STORY: "Decade-old police detective's letter discovered by Medill Justice Project leads to attorney's motion for new appeal: Defence attorney in shaken-baby syndrome case says prosecutors or police failed to turn over crucial information to prisoner," by Alison Flowers, published by the Medill Justice Project on May 28, 2013.
GIST: "Del Prete was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of violently shaking a 3 ½-month-old child at a home day care in Romeoville, Ill., in 2002. The Medill Justice Project, a journalism enterprise at Northwestern University, has been investigating Del Prete’s case for more than a year, publishing its findings in March. Del Prete maintains her innocence. Blegen, Del Prete’s attorney, said the key piece of evidence is a Nov. 10, 2003, letter obtained by The Medill Justice Project through a Freedom of Information Act request; in the letter, Romeoville, Ill., police Det. Kenneth Kroll expressed concerns that the forensic pathologist who conducted the infant’s autopsy questioned whether the child was a victim of what is known as shaken-baby syndrome or abusive head trauma.........In the letter, Kroll wrote that he had heard from a Plainfield, Ill., police evidence tech—or ET—who was present at the autopsy by Jeff Harkey, then a forensic pathologist in the coroner’s office in DuPage County where the infant had died. “The ET advised that Dr. Jeff Harky [sic] did in fact question the diagnosis of SBS [shaken-baby syndrome],” Kroll said in his letter. “I was told that Dr. Harky [sic] specifically looked for fractures in the rib cage (adult grabbing point) and found none.”"
The entire story can be found at:
GIST: "Del Prete was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of violently shaking a 3 ½-month-old child at a home day care in Romeoville, Ill., in 2002. The Medill Justice Project, a journalism enterprise at Northwestern University, has been investigating Del Prete’s case for more than a year, publishing its findings in March. Del Prete maintains her innocence. Blegen, Del Prete’s attorney, said the key piece of evidence is a Nov. 10, 2003, letter obtained by The Medill Justice Project through a Freedom of Information Act request; in the letter, Romeoville, Ill., police Det. Kenneth Kroll expressed concerns that the forensic pathologist who conducted the infant’s autopsy questioned whether the child was a victim of what is known as shaken-baby syndrome or abusive head trauma.........In the letter, Kroll wrote that he had heard from a Plainfield, Ill., police evidence tech—or ET—who was present at the autopsy by Jeff Harkey, then a forensic pathologist in the coroner’s office in DuPage County where the infant had died. “The ET advised that Dr. Jeff Harky [sic] did in fact question the diagnosis of SBS [shaken-baby syndrome],” Kroll said in his letter. “I was told that Dr. Harky [sic] specifically looked for fractures in the rib cage (adult grabbing point) and found none.”"
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.medilljusticeproject.org/2013/05/28/decade-old-police-detectives-letter-discovered-by-medill-justice-project-leads-to-attorneys-motion-for-new-appeal/
Dear reader: Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following developments relating to this case.
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
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.
