PUBLISHER'S NOTE: A pardon granted earlier this month by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin to a then 17-year-old convicted of killing his infant son after prosecutors based their case on 'shaken baby syndrome' has caused a storm of angry chatter on the Internet. The angry reaction was triggered by the following CNN Wire story published by WLEX on December 14, 2019, under the heading, "Mother appalled by Kentucky Governor's pardon of child-murderer."
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THE STORY: "Former Gov. Matt Bevin pardoned more than 400 convicts, and some of
those decisions are causing controversy," the story begins. "One of those cases involves a
Lexington man convicted of killing his 6-week-old son. LEX 18 talked
with the baby’s mother who is appalled by the release. Kurt Smith was 17-years-old when his infant son, Blake, was murdered.
Smith was watching the newborn and claimed he dropped the child on a
hard floor. The jury did not buy his story. Smith was convicted of
wanton murder. Blake’s mother says an autopsy showed that her son had Shaken Baby
Syndrome. His injuries were so severe it was like the child had been
thrown from a four-story building. Smith was sentenced to life in prison
with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Smith served 18 years, but is now free after Bevin pardoned him, saying that he had been duly punished for his criminal actions. Blake’s mother doesn’t see it that way and says she has never gotten over her son’s death. “My whole life since the time I was 17-years-old has been a living
hell. I’ve worried about this day forever, but I never thought it would
be this soon,” Jessica Rudenis told LEX 18’s Leigh Searcy. “He didn’t
just shake a baby because it was crying in the middle of the night
because he was tired. He brutally beat my son to death.” Rudenis said she never got over her son’s death and in fact, her
sister-in-law Theresa Oiler now raises her other children because of her
emotional struggles with drug addiction. “He might be letting one family celebrate that a son got to go home
today, but I’ll be mourning the loss of my son for 18 years and that
will never stop,” she said. Smith was also charged with rioting and hitting a corrections guard
over the head with a rock during the Northpoint Prison Riots in 2009. It
is noted that in prison, Smith helped train dogs, but Rudenis and her
sister-in-law believe that is not enough. “He didn’t do his homework,” Oiler said of the former governor." PUBLISHER'S NOTE: (Continued): Readers will note that very little information about the trial is to be found in the brief story, which perhaps explains why the vociferous reaction appears to follow political, ideological lines - thereby using the 17-year-old as a political pawn. However, I see enough facts in the story to makes me experience some concern about the reliability of the conviction almost two decades ago. First, around the time of the conviction, shaken baby syndrome - and the 'experts' who espoused it - was widely accepted, given the state of the scientific knowledge of the day. Based on a 'triad' of symptoms, the triad has since been largely discredited in recent years, as the so-called syndrome - which is little more than an unproven theory - has come under increasing attack in North America and beyond. Second, we are informed that Kurt Smith claimed that while watching the newborn he had dropped the child on a
hard floor. Two decades ago, it was widely accepted that short falls did not - could not - kill. That assertion, too has been discredited over the years as science has established over the years that short falls can in fact injure and even kill infants. Third, it is reported that, "The jury did not buy his story. Smith was convicted of
wanton murder. Blake’s mother says an autopsy showed that her son had Shaken Baby
Syndrome. His injuries were so severe it was like the child had been
thrown from a four-story building. We know from the cases explored by The Goudge independent inquiry into many of former doctor Charles Smith's cases, that such inflammatory, unscientific imagery could easily influence the juror's to ignore the explanation of an innocent accident and convict. Charles Smith was strongly criticized by Justice Goudge for telling the jurors - in support of his conclusion that short household falls by children are not fatal - that he was the father of a young girl and a young boy. "He had watched his chioldren "tumble" down the stairs. "What his children needed after such a fall was "a little cuddling", a little loving, kissing, whatever part of (his) son or daughter's body may have been injured, looking for a bruise which may show up with time or swelling which may occur." According to Dr. Smith, "My children have fallen from, and...unfortunately bounced down more steps than those and they are still happy and healthy children and that's personal, you can discard that if you want." I readily acknowledge that I would need much more information about the trial before reaching a conclusion. But based on what I have learned about the fallacy of so-called 'shaken baby syndrome' which is little more than a theory dressed up to look like science, but I am confident if Kurt Smith was prosecuted today - in light of what we now - the results would be very different. Putting all of this aside, the reality, in my view is justified in view of the fact that he has already spent 18 years of his life in prison for a crime of which he was found to have committed when he was but 17-years old. I hope that his perspective will help at least some of the people who lashed out angrily against Governor Bevan's decision to pardon Kurt Smith to reconsider their opinion, set politics aside, and look at the conviction and Bevin's decision with an open mind.
