SUB-HEADING: "A jury convicted Danyel Smith of murdering his child more than 20 years ago. He’s asking for a new trial focused on medical advances.
GIST: "Georgia’s highest court is considering whether to grant a new trial to a man convicted more than 20 years ago of killing his infant son, a case now challenged by evolving medical science.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of Georgia heard arguments Tuesday in the case of Danyel Smith, who was found guilty in 2003 of shaking his 2-month-old son, Chandler, to death.
Smith has maintained his innocence for more than two decades and recently declined a plea deal that would have freed him from prison in exchange for admitting guilt.
Smith’s 81-year-old grandmother, Ester Clark, who raised him as her own son, attended the hearing and pleaded for justice.
“The justice system failed my son and they still trying to keep him,” Clark said outside the courthouse. “Why keep holding an innocent man for something he didn’t do?”
Smith’s attorneys argued“This looks nothing like someone who was abused. It looks like somebody who had hypoxic-ischemic brain damage,” said Dr. Saadi Ghatan, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, during the 2024 hearing.
Chandler was born premature and had a history of medical issues, including a possible seizure reported two weeks before his death. Smith’s legal team argues this evidence supports a new theory the child died of natural causes.
The Southern Center for Human Rights, which is representing Smith, pointed to a growing body of medical research challenging the shaken baby diagnosis. Since 2019, nearly two dozen similar convictions across the country have been overturned or dismissed due to evolving science in pediatric brain injuries.
But prosecutors remain unconvinced. The Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office said the testimony presented at last year’s hearing wouldn’t have changed the outcome of Smith’s original trial.
“We’re not saying [the experts] were unqualified, but certain opinions they gave are unreliable,” said Christopher DeNeve, an assistant district attorney.
Smith’s ex-girlfriend and Chandler’s mother, Marsha Brandon, also opposes a new trial. “What I am sure of is that Chandler died at the hands of Danyel Smith,” Brandon said in 2023.
Despite being offered a rare plea deal for voluntary manslaughter in 2022, Smith refused. “I’m not a murderer,” he told a judge last year. “I did not kill my son, Chandler.”
Smith grandmother remains hopeful the court will see what she believes is a miscarriage of justice. “God is going to work it out,” Clark said. “I believe that.”
The Supreme Court of Georgia is expected to issue its ruling this summer."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/04/16/georgia-supreme-court-reexamining-dads-murder-conviction-shaken-baby-death/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/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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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;
