BACKGROUND: (Davis Vanguard): Vanguard Investigation: Did medical misdiagnosis of shaken baby syndrome put innocent father behind bars?
Read here:
---------------------------------------------------
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Since March, Clay has faced refiled murder charges as his preliminary hearing continues. On the fourth day, pediatric specialist Dr. John Galaznik testified that in-utero complications and a traumatic birth made the baby more vulnerable to injury from routine handling. On Friday, Dr. Herman resumed her testimony as Deputy Public Defender Jeannette Garcia completed cross-examination. Herman ruled out two potential medical explanations—rickets and pneumonia—as causes of the subdural hemorrhaging observed in the baby’s brain. However, she emphasized that ruling out those conditions does not necessarily indicate trauma as the cause.Pathologist and brain injury expert Dr. Auer then testified, explaining that the child’s brain and spinal cord showed widespread ischemia, or oxygen-deprivation damage, not trauma. He presented slides indicating that the hemorrhaging likely resulted from circulatory failure after cardiac arrest caused by pneumonia and systemic illness, not abuse."
---------------------------------------------------
STORY: Court watch: expert witnesses dispute abuse allegations in baby's death." by Reporter Graciela Tiu, published by The Davis Vanguard, on November 12, 2025. (Graciela Tiu is an undergraduate, pre-law student at the University of California, Davis, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in both Political Science and Communication. Her academic and professional interests include journalism, American government, gender theory, political theory, and civic engagement. Through this internship, she hopes to gain a deeper understanding of the criminal justice system and work to spotlight injustices.)
GIST: "The seventh day of a preliminary hearing was held Friday at Solano County Superior Court for Tre Kenneth Clay, a father accused of murdering his two-month-old son, Elijah Clay.
Expert witnesses, including geneticist Dr. Kristin Curtis Herman and pathologist Dr. Roland Auer, testified that medical evidence points to natural causes rather than trauma in the baby’s death.
Clay faces charges of assault on a child causing death, specifically Shaken Baby Syndrome and Abusive Head Trauma. He has been incarcerated since 2021, when his son died.
The cause of death has been under investigation ever since.
During the first preliminary hearing in 2021, the original pathologist, Dr. Katherine Raven, testified that the death was likely due to abuse.
However, evidence later revealed a text message from her the night before her testimony expressing uncertainty about the cause.
In February 2024, molecular geneticist Dr. Gerard Pals disputed Raven’s findings, noting that what she identified as “fractures” were actually skull sutures, which naturally occur in infants and are not caused by trauma.
By August 2024, genetic testing confirmed the baby had Osteogenesis Imperfecta, or brittle bone disease, and Leigh’s Syndrome, a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder.
The case also involved a motion to dismiss based on alleged incompetence by Clay’s original defense attorney and possible perjury by the original pathologist, though the motion was denied in summer 2024.
Afterward, jury selection was scheduled for March 3, 2025, but the Solano County District Attorney’s Office dismissed and refiled the charges under a new case number. Some speculated the deputy district attorney needed more time to prepare.
Since March, Clay has faced refiled murder charges as his preliminary hearing continues. On the fourth day, pediatric specialist Dr. John Galaznik testified that in-utero complications and a traumatic birth made the baby more vulnerable to injury from routine handling.
On Friday, Dr. Herman resumed her testimony as Deputy Public Defender Jeannette Garcia completed cross-examination. Herman ruled out two potential medical explanations—rickets and pneumonia—as causes of the subdural hemorrhaging observed in the baby’s brain. However, she emphasized that ruling out those conditions does not necessarily indicate trauma as the cause.Pathologist and brain injury expert Dr. Auer then testified, explaining that the child’s brain and spinal cord showed widespread ischemia, or oxygen-deprivation damage, not trauma. He presented slides indicating that the hemorrhaging likely resulted from circulatory failure after cardiac arrest caused by pneumonia and systemic illness, not abuse.
The preliminary hearing will continue for an eighth day on Dec. 19, when Dr. Auer’s testimony is set to resume. Pending motions to suppress Clay’s alleged statements and to exclude laboratory results and expert testimony have also been continued.""
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
———————————————————————————————
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;
—————————————————————————————————
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;
-------------------------------------------------------------------
