Thursday, December 7, 2017

Julie Baumer: Michigan; Shaken baby syndrome: 'A strong woman's triumph over a broken system': The Western Herald..."With their (University of Michigan Innocence Clinic) help, Baumer was able to get her case retried and several expert witnesses were brought in to testify on her behalf. They filed for a 6500 motion which would introduce new evidence that Baumer’s nephew had not suffered from shaken baby syndrome, as originally believed, but rather Cerebral Sinovenous Thrombosis, a form of childhood stroke which had caused the brain hemorage. This process took three years to go through the court system and it wasn’t until Oct. 2010 that the jury finally came to a verdict. “Jail is so cold,” Baumer said. “The day the jury came back and I was called in for their verdict, I went to that courtroom in a sports bra, sports socks [and] thermals because I wasn’t going to freeze like I did the first time. I did not know that within three hours I was gonna have my freedom back. I thought they would say ‘guilty’ and I would go back to a cold jail cell, so I was gonna make sure I was warm. I was wearing a suit with sports socks, it was crazy.” On Oct. 15, 2010 Baumer was found not guilty and released at the age of 33. She never received a formal apology from the state, but after her trial ended the judge came out and apologized to her." Western Herald: News


PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "In her second trial, Baumer’s defense lawyer testified that he hadn’t been knowledgeable enough about the medical aspects of her case to provide her with an adequate defense, just one of the many factors that led to her wrongful conviction and imprisonment. When it was all said and done, Baumer served almost five years of her 10-15 year sentence."

STORY: "A strong woman's triumph over a broken system," by staff reporter Eadion Grim, published by The Western Herald on December 6, 2017.


GIST: "In the fall of 2003, Baumer was in the process of adopting her nephew, her sister being unable to care for him. In October 2003, Baumer took her then five-week-old nephew into the emergency room because he wasn’t eating. The ER ran a series of tests before transporting the infant to a local children’s hospital where doctors still weren’t sure what was wrong. Ultimately, they discovered that he had experienced bleeding in his brain, and a few days later Baumer received a call from the sheriff's office asking her to come in and answer some questions. In the spirit of compliancy, and having no indication that she was being interrogated, Baumer didn’t ask for an attorney and answered all of their questions. Eventually, she realized that she was the primary suspect in a child abuse case, and in February 2004 she was charged. Her case went to trial in August 2005, and after five weeks, Baumer was convicted of first degree child abuse and sentenced to 10-15 years in prison. She maintained her innocence the entire time. “I was so sure, from day one, I was going to hear ‘I’m sorry we’ve made a terrible mistake,’” Baumer said. “I was so sure that somebody would realize that there was a serious error and a miscarriage of justice and that I’d fallen victim to it.” Baumer continued to fight during her time in prison, but after her second appeal was denied in September 2007, she and her family had started to lose hope. In December of that year, the University of Michigan’s Innocence Clinic, a group run through the University’s law school that fights to exonerate individuals who may have been wrongfully convicted without the use of biological evidence, contacted Baumer and told her that they wanted to pick up her case. With their help, Baumer was able to get her case retried and several expert witnesses were brought in to testify on her behalf. They filed for a 6500 motion which would introduce new evidence that Baumer’s nephew had not suffered from shaken baby syndrome, as originally believed, but rather Cerebral Sinovenous Thrombosis, a form of childhood stroke which had caused the brain hemorage. This process took three years to go through the court system and it wasn’t until Oct. 2010 that the jury finally came to a verdict. “Jail is so cold,” Baumer said. “The day the jury came back and I was called in for their verdict, I went to that courtroom in a sports bra, sports socks [and] thermals because I wasn’t going to freeze like I did the first time. I did not know that within three hours I was gonna have my freedom back. I thought they would say ‘guilty’ and I would go back to a cold jail cell, so I was gonna make sure I was warm. I was wearing a suit with sports socks, it was crazy.” On Oct. 15, 2010 Baumer was found not guilty and released at the age of 33. She never received a formal apology from the state, but after her trial ended the judge came out and apologized to her. “The judge came out and shook my hand and said ‘I’m sorry that you had to go through this, and I’m grateful I can now start sleeping,’ because ironically he was the same judge from my first trial, and he hadn’t been comfortable with my case from the beginning,” Baumer said.
Her case demonstrates what can go wrong in the American legal system when pride and ego get in the way of what is right and just. In her second trial, Baumer’s defense lawyer testified that he hadn’t been knowledgeable enough about the medical aspects of her case to provide her with an adequate defense, just one of the many factors that led to her wrongful conviction and imprisonment. When it was all said and done, Baumer served almost five years of her 10-15 year sentence."

http://www.westernherald.com/news/article_0c3641d0-d916-11e7-8b6a-8f5e223006d1.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.