QUOTE OF THE DAY: "In a statement provided by his lawyers, Jones called the decision “a nightmare.” “It’s devastating to me because history is repeating itself,” Jones said. “… This continues to hurt me because I did everything I could to get my son to the hospital, to take care of him, and make sure he got the treatment he needed. I did not kill my son.”
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Collin experienced several significant health problems during his short life. He was hospitalized for several days after a difficult delivery and again about a month later when he began spitting up blood. Doctors treated Collin for pneumonia and told Jones and his then-wife to bring Collin back for treatment if he had trouble breathing. On Aug. 25, 1998, Jones awoke from a nap to hear Collin sputtering and choking on baby formula. As Collin struggled to breathe, Jones drove the baby to a nearby hospital himself, reasoning that an ambulance might have trouble finding the family’s apartment in a new housing development. Collin lost consciousness and never woke up. He died six days later, and police quickly charged Jones with murder based on the shaken baby syndrome theory. Today, though, some experts say that Collin’s death could have been caused by a loss of blood flow to the brain caused by aspirating baby formula or a severe infection, accompanied by massive bleeding in other parts of his body. The problems may have been aggravated by a blood clotting disorder. After a long legal battle, Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals (now the Maryland Appellate Court) in 2021 ordered that Jones receive a writ of actual innocence based on the new medical evidence. Jones, who had already been released on parole in 2017, was no longer considered guilty of his son’s death."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Kobie Flowers, one of Jones’ lawyers, said Kelley’s opinion was disappointing on several levels. Prosecutors presented no witnesses at the compensation hearing in April, while Jones’ team presented testimony from a forensic pathologist and Jones himself. “As a neutral judge, Judge Kelley was supposed to evaluate the arguments and witnesses put forward by the parties,” Flowers said in a written statement. “Instead, Judge Kelley played the role of the prosecutor—not the judge—by making arguments and witness credibility determinations that not even the prosecutors made. In the end, we’re working on righting Judge Kelley’s wrong decision.”
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STORY: "Father denied wrongful conviction compensation in 1998 ‘shaken baby’ case," by Reporter Madeleine O'Neill, published by The Maryland Daily Record, on August 2, 2023. Thanks to Dr. Michael Bowers of 'CSIDDS: Forensics and Law in Focus' for bringing this story to our attention. (Dr. Bowers summarized this case as an example of 'confused legal thinking' in which junk evidence testimony was held insufficient for an actual innocence clam.)
GIST: "A Baltimore County man who won a writ of actual innocence in the 1998 death of his infant son will not receive wrongful conviction compensation for the 18 years he spent in prison, a judge ruled.
The judge found that Clarence Jones did not show “by clear and convincing evidence” that he is innocent, though there is reasonable doubt that Jones killed his son, Collin Jones, by violently shaking him.
The distinction means that Jones will not receive the nearly $1.6 million that he sought under the Walter Lomax Act, a 2021 law that standardized how exonerees are compensated for the time they spent in prison.
Administrative Law Judge Edward J. Kelley agreed that there is not enough evidence to support Clarence Jones’ second-degree murder conviction.
The conviction largely relied on expert testimony about “shaken baby syndrome,” a once widely accepted concept that has since come under intense scrutiny.
But the standard of proof to win compensation under the Walter Lomax Act is stricter, the judge wrote.
“The act recognizes, however, that the existence of reasonable doubt does not equate to factual innocence,” Kelley wrote. “Thus, the act imposes upon claimants a significant burden to prove entitlement to compensation and benefits even after a conviction has been vacated.”
Kelley found that Jones did not meet the “clear and convincing evidence” standard, making him ineligible for wrongful compensation money.
“Although this determination is unsettling given the substantial length of time the claimant spent in prison on now-vacated convictions, it is the proper application of the law to the facts of the case,” the judge wrote.
In a statement provided by his lawyers, Jones called the decision “a nightmare.”
“It’s devastating to me because history is repeating itself,” Jones said. “… This continues to hurt me because I did everything I could to get my son to the hospital, to take care of him, and make sure he got the treatment he needed. I did not kill my son.”
The case against Jones centered on expert testimony.
Jones won a writ of actual innocence in 2021 after his lawyers mustered a slate of experts who argued that Collin’s death could have been caused by an overlooked medical problem.
Collin experienced several significant health problems during his short life. He was hospitalized for several days after a difficult delivery and again about a month later when he began spitting up blood.
Doctors treated Collin for pneumonia and told Jones and his then-wife to bring Collin back for treatment if he had trouble breathing.
On Aug. 25, 1998, Jones awoke from a nap to hear Collin sputtering and choking on baby formula. As Collin struggled to breathe, Jones drove the baby to a nearby hospital himself, reasoning that an ambulance might have trouble finding the family’s apartment in a new housing development.
Collin lost consciousness and never woke up. He died six days later, and police quickly charged Jones with murder based on the shaken baby syndrome theory.
Today, though, some experts say that Collin’s death could have been caused by a loss of blood flow to the brain caused by aspirating baby formula or a severe infection, accompanied by massive bleeding in other parts of his body.
The problems may have been aggravated by a blood clotting disorder.
After a long legal battle, Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals (now the Maryland Appellate Court) in 2021 ordered that Jones receive a writ of actual innocence based on the new medical evidence. Jones, who had already been released on parole in 2017, was no longer considered guilty of his son’s death.
Under the Walter Lomax Act, people who were wrongfully convicted of a crime can apply to receive compensation for the time they spent in prison. To win, the exoneree must show “by clear and convincing evidence” that they did not commit the crime.
Kelley, the administrative law judge who heard Jones’ case, concluded that Jones did not make that showing. The judge found that the contradictory testimony from experts balanced out.
“Ultimately, I do not find either theory of Collin’s death more convincing than the other,” Kelley wrote. “Collin may have died from a natural disease process and he may have died from physical trauma at the hands of the claimant. Both causes of death are supported by the evidence, including expert opinion.”
Kelley also had questions about Jones’ credibility. Jones testified for the first time at a two-day hearing in April about his request for compensation.
The judge called Jones’ behavior on the day of Collin’s collapse “troubling,” describing Jones as “more concerned with his own workout agenda than his newborn child.” (Jones, who was a body-builder and security guard, lifted weights before he put Collin down for a nap on Aug. 25, 1998.)
Kelley criticized Jones’ decision to drive Collin to the hospital himself rather than call an ambulance. Jones and his wife also left the hospital when Collin was being treated there in July and in August, which Kelley called “odd behavior for purportedly concerned parents.”
Jones and his wife split up in 1999, after Jones began serving his prison sentence.
During the investigation into Collin’s death, police also discovered that Jones had not told his wife he helped an ex-girlfriend obtain a car loan. Jones testified, however, that he had strong support from his wife during his trial.
Kelley concluded that Jones’ testimony was not reliable because of those inconsistencies.
“Taking all factors into consideration, I do not find the claimant’s testimony sufficiently reliable or persuasive to carry his significant burden of proof,” the judge wrote.
The Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office opposed Jones’ request for wrongful conviction compensation and argued he was guilty of killing Collin.
“I feel the judge’s conclusion was accurate and we’re thankful that we had this result,” said John P. Cox, a Deputy State’s Attorney in the county.
Kobie Flowers, one of Jones’ lawyers, said Kelley’s opinion was disappointing on several levels. Prosecutors presented no witnesses at the compensation hearing in April, while Jones’ team presented testimony from a forensic pathologist and Jones himself.
“As a neutral judge, Judge Kelley was supposed to evaluate the arguments and witnesses put forward by the parties,” Flowers said in a written statement. “Instead, Judge Kelley played the role of the prosecutor—not the judge—by making arguments and witness credibility determinations that not even the prosecutors made.
In the end, we’re working on righting Judge Kelley’s wrong decision.”"
The entire story can be read at:
father-denied-wrongful-conviction-compensation-in-1998-shaken-baby-case
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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;
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/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
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;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/
