PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The state’s medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a homicide, caused by blunt force trauma. Prosecutors told the Gwinnett County jury in 2003 it was a “Shaken Baby Case.” Smith was 28 and, until then, had no prior criminal record. In October, Loudon-Brown argued before Georgia’s Supreme Court to request a hearing to introduce new medical evidence he said will prove Smith’s innocence. That evidence is testimony from Dr. Saadi Ghatan, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. After reviewing the child’s medical records, Ghatan believes Chandler didn’t die from shaking, but from trauma during birth. Dispatch records show two weeks before Chandler’s death, his mother called 911 after she thought the child “was coming in and out of a seizure.” Chandler was born premature at 36 weeks. Paramedics dismissed her concerns, saying the “baby was just having hiccups.” In an interview with investigators shortly after the boy’s death, Chandler’s mother praised Smith, calling him “Mr. Mom” who “takes good care of the baby.”
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STORY: "DA offers plea to man convicted of killing his infant son. But there’s a catch," by Reporter Andy Pierrotti, published by DNF, on September 19, 2023. (Andy Pierrotti is an award-winning investigative reporter recognized with a George Foster Peabody, multiple Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. Andy’s investigations have changed state laws, put people in prison, freed a man from jail and led to historic state fines. Most of Andy's stories focus on government accountability and consumer advocacy, with an emphasis on tracking viewers' tax dollars, safety, health and well-being.)
SUB-HEADING: "Danyel Smith is serving a life sentence for murdering his infant son. He maintains his innocence, and recently turned down an effort to be released from prison."
GIST: "When a Gwinnett County jury convicted Danyel Smith of murdering his infant son in 2003, there was little chance he would leave prison alive. A judge sentenced him to life behind bars.
But 21 years later, Smith received a rare opportunity to go home.
In March 2023, the district attorney’s office offered to set him free ... but, there was a catch.
Smith had to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter, cruelty to children and write an apology letter admitting guilt.
Smith declined.
“This plea offer was a ticket out of jail, a ticket out of prison, a ticket home and he said, ‘No, I’m not going to admit to something I didn’t do. I didn’t kill my child,’” said Mark Loudon-Brown, Smith’s attorney who works for the Southern Center for Human Rights.
Smith’s fiancé, Latasha Pyatt, stands by his decision. The couple started dating in 2015, but have never met outside prison walls.
“He’s just always said, ‘Baby, I’m not taking this because I didn’t do anything to hurt my son,’” said Pyatt.
The deal also would have required Smith to be under probation while out of prison.
According to Pyatt, Smith said supervision would have felt being a prisoner in his own home and isn’t worth admitting guilt. “We’re a family of faith,” she said. “I know we’ve gotten this far because of our faith in God.”
It’s a belief Smith will one day be freed, despite serving life in prison for killing his son, Chandler.
The state’s medical examiner ruled the boy’s death a homicide, caused by blunt force trauma.
Prosecutors told the Gwinnett County jury in 2003 it was a “Shaken Baby Case.” Smith was 28 and, until then, had no prior criminal record.
In October, Loudon-Brown argued before Georgia’s Supreme Court to request a hearing to introduce new medical evidence he said will prove Smith’s innocence.
That evidence is testimony from Dr. Saadi Ghatan, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
After reviewing the child’s medical records, Ghatan believes Chandler didn’t die from shaking, but from trauma during birth.
Dispatch records show two weeks before Chandler’s death, his mother called 911 after she thought the child “was coming in and out of a seizure.” Chandler was born premature at 36 weeks.
Paramedics dismissed her concerns, saying the “baby was just having hiccups.” In an interview with investigators shortly after the boy’s death, Chandler’s mother praised Smith, calling him “Mr. Mom” who “takes good care of the baby.”
Dr. Ghatan’s testimony could mirror the findings in a Atlanta News First Investigates’ ongoing series Flawed Forensics, which has shed light into how old science once showed pediatric traumatic brain injuries could only be explained with blunt force trauma, like car accidents, falls or violently shaking a child.
Decades later, science now shows those same injuries can be also linked to illness and biological issues, like seizure disorders.
Georgia man declines to be released from prison
“Today, shaken baby syndrome is a diagnosis of exclusion.
Today, it is a diagnosis that never would have been made,” Loudon-Brown told the justices during oral arguments.
Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Christopher DeNeve opposes the request for a hearing. He does not think Dr. Ghatan’s testimony is new evidence. “He’s shown nothing to show due diligence in this case,” DeNeve told justices.
The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed with the prosecutor this past December and ordered a Gwinnett County judge to hold a future hearing to allow Dr. Ghatan to testify. It has not been scheduled yet.
About three months later, the district attorney’s office offered Smith the deal. Because he declined the offer, Smith’s freedom now hinges on a legal battle for a new trial and potentially banning the district attorney from further prosecuting the case.
Later this month, Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Ronnie Batchelor could decide to recuse the entire district attorney’s office from the case after Loudon-Brown claims DeNeve inappropriately tried to negotiate a plea deal through Pyatt, instead of Smith’s defense attorneys.
“A prosecutor can’t just call a represented defendant and say ‘Hey man, what’s going on?’ You can’t do that,” said Loudon-Brown. “So, to try to circumvent that, by going through Mr. Smith’s fiancé, arguably his closest confidant, is just as bad.”
The hearing to consider recusing the DA is scheduled for September 27.
The DA’s office declined requests for an interview, but said it did nothing wrong when it spoke with Smith’s fiancé without his attorney present.
“Our position is that our office acted appropriately in speaking with the witness Ms. Pyatt about the statements and documents she provided to the previous administration showing that Danyel Smith expressed remorse for his actions regarding the death of the infant Chandler Smith while seeking parole for his murder conviction,” DeNeve said.
For now, Smith will remain in prison, hoping he’ll be exonerated one day through a new trial."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2023/09/19/hes-prison-murder-his-infant-son-now-theres-deal/
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/
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