exhausted and distraught.”聽
Justice Michael聽Carnegie allowed the early end of testimony. The trial is expected to聽reconvene Wednesday with Van De Wiele’s seventh day of cross-examination.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation