By Doug Draper
An Ontario coroner’s inquest into circumstances surrounding the death of Fort Erie teen Reilly Anzovino, has been adjourned while the Anzovino family finds another lawyer.
Denise Kennedy and Tim Anzovino, left, are no longer being represented at coroner's inquest by lawyer Wayne Redekop, at right. File photo by Doug Draper.
In a statement read at the inquest this November 7, Reilly’s parents Tim Anzovino and Denise Kennedy, informed the presiding coroner, Dr. Jack Stanborough, that they cannot proceed with Wayne Redekop as the attorney representing them at a hearing that commented in a Welland courtroom on October 31 and is expected to run another two to three weeks.
“Unfortunately we are not able to proceed at this time with Mr. Redekop as our legal representative,” said Reilly’s parents in a short statement in the courtroom this November 7 morning. “We have tried repeatedly to resolve some serious issues. We understand fully the implications that our request for an adjournment will have in terms of your time and the rescheduling of the witnesses should the adjournment be granted.”
Redekop, a Fort Erie-based lawyer and former mayor for the town, was representing the family in an inquest that, among other things, is seeking to determine if the closures by the Niagara Health System of emergency rooms at hospitals in Fort Erie and Port Colborne may have played a role in the death of 18-year-old Reilly Anzovino, who was involved in a car crash on a stretch of Highway 3 midway between those two hospitals in the late hours of December 26, 2009. Reilly was ambulanced a longer distances to the emergency room at the Niagara Health System’s Welland hospital site and died before she was able to get treatment there.
The Anzovino and many people in the Fort Erie and Port Colborne communities want to know if Reilly would still be alive today had the paramedics been able to ambulance her to an emergency room closer to home.
Dr. Stanborough has agreed to an adjournment while the family seeks another lawyer. No date was set for commencement of the inquest which is taking place before a five-person jury.
Niagara At Large is posting the complete statement read at the inquest by Tim Anzovino and Denise Kennedy for our readers information.
“Mr. Coroner, ladies and gentlemen,
We are very grateful to the Coroner that he exercised his discretion in calling an Inquest into the death of our daughter Reilly.
Our intention in asking for an Inquest was not to lay blame but rather seek the truth of the facts surrounding her death. It is our hope that through this transparent, fair and public process recommendations might be made that will prevent deaths under similar circumstances in the future.
It has been a long 22 months for my husband, my son and I to find out these details. What her last moments were and to find answers to some of our questions.
Unfortunately we are not able to proceed at this time with Mr. Redekop as our legal representative. We have tried repeatedly to resolve some serious issues. We understand fully the implications that our request for an adjournment will have in terms of your time and the rescheduling of the witnesses should the adjournment be granted.
Please know that we did not enter into this decision lightly, next to Reilly’s death the events of this week have been the second most painful of our life. We more than anyone are anxious to see this process through.
We respectfully request an adjournment so that we might seek new legal representation, we feel that to represent ourselves would be too difficult and not a practical decision. We do not want this decision in any way to interrupt the focus and the reason for this Inquest.
Respectfully yours,
Tim Anzovino and Denise Kennedy”
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