BACKGROUND: "After multiple court hearings over two decades of appeals (sic), a Columbus mother and father convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison in their infant daughter’s death have been granted a new trial. In a unanimous ruling announced Friday, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the convictions of Ashley and Albert Debelbot, deciding they were denied their Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel during their joint trial in October 2009. A jury convicted the couple in the death of their daughter McKenzy, who was born May 29, 2008, at Fort Benning’s Martin Army Hospital and released the next afternoon. The medical examiner conducting the autopsy said it showed McKenzy died of trauma resulting from a blow or series of blows to the head. Because the child was thought to be healthy when she left the hospital, and was solely in her parents care afterward, both were charged with murder, and convicted after they were tried together from Oct. 26 to Oct. 29, 2009. Defense attorneys since have argued McKenzy was born with a brain deformation, and her fatal injuries resulted from a “vascular event” that occurred during her birth.
(From a February 28, 2020 Columbia Ledger Inquirer story by reporter Tim Chitwood.)
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STORY: "Thirteen years later Debelbot saga ends with dismissal of child murder charges in Columbus court,” by Reporter Chuck Williams, published by WRBL on April 14, 2021.
GIST: “After spending years in prison convicted of killing their infant child, a military couple walked out of a Columbus courtroom Tuesday afternoon, all charges dismissed.
Ashley and Albert Debelbot were convicted in Superior Court in 2009 of killing their daughter, McKenzy.
Early last year, the Georgia Supreme Court overturned the convictions on grounds they were denied their Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel during their trial.
They have been out on bond waiting a decision from the Muscogee County District Attorney’s Office on whether the case would be re-tried.
District Attorney Mark Jones, who inherited the case from his predecessor made the decision last month not to try the Debelbots a second time. “I am not saying they are innocent, but there is reasonable doubt,” Jones told News 3 when he said he would not take the case to trial.
Tuesday’s hearing in front of Superior Court Judge Art Smith was the final step top the Debelbots’ freedom.
At issue was expert defense witnesses were prepared to testify that the child suffered from a birth defect and was not harmed by the parents. Those witnesses were never called.
In court, Jones said there was “mounting medical evidence that says the child was born this way” and he apologized to the Debelbots “on behalf of Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit for not getting a fair trial.”
The child was born in late May 2008 at Martin Army Hospital on Fort Benning. Not long after she was home at their apartment on Buena Vista Road in Columbus, a bump was discovered on her forehead. She taken back to Martin Army Hospital, where she died June 1, 2008.
The couple was convicted on murder charges and sentenced to life in prison.
The entire story can be read here:
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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; -----------------------------------------------------------------
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
