STORY: "Challenges to 'shaken baby' convictions mounting," by reporter Dee. J. Hall, published by the Wisconsin State Journal on May 25, 2014.
GIST: "In January, a federal judge in Chicago issued a stunning ruling: Shaken baby syndrome as a cause of death has little to no scientific basis. It’s not known what effect the ruling might have on other shaken baby cases, including at least one being appealed in Wisconsin. But one expert called it a “turning point” in the medical-legal debate over whether such injuries were intentionally caused. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly found that a reasonable person likely would find the medical evidence supporting shaken baby syndrome “unscientific and thus unsupportable. “It appears from the evidence at the hearing,” Kennelly wrote, “that the mechanism by which shaking purportedly causes these sorts of injuries is as yet unclear, assuming it exists at all.” Last month, Kennelly ordered Jennifer Del Prete released from prison after serving 10 years of a 20-year sentence. The 43-year-old mother of two still faces the possibility of returning if the state decides to retry her on allegations that she shook to death an infant she cared for at a Romeoville, Illinois, day care center.........The decision in the Del Prete case is a “turning point” in the effort to cast doubt about shaken baby syndrome and abusive head trauma in children with no external injuries, said Deborah Tuerkheimer, a law professor at DePaul University in Chicago. Tuerkheimer, a former Madison resident, is the author of the just-released book, “Flawed Convictions: ‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ and the Inertia of Injustice.” She said Kennelly’s ruling likely will be a factor in other appeals. “That should cause other judges that are looking at much the same evidence ... to scrutinize those much more closely,” she said. Tuerkheimer added that cases charging shaken baby syndrome or abusive head trauma “are fewer and far between than they used to be — significantly so.”"
The entire story can be found at:
http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/challenges-to-shaken-baby-convictions-mounting/article_7a532463-dd58-5b28-b8d2-2bd8290ef5bf.html
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.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
