STORY: "No second trial for Athens man in shaken-case," by reporter Shereen Siewert, published by the Wausau Daily Herald, on February 4, 2014;
GIST: "The second trial for an Athens man jailed for nearly nine years on accusations he shook his infant daughter to death in 2005 was called off after he reached a plea deal with prosecutors.........The cause of injuries associated with shaken-baby syndrome has been sharply disputed in recent years by medical experts. A Supreme Court ruling in 2009 resulted in the release of former Waunakee day care provider Audrey Edmunds, who spent 10 years in prison while maintaining her innocence against charges she shook a baby to death in 1995. Forensic pathologist Robert Huntington is one expert who changed his opinion on the cause of Madelyn’s injuries after testifying for the prosecution at Louis’ trial. At a March 2009 hearing, Huntington testified that shaking alone could not have caused Madelyn’s severe brain injury; then-Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard, who has since retired, granted Louis’ request for a new trial. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals 3rd District, based in Wausau, in March 2011 upheld the judge’s decision to grant Louis a new trial.In its written opinion, the court gave credence to Huntington’s testimony and also found the jury did not hear critical testimony that Madelyn might not have immediately showed symptoms of her injuries and jurors were given inaccurate information about her spinal injury. The description of the injuries, the court wrote, were key in the diagnosis of shaken-baby syndrome. But the court of appeals did not completely side with Louis; his confession, which Louis claimed was coerced from him by police, was ruled admissible at his new trial.........Details of the plea agreement will not be made public before Louis is sentenced."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/article/20140204/WDH0101/302040273?nclick_check=1
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following 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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
