PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "According to the Supreme Court opinion, the state’s experts made false statements of medical fact to the jury in the first trial. An ophthalmologist and forensic pathologist testified that macular schisis (found in William’s eyes) is caused only by abusive head trauma. But later, during an evidentiary hearing, the ophthalmologist said it “would be incorrect” if he testified abusive head trauma is the only cause of macular schisis. Attorneys from the Innocence Project say a team of experts concluded the medical evidence did not support the trauma diagnosis and instead identified a nontraumatic medical cause for his condition: blood clots in William’s brain veins known as cerebral venous thrombosis, a “serious medical condition that causes many of the same symptoms often attributed to [abusive head trauma].” The prosecuting team has argued this “new interpretation” is not new evidence, but “rather the same evidence in a different wrapper.”
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "Kaiser’s retrial starts Monday (April 7, 2025) with jury selection and is expected to run to early May. Opening statements are expected by mid- to late week."
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STORY: "A Stearns County man’s retrial in the fatal shaking of his baby begins today," by Jenny Berg, published by The Minnesota Star Tribune, on April 7, 2025.
(Jenny Berg has spent the last decade covering central Minnesota news for various publications, including the Litchfield Independent Review — where she was named Minnesota Newspaper Association’s New Journalist of the Year for weeklies — and the St. Cloud Times. She studied journalism and political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.)SUB-heading; 'Robert Kaiser spent more than seven years behind bars when the court ruled his conviction was based on false evidence. The prosecution says they can prove the case at a new trial.'
GIST: "More than eight years after Robert Kaiser’s first jury trial over the death of his infant son, the Stearns County man is headed back to court to again fight the accusation he was responsible.
Kaiser, 42, was charged in Stearns County District Court in 2014 after his 2-month-old son, William, died. In 2016, a jury acquitted Kaiser of one count of first-degree murder, but convicted him on two counts of second-degree unintentional murder. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
But that same court vacated his conviction in 2022 after finding the state’s experts gave false testimony that could have affected the outcome of the trial. That decision was affirmed by the state Supreme Court, which noted it did not “affirm the reversal of a murder conviction lightly” and “[made] our decision realizing a new trial will cause renewed pain for William’s family.”
Kaiser’s retrial starts Monday with jury selection and is expected to run to early May. Opening statements are expected by mid- to late week.
If a jury finds Kaiser guilty again, he could be sent back to prison but will get credit for time served, which includes more than two years in jail while he awaited trial and more than seven years in prison. He was expected to serve about 11 years total in prison with the remainder on supervised release.
Stearns County prosecutors said last year they “reviewed the case and have been in consultation with our medical experts. We believe the evidence shows that Mr. Kaiser committed this crime and we believe we can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
The Great North Innocence Project, which works to free wrongfully convicted individuals, started investigating Kaiser’s case in 2020.
According to the Supreme Court opinion, the state’s experts made false statements of medical fact to the jury in the first trial. An ophthalmologist and forensic pathologist testified that macular schisis (found in William’s eyes) is caused only by abusive head trauma. But later, during an evidentiary hearing, the ophthalmologist said it “would be incorrect” if he testified abusive head trauma is the only cause of macular schisis.
Attorneys from the Innocence Project say a team of experts concluded the medical evidence did not support the trauma diagnosis and instead identified a nontraumatic medical cause for his condition: blood clots in William’s brain veins known as cerebral venous thrombosis, a “serious medical condition that causes many of the same symptoms often attributed to [abusive head trauma].”
The prosecuting team has argued this “new interpretation” is not new evidence, but “rather the same evidence in a different wrapper.”
According to court documents, Kaiser was caring for William on Aug. 27, 2014, while the child’s mother was at work. William was reportedly pale, sweaty and fussy during the day and became nonresponsive in the evening. He was brought to Children’s Hospital by air ambulance with seizure activity.
On Sept. 3, 2014, doctors found William’s neurological condition had deteriorated and he was moving toward brain death; they recommended he be removed from life support."
The entire story can be read at:
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;
