Andrea Giesbrecht's request for independent pathologist denied

Judge Brian Corrin has denied Andrea Giesbrecht's request that the remainder of autopsies to be performed on the remains of six infants be witnessed by an independent pathologist and videotaped.

A courtroom in Manitoba was nearly full on Wednesday morning before the hearing even started.

• Andrea Giesbrecht, accused of hiding infants' remains, to seek bail
• Details revealed in Giesbrecht case, argument over autopsy unfolds

Giesbrecht is the Winnipeg woman charged with six counts of concealing the body of a child. She was arrested in October after employees at a U-Haul storage facility discovered the remains of six infants in various stages of decomposition in a locker Giesbrecht was renting.

Giesbrecht's lawyer, Greg Brodsky, asked for a couple minutes to add something to the record before Judge Brian Corrin delivered his decision on the autopsies.

Giesbrecht requested that the remainder of the autopsies on the infants' remains be videotaped and witnessed by an independent pathologist. The request is unconventional, Judge Brian Corrin said on Wednesday. 

Corrin also said there is no case law to look up because the request is unprecedented. 

"There is no evidence before me to suggest the remains were located as a result of the search warrant execution," Corrin said.

"The medical examiner arrived at U-Haul before the warrant was executed. The bodies were discovered while in the medical examiner's authority," the judge added before denying Giesbrecht's request.

The court took a brief recess and Brodsky walked to the prisoner box to talk to Giesbrecht. 

When court resumed, Corrin said he was not going to go ahead with the bail application that was scheduled for Wednesday. He said he would first need to go over three new fraud charges Giesbrecht received on Nov.7.

A bail hearing is set for Dec. 1 at 2 p.m.