Cyprus: Shaken baby syndrome: New case to follow: Involving death of 2-month-old baby raise shaken baby syndrome issues, Knews (English edition of Kathimerini, Cyprus) reports..."Preliminary reports pointed to the baby thought to have choked during feeding while a post mortem conducted by state forensic examiners determined the infant had died with a serious head wound but it was unclear when the injury had occurred. Police said the father, who was interrogated by CID Limassol investigators, reportedly admitted shaking the baby girl to make her stop crying after he had gone back home tired from work on March 2. But the mother, who was also arrested and facing charges in the case, had told investigators she was not aware of her baby’s father abusing the infant but noted in the last two days prior to the incident she had noticed the little girl had been sleeping a lot and had a change in her behavior. Local media said police prosecutors may not only rely on medical evidence alone to prosecute the case, with reports suggesting there were allegations that the father abused the mother in the past."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "A judge ordered the trial to begin on September 19, with the father who denies wrongdoing ordered to remain in pretrial detention until the hearing. The little girl was reportedly born two months early."

STORY: "Father pleads not guilty in preemie’s death," published by Knews, the English edition of Kathimerinii, Cyprus,.

SUB-HEADING: "Man accused of manslaughter back to jail until trial in September, prosecutors focus on abuse background."

GIST: "A man accused of killing his newborn premature baby has denied manslaughter charges, with the judge ordering him back to jail until his trial beings after the summer.

Local media said a 37-year-old Bulgarian man on Thursday pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of his 2-month-old girl who passed away in early March at Makarios Children’s Hospital in Nicosia.

Last month the defendant and the baby’s mother, a 22-year-old woman also from Bulgaria, together rushed their baby to the Emergency Room at Limassol General Hospital.

Doctors then ordered the preemie transferred to Makarios Children’s Hospital in Nicosia, with reports saying the girl was out of consciousness and died hours later.

Preliminary reports pointed to the baby thought to have choked during feeding while a post mortem conducted by state forensic examiners determined the infant had died with a serious head wound but it was unclear when the injury had occurred.

Police said the father, who was interrogated by CID Limassol investigators, reportedly admitted shaking the baby girl to make her stop crying after he had gone back home tired from work on March 2.

But the mother, who was also arrested and facing charges in the case, had told investigators she was not aware of her baby’s father abusing the infant but noted in the last two days prior to the incident she had noticed the little girl had been sleeping a lot and had a change in her behavior.

Local media said police prosecutors may not only rely on medical evidence alone to prosecute the case, with reports suggesting there were allegations that the father abused the mother in the past.

Medical experts have been debating on the shaken baby syndrome over the years, with some arguing whether or not certain brain injuries can be caused by shaking alone and others arguing on how to account for stretches of time between when a child is injured and when the symptoms become apparent.

A judge ordered the trial to begin on September 19, with the father who denies wrongdoing ordered to remain in pretrial detention until the hearing.

The little girl was reportedly born two months early."

The entire story can be read at:

https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/father-pleads-not-guilty-in-preemie-s-death

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;

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SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985

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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;