Geoffrey Wilson. Massachusetts; Major development; Prosecutors drop murder charges after questions are raised about a medical expert's (Dr. Alice Newton) finding on the cause of the infant's death; Defence says all five of its medical experts opined that the 6-month-old son had died of natural causes, and not shaken baby syndrome. (Concerns about Dr. Alice Newton (the challenged prosecution expert) have also been made raised in the Aisling Brady McCarthy case - a case which this blog is following. HL); Boston Globe.

COUNTDOWN: 13  days to Wrongful Conviction Day: (Thursday October 2, 2014); Quote from participating lawyer Sal Caramanna:  "Wrongful convictions can be eradicated. It is a complex issue, but the question of attitude is not: all criminal justice participants need to step up and rise to the challenge. Defence counsel must fearlessly defend, relentlessly advocate and leave no stone unturned. Prosecutors must always be open to being wrong about their cases, to looking for exculpatory evidence and must never shy away from any lead that may undermine the prosecution theory. Judges must always be evenhanded, never letting the emotions and profile of a case skew their judgment."

STORY: "Murder charges dropped against MIT worker in death of 6-month-old son," by reporters John R. Ellement and Martin Finucane, published in the Boston Globe on September 18, 2014.

GIST:  "Middlesex County prosecutors have dropped first-degree murder charges in the case of Geoffrey Wilson, a former Massachusetts Institute of Technology employee charged in 2010 with killing his 6-month-old son. Prosecutors dropped the case after questions were raised about a medical expert’s finding on the cause of the child’s death and after the state medical examiner’s office in August changed the manner of death in the case from “homicide” to “could not be determined.” Prosecutors said they acted today “in the interests of justice.” Wilson’s attorney, J.W. Carney Jr., said in August that the baby’s mother and grandmother had a rare genetic defect that can cause weaknesses in collagen, which would make a person more susceptible to ruptures of arteries or veins.
Carney said today that five experts hired by the defense had convinced the medical examiner that the death was not a criminal act. “It was every parent’s nightmare when Geoff Wilson was charged” with murdering his son, Carney said today. “All five of our medical experts offered the opinion that Nathan Wilson had died of natural causes, and not Shaken Baby Syndrome,’’ Carney said.  Prosecutors said in a nolle prosequi filing — notifying the court that they would not pursue the case further — that after the medical examiner’s original ruling, new information came to light on the family’s medical history. Prosecutors said that they had reviewed the family’s medical history; reviewed additional genetic tests; reviewed medical records and literature with the medical examiner; and consulted experts in clinical genetics and anatomic, clinical and forensic pathology. “Had this matter proceeded to trial, the Medical Examiner would not, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, have been able to opine as to whether the cause of death was due to inflicted injury or natural causes,’’ prosecutors wrote..........Defense attorneys in the case of Aisling Brady McCarthy, the nanny charged with killing a baby in Cambridge in 2013, have also raised questions in their case about Dr. Alice Newton, the expert who gave her opinion in both the McCarthy and Wilson cases."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/09/18/prosecutors-drop-charges-case-mit-worker-charged-with-killing-month-old-son/zUu3QP0Tk5izwKfRXpRV6L/story.html

See related Boston Herald story: "Irish Nanny's defence gets a sudden boost."... The decision could be used to cast further doubt on Dr. Alice Newton, the physician who diagnosed shaken-baby syndrome in Wilson’s case and also handed down the same assessment in Irish nanny Aisling Brady McCarthy’s case. McCarthy’s lawyers, who are already in the process of trying to discredit Newton, and Newton herself could not be reached for comment. But Elaine Whitfield Sharpe, one of English nanny Louise Woodward’s lawyers, said, “It shows that this doctor misdiagnosed a condition in one instance, and that has some relevance when defense attorneys cross-examine her. You can’t bring up the finding in the case, but you can ask her about it. You could ask, ‘Is it true, Dr. Newton, that you diagnosed the baby in the case of Nathan Wilson?’ If she responds, you can ask whether she heard about the outcome.” If a judge allows the line of questioning, McCarthy’s attorneys could quickly pick apart her credibility. They may also ask whether she “missed the diagnosis” in Wilson’s case, according to Sharpe, and that could paint her as an unreliable witness in the eyes of jurors."

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/2014/09/mcgovern_irish_nanny_s_defense_gets_a_sudden_boost

For background on Wrongful Conviction Day see the following link:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2014/06/wrongful-convictions-day-aidwyc.html
 
Interested participants may sign up by contacting Win Wahrer of The Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted at: winwahrer@aidwyc.org.

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/charlessmith

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;