"In Calise’s motion for a new trial, defense attorney Bill Whitaker claimed the state’s own evidence showed a 23-month-old’s body has developed to such an extent, a child of that age cannot be shaken and incur the severe brain injuries alleged by the state’s expert witnesses.
A chart of shaken-baby deaths by range of age in the publication, Pediatrics: The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, shows the vast majority of shaken-baby deaths are in the range of 1 to 6 months.
In the range of 18 to 24 months, the Journal did not cite a single case of shaken-baby syndrome, Whitaker stressed.
The chart was introduced at Calise’s trial during Whitaker’s cross-examination of Steiner.
Calise has a new appellate attorney, Donald Malarcik, who has filed a notice of appeal in Akron’s 9th District Court of Appeals."
REPORTER ED MEYER; BEACON JOURNAL;
BACKGROUND: At the time of the incident on Aug. 9, 2010, paramedics were called to Calise's apartment in Green for a report of a child unresponsive. The toddler died a couple days later at Akron Children’s Hospital from critical injuries. According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Department, Calise told deputies she found the child limp in the bath tub. But authorities later found the child’s injuries were not consistent with that story. Prosecutors said during the trial that Aaliyah died from shaken baby syndrome. The defense argued that the injuries happened when the girl fell and hit her head in the bathtub. ..newsnet5;
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"Summit County Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty has denied Tiffani Calise’s motion for a new trial in the 2010 babysitting death of a 23-month-old toddler," the Beacon Journal story by reported Ed Meyer published on Ocotber 28, 2011 under the heading, "Tiffany Calise's motion for new trial denied in babysitting death," begins. October 28, 2011.
"When the case went to trial in June, four medical experts for the prosecution, led by Dr. R. Daryl Steiner, longtime director of the child abuse center at Akron Children’s Hospital, concluded that Aaliyah Ali suffered severe brain injuries from being violently shaken," the story continues.
"In a nine-page written decision, McCarty concluded that the “forcefulness and consistency of the state’s medical testimony was sufficient to sustain a conviction in this case.”
She noted further that the jury weighed conflicting testimony by the medical experts from both sides “and found the state’s experts credible.”
McCarty’s decision is not unexpected, because trial courts routinely reject such defense motions.
Calise, who turned 21 in June, said in her trial testimony, as well as in the 911 call she made the night of Aug. 9, 2010, that Aaliyah’s injuries occurred from a short fall in her apartment bathtub.
She testified that the child fell and hit her head, just as Calise stepped away to grab a towel from a nearby linen closet.
After the June 15 verdicts were announced, McCarty imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison without any chance of parole for at least 15 years.
Calise was sent to the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville on June 28, state prison records show.
In Calise’s motion for a new trial, defense attorney Bill Whitaker claimed the state’s own evidence showed a 23-month-old’s body has developed to such an extent, a child of that age cannot be shaken and incur the severe brain injuries alleged by the state’s expert witnesses.
A chart of shaken-baby deaths by range of age in the publication, Pediatrics: The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, shows the vast majority of shaken-baby deaths are in the range of 1 to 6 months.
In the range of 18 to 24 months, the Journal did not cite a single case of shaken-baby syndrome, Whitaker stressed.
The chart was introduced at Calise’s trial during Whitaker’s cross-examination of Steiner.
Calise has a new appellate attorney, Donald Malarcik, who has filed a notice of appeal in Akron’s 9th District Court of Appeals.
Appellate briefs have yet to be filed."
http://www.ohio.com/news/local-news/tiffani-calise-s-motion-for-new-trial-denied-in-babysitting-death-1.242496
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
