Jury starts deliberations in trial for Calgary parents charged in baby's death

A jury is deliberating whether a Calgary couple is responsible for their 14-month-old son's death.

Jennifer and Jeromie Clark have pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessaries of life for their son John.

Queen's Bench Justice Paul Jeffrey spent nearly three hours instructing jurors on how to reach a verdict.

• Baby's death 'could happen to anybody,' defence lawyer argues in parents' trial

Jeffrey told jurors they must not be influenced by public opinion or by the Clarks not testifying in their own defence.

The Crown says John was on the verge of death when he arrived in hospital and that his parents played with his life by not seeking treatment sooner.

The Clarks' lawyers say doctors at the Alberta Children's Hospital were to blame because they raised the boy's sodium and fluid levels too aggressively.

The trial heard John died the day after he was brought to hospital where he had a seizure and two cardiac arrests.

"The death of John Clark is a tragic loss, but his death in and of itself does not mean that a criminal offence must have been committed," Jeffrey told jurors Thursday.

"If you conclude Jennifer Clark or Jeromie Clark are not guilty of a criminal offence, it does not mean you agree with their decisions or actions or that you condone some or all of their possible choices. It is only a statement of whether they committed a criminal offence."

Blackened toes and a red rash

Jurors were shown pictures of John after he died. He had blackened toes and a red rash in a swirling pattern that covered almost three-quarters of his body. It was initially believed the rash was eczema, but Crown witnesses said it was likely to have been due to a nutritional deficiency.

Emergency and intensive care doctors testified the boy had an abnormally low heart rate and temperature, a sign he could be in the final stages of an overwhelming infection.

The forensic pathologist's report said John was malnourished and died from a staph infection.

Defence lawyers said John was sick when he arrived in hospitalbut was not near death. Nor was he malnourished or septic, they argued.

A defence witness, former Alberta chief medical examiner Anny Sauvageau, suggested John's underlying illness was due to hormonal issues. She testified that doctors infusing him with too much saline too quickly caused his death.

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