QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It’s like a new death every morning,” she said Friday, speaking about her 10-year separation from her husband. “It’s indescribably difficult, but we have soldiered through and we have fought hard."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "During the trial, the court forbade Allison’s witnesses from discussing a particular genetic condition she might have had that could have made her prone to the internal bleeding that caused her death. If that information had been allowed at trial, Allison’s attorney’s argued on appeal, the jury might have reached a different verdict. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, as it’s called, is a group of nervous system disorders affecting the body’s connective tissues. It can cause those who have it to bleed and bruise more easily, and in its most severe form, it can cause blood vessel and organ walls to rupture. Those complications have sometimes been mistaken for child abuse, according to one of Allison’s physician witnesses. Christiane “CJ” Allison, Clayton Allison’s wife and the child’s mother, was diagnosed with a form of the disorder after her daughter’s death. But during the trial, Palmer Superior Court Judge Vanessa White sided with prosecutors, who argued the potential diagnosis was too speculative to allow as evidence, according to the appeals court’s opinion. White also threw out a 2009 admission of abuse from Allison, finding it coerced. The information about Ehlers-Danlos syndrome would only be admissible if the defense could produce experts in the condition who could explain Christiane Allison’s diagnosis and also diagnose Jocelyn “to a reasonable degree of medical certainty,” White ruled. The appeals court found that standard wrongly placed the burden of proof on Allison to prove his innocence. Additionally, barring evidence that might have cast doubt on Allison’s guilt restricted his ability to defend himself, the appeals court said in its opinion. “Evidence that there were other possible medical explanations for her excessive bleeding was something that the jury should have heard,” wrote Chief Judge Marjorie K. Allard."
PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: If prosecutors don’t appeal the decision, Allison’s case will be remanded back to state Superior Court, where the state can choose whether or not to retry him."
STORY: "Murder conviction overturned for Wasilla man charged with killing 15-month-old daughter," published by The Wellston Journal on November 26, 2019.
GIST: "The Alaska Court of Appeals on
Friday overturned the murder conviction of a Wasilla man who was
sentenced to 30 years in prison in the death of his toddler daughter,
saying information about a potentially fatal medical condition the child
could have had was wrongly forbidden from trial. Clayton Allison, 36, was in the
2008 death of his daughter, Jocelyn, who died of traumatic brain
injuries that Allison claimed happened when she fell down the stairs. Prosecutors argued the
15-month-old’s injuries — old and new bleeding in the brain, rib and leg
bruises, and dislocated neck vertebrae, among others — were the result
of abuse. Physicians also hadn’t identified any other medical condition that could have caused her injuries, they argued. According to the appeals court’s
opinion, though, Jocelyn had multiple unexplained health problems that
her family was seeking genetic testing for. During the trial, the court
forbade Allison’s witnesses from discussing a particular genetic
condition she might have had that could have made her prone to the
internal bleeding that caused her death. If that information had been
allowed at trial, Allison’s attorney’s argued on appeal, the jury might
have reached a different verdict. Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, as it’s
called, is a group of nervous system disorders affecting the body’s
connective tissues. It can cause those who have it to bleed and bruise
more easily, and in its most severe form, it can cause blood vessel and
organ walls to rupture. Those complications have sometimes been mistaken for child abuse, according to one of Allison’s physician witnesses. Christiane “CJ” Allison, Clayton
Allison’s wife and the child’s mother, was diagnosed with a form of the
disorder after her daughter’s death. But during the trial, Palmer
Superior Court Judge Vanessa White sided with prosecutors, who argued
the potential diagnosis was too speculative to allow as evidence,
according to the appeals court’s opinion. White also threw out a 2009 admission of abuse from Allison, finding it coerced. The information about
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome would only be admissible if the defense could
produce experts in the condition who could explain Christiane Allison’s
diagnosis and also diagnose Jocelyn “to a reasonable degree of medical
certainty,” White ruled. The appeals court found that
standard wrongly placed the burden of proof on Allison to prove his
innocence. Additionally, barring evidence that might have cast doubt on
Allison’s guilt restricted his ability to defend himself, the appeals
court said in its opinion. “Evidence that there were other
possible medical explanations for her excessive bleeding was something
that the jury should have heard,” wrote Chief Judge Marjorie K. Allard. If prosecutors don’t appeal the
decision, Allison’s case will be remanded back to state Superior Court,
where the state can choose whether or not to retry him. For Christiane Allison, who
maintained her husband’s innocence throughout his trial, the decision
comes as a long-awaited relief. “It’s like a new death every
morning,” she said Friday, speaking about her 10-year separation from
her husband. “It’s indescribably difficult, but we have soldiered
through and we have fought hard. Christiane, who maintains a
website ( ) sic has spent that time advocating for prisoners’ rights
and improved prison conditions. When she called her husband at Goose
Creek Correctional Center to tell him about the decision, “he sounded
like he was going to fall over,” she said. “We’re over the moon excited.""
The entire story can be read at:
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A news report (July 16, 2015) on Clayton Allison's conviction for killing his daughter published by The Frontiersman is fascinating in light of his exoneration by the appeal court. It reads in part: "We love you Clayton!” several people in the gallery called out, as bailiffs escorted Allison out of the courtroom. When Allison appeared in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs, several members of the audience also rose to their feet in support. (Trial judge) White’s remarks zeroed in on the contents of the confidential pre-sentencing report, a document defense attorneys said would follow Allison as he begins long-term residency with the Alaska Department of Corrections. Numerous objections raised by defense attorneys would not alter the report, White said. “The defendant has made a number of objections to the factual assertions in the pre-sentence report,” she said. “Most of those factual assertions are not material to the court’s sentencing decision and will not be relevant to the parole board.” For example, at one point the report refers to the Allisons’ home as “cluttered,” which White said would likely not be material to either the sentence or the parole board. A reference to a healed leg fracture being “discovered” on the body of Jocelynn Allison following her death on Sept. 24, 2008, was also immaterial, the judge said. Nor did the word “discovered” suggest “this is evidence of a hidden, untreated, or undisclosed injury to the child,” White said. White also said any evidence of the injuries coming about as a result of repeated child abuse was unfounded, adding that the court did not agree with one possible implication in the report. White said the parole officer’s interpretation of events “is not sufficiently supported by the evidence for the court to agree with that inference,” White said. “The court shall not strike what is an accurate factual summary, but declines to adopt the inference just mentioned.” White also agreed with a psychological evaluation labeling Allison “passive,” as compared to his wife, CJ Allison. “The court is of a similar opinion to Dr. Turner,” White said. “Something happened to cause this otherwise passive and patient man to kill his daughter. Dr. Turner has no idea what occurred, and neither does the court.” White said she focused on community condemnation as the central sentencing criterion in fashioning her sentence. Defense attorneys, some of whom said they had been litigating Jocelynn Allison’s death for almost half a decade, said they had not expected a sentence as steep as the one imposed Wednesday. “We’ve been living and breathing this case, it seems like, forever,” said Hannah Thorssin-Bahri who began representing the family in 2009. Defense attorney Ariel Toft has been working the case for almost two years. Unlike numerous other criminal defense cases, the attorneys have developed a personal relationship with the family and friends of the accused, Thorssin-Bahri said. The attorneys say they believe absolutely in Allison’s innocence. “Sending an innocent man to jail for 30 years is hard to take,” Thorssin-Bahri said. Family members said what they believed happened was not a murder, but a miscarriage of justice. Clayton Allison’s brother-in-law Steven Vaughn compared the experience of some family members, repeatedly submitted to autopsy photos of a 15-month-old girl, to torture. “We don’t torture terrorists, but we force a mother to look at pictures of her chopped up kid,” he said. “It makes me nauseous.” Prosecutor Mike Perry said the photos in question were clearly announced beforehand, and that they were not used as part of a calculated strategy to manipulate the jury. “To argue that the jury should not see the evidence because it is hard to look at is to argue against our system of justice and ask jurors to convict on hearsay and opinion only, and is less likely to lead to a correct outcome,” he wrote. Perry said the sentence was reasonable. “The sentencing range was 20-99, so a sentence of 30 years for murder is not at all on the harsh side and takes into account the factors that the family wanted considered,” he wrote in an email. The state had also funded the defense of Clayton Allison at roughly four times the budget afforded the prosecution, Perry said. Despite the family’s objections, justice had been done, Perry said. “I understand that the family is frustrated and blames the prosecution and the court, just as they also blamed the medical personnel and the troopers who investigated the case,” he wrote. “All parties have tried to perform their jobs and the process is still ongoing.” Supporters filled the rows of courtroom seats, sporting green T-shirts with the slogan “Show your stripes for Clayton,” and green-and-black zebra-pattern stripes and hearts. The stripes were a reference to a genetic disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which effects as many as 1 in 10,000 people, according to the National Institutes of Health. Family members say CJ was diagnosed with the disorder by doctors at the Mayo Clinic, and the uncommon diagnosis contributed to what they are certain is Jocelynn’s accidental death. White barred testimony on the syndrome from the courtroom."
https://www.frontiersman.com/news/allison-sentenced-to--year-term-in-daughter-s-death/article_46946750-2b6a-11e5-b95a-bfe88b9b40bb.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;
