Bulletin: Pallavi Macharla; Massachusetts; Shaken baby syndrome; Major development; "A former state medical examiner has reversed her finding that a child died of shaken baby syndrome last year, and the woman accused of killing the girl will be able to post bail." "Dr. Anna McDonald initially determined that a 6-month-old girl in Marcharla’s care died due to “blunt force and shaking injuries of head,” according to court papers. However, after reviewing the case again, McDonald determined that “based on her subsequent experience and review of medical literature on an on-going basis, she would not include shaking as a cause of death in this case,” prosecutors told Marcharla’s defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. The case against Macharla will continue, however. McDonald stood by her determination that the baby’s death was a homicide and that it was caused by blunt force." Boston Herald.

"A former state medical examiner has reversed her finding that a child died of shaken baby syndrome last year, and the woman accused of killing the girl will be able to post bail.
Pallavi Macharla, who has been held without bail since March, will be allowed to post $25,000. She continues to face homicide charges. Dr. Anna McDonald initially determined that a 6-month-old girl in Marcharla’s care died due to “blunt force and shaking injuries of head,” according to court papers. However, after reviewing the case again, McDonald determined that “based on her subsequent experience and review of medical literature on an on-going basis, she would not include shaking as a cause of death in this case,” prosecutors told Marcharla’s defense attorney J.W. Carney Jr. The case against Macharla will continue, however. McDonald stood by her determination that the baby’s death was a homicide and that it was caused by blunt force. Carney and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan agreed on the bail amount - and other conditions of release - five minutes before Supreme Judicial Court Justice Margot Botsford was prepared to hear arguments today. “This is my third shaken-baby case. The first led to a verdict where the jury rejected shaken-baby syndrome. In the second one, the evidence was strong enough that the medical examiner changed his opinion,” Carney said. “I think that the court is catching up to the science.” Carney represented Ann Power and Nathan Wilson in shaken-baby cases that called into question the validity of the science. A jury found Power innocent, and Ryan’s office dropped charges against Wilson after the medical examiner changed his opinion as to how his 6-month-old child died. In a separate case, Ryan’s office recently dropped charges against Irish nanny Aisling Brady McCarthy after she spent more than two years behind bars for allegedly killing a baby. The medical examiner’s office in that case said it could no longer conclude the baby’s death was a homicide. “District Attorney Marian Ryan deserves praise for learning from the experiences her office has been through,” Carney said."
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2015/12/medical_examiner_reverses_shaken_baby_finding_suspect_to_post_bail