Friday, November 30, 2012

Pamela Jacobazzi: (Part Three); Shaken-Baby Syndrome; US's resistance to reform. The risk of seeking justice. Plain Error. Innocence Project of Florida.


STORY:   "Shaken-Baby Syndrome: US's resistance to reform. Slower to reform as usual,"  published in "Plain Error," the official blog of the Innocence Project of Florida, on November 27, 2012.

GIST: "Illinois woman Pamela Jacobazzi is a former Bartlett day care provider who in 1999 was convicted of shaking 2-year-old Matthew Czapski. The Downstate Illinois Innocence Project  has asked the State to grant her clemency. She was convicted because she was Matthew’s caretaker when the child’s triad of head injuries appeared. However, Matthew’s full medical details were never brought into the trial. Matthew had preexisting conditions of persistent fevers and characteristics of sickle-cell anemia which could have explained the presence of the triad of symptoms. Some doctors say the triad can arise from sickle-cell anemia. The prosecutors in this case say they will contradict Jacobazzi’s defense with their own expert witnesses. But this pursuit of justice comes with a risk. If Jacobazzi is found guilty in a retrial, she could be sentenced again and stay in prison even longer. Such a factor deters those found guilty to pursue their own justice. They may find it more worthwhile to just wait out their current sentences."

The  entire story can be found at:

http://floridainnocence.org/content/?tag=pamela-jacobazzi

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.