Cammie Kelly: Illinois: Shaken baby syndrome: Patrick Yeagle reports her conviction of involuntary manslaughter in the Illinois Times: Blogger Sue Luttner headed her post on the decision "A tough decision for the jury, An NPR interviewer wrote: "Wondering if Yeagle had started questioning shaken baby theory, I contacted him. While not taking a position in the debate, he explained that he sees “no consensus” about shaken baby in the medical community, where most doctors seem to accept the common knowledge but others seem to be raising “some serious, unanswered questions” about the diagnosis. “Unfortunately,” he said, “the debate is being conducted in the courtroom, where people’s liberty and lives are at stake.”

STORY: " Jury struggles to reach verdict in child death trial;  Day care worker convicted of involuntary manslaughter," by reporter Patrick Yeagle published by the Illinois Times on December 16, 2015.

GIST:  The trial of a day care worker accused of shaking a baby to death concluded this week with the jury convicting her of involuntary manslaughter after more than 12 hours of deliberations. The case tested a controversial theory about certain child deaths, pitting conventional wisdom against a more nuanced alternative explanation. The conviction amounts to an endorsement of shaken baby syndrome and a blow to the movement set on disproving the theory. Cammie Kelly, 68, of Springfield, was charged with aggravated battery and first-degree murder after 11-month-old Kaiden Gullidge of Rochester went unconscious at her home day care in 2011 and later died. Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser dismissed the aggravated battery charge before the trial’s closing arguments on Dec. 15. Kelly’s trial began Dec. 8 and concluded Dec. 16 with the verdict coming around 1 p.m. The case revolves around the controversial theory of “shaken baby syndrome,” which is often used to explain child deaths with no other apparent cause. Although shaken baby syndrome is taught in some medical schools and is taken as gospel by many doctors, the theory has come under increased scrutiny, and there is no medical consensus on the underlying science. As a result, criminal trials like Kelly’s have repeatedly raised unanswered questions about the theory, with inconsistent outcomes......... Kelly’s trial featured testimony from 12 doctors offering highly technical and sometimes conflicting testimony. At issue was whether the “triad” of shaken baby syndrome cases – brain swelling, brain bleeding and retinal bleeding – observed in Kaiden’s brain scans resulted from a clotted blood vessel or from shaking. Kaiden had a history of medical issues that the defense said points to a stroke, but the prosecution argued that Kaiden’s medical issues were inconsequential. The prosecution showed grisly photos from Kaiden’s autopsy, attempting to establish that his bruises and his other symptoms were evidence of abuse. Dr. Channing Petrak, medical director of the Pediatric Resource Center in Peoria, examined Kaiden on Jan. 19. She didn’t notice bruises on Kaiden until the autopsy after his death on Jan. 20, but her testimony at Kelly’s trial originally implied that she based her suspicion of abuse on bruises from her Jan. 19 examination. John Rogers, Kelly’s defense attorney, grilled Petrak about the inconsistency, using it to imply that she sees every case as abuse regardless of the evidence. Petrak is a polarizing figure in the controversy over shaken baby syndrome. Her organization, which is part of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, examines children in cases where abuse is suspected. She’s seen by prosecutors as an impartial evaluator, but defense attorneys see Petrak as part of an industry that profits from indiscriminately labeling cases as abuse. Petrak previously testified for the prosecution in the 2012 Springfield case of Richard Britts, who was accused of shaking his daughter but later acquitted when his trial revealed that the girl’s symptoms – the triad common in all shaken baby syndrome cases – were caused by an apparent seizure. The lack of a medical consensus on shaken baby syndrome was readily apparent at Kelly’s trial. Some of the 12 doctors, testifying for the prosecution, said they are certain Kaiden was abused. Dr. Scott Denton, who performed the autopsy, said he could only tell there was blunt force trauma. Still others, testifying for the defense, said Kaiden’s brain showed signs of previous clotting, which would point to a renewed clot and a resulting stroke as his cause of death."

The entire story can be found at:

http://illinoistimes.com/print-article-16559-print.html

See 'ON SBS'   post: "A tough decision for the jury, a tragedy for the defendant"; "After hours of deliberation, an Illinois jury convicted child care provider Cammie Kelly of manslaughter earlier this month but found her innocent of murder, in what reporter Patrick Yeagle of the Illinois Times called “an endorsement of shaken baby syndrome and a blow to the movement set on disproving the theory.”  Although disappointed at another conviction, I was pleased to see news coverage that recognizes a debate over shaken baby theory, and I was intrigued by an interview Yeagle gave last week with Rachel Otwell of NPR Illinois. Yeagle, who also wrote about the 2011 appeal on behalf of Pam Jacobazzi and the 2012 acquittal of Springfield father Richard Britts, summarized his observations for NPR:" Patrick Yeagle: "Wondering if Yeagle had started questioning shaken baby theory, I contacted him. While not taking a position in the debate, he explained that he sees “no consensus” about shaken baby in the medical community, where most doctors seem to accept the common knowledge but others seem to be raising “some serious, unanswered questions” about the diagnosis. “Unfortunately,” he said, “the debate is being conducted in the courtroom, where people’s liberty and lives are at stake.”

http://onsbs.com/2015/12/29/a-tough-decision-for-both-jury-and-defendant/