http://www.dnronline.com/story3.asp

Man To Serve Two Years
For Assaulting Child

By WILL MORRIS
Daily News-Record

A man will serve two years in prison for assaulting his infant son.

Christopher Huffman, 25, of Harrisonburg, entered an Alford plea in February for one count of unlawful wounding. He was originally indicted on a charge of malicious wounding. On Friday, Rockingham County Circuit Judge John Lane sentenced Huffman to five years in the penitentiary, but suspended three years of the sentence. Huffman will serve three years of supervised probation upon release from prison.

The Crime

Prosecutors allege that on the afternoon of June 15, 2004, Huffman picked up his infant son, then 4-months-old, and shook him violently.  According to a doctor from the University of Virginia Medical Center, where the child was taken for emergency medical attention, the baby suffered severe brain hemorrhaging and spinal injuries. The baby is in a persistent vegetative state. Rockingham County Commonwealth’s Attorney Marsha Garst, who sought a five-year prison sentence for Huffman, declined to say if she was disappointed with the sentence. "It was the judge’s decision based on what he deemed appropriate," she said adding, "The Huffman case was the most aggravated local shaken baby case I’ve seen short of a fatality."

Maintaining His Innocence

Shannon Huffman, 21, Christopher Huffman’s wife, has asserted from the beginning, that her son’s injuries were the result of an interaction with vaccinations he received before the incident happened. "My son is not a victim of child abuse," she said in September. "If anything, my son is a victim of medical negligence and ignorance." Huffman’s attorney, Gene Hart, said his client entered the plea to avoid the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence. Christopher Huffman, 25, was originally charged with malicious wounding, which carries a minimum 20-year sentence.

An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt; rather, it is an acknowledgement that the state has enough evidence for a conviction. "Chris Huffman has maintained through out this proceeding that he didn’t hurt his son. He was originally charged with aggravated malicious wounding, a charge that carried a minimum of 20 years in prison. He chose to plea because of the risk," he said, adding that the prison term for unlawful wounding is zero to 5 years. "There’s no question that whatever happened to this child resulted in severe permanent damage, the only question is what caused it."

Garst said the medical evidence against Huffman was "overwhelming." But it was Garst’s office that accepted the plea deal. The Commonwealth pushed for everything it could, considering the victim couldn’t speak for itself," she explained.

Contact Will Morris at 574-6286 or wmorris@dnronline.com



My now 21 year old son was indicted for SBS and because of us not having the funds to help him prove his innocence is now serving time at Manning Correctional.  I being his parent and the grandparent of my precious grandson need to prove his innocence to be able to continue my life. I feel as if I have let this child down

--mama will always protect you and I didn't.

  My son and his wife had everything, a new son, a new home, new vehicles and a life that looked so wonderful. Both of them employed gave me the wonderful opportunity to baby-sit Zack every day. They were young, both of them 18 years old, and had more than a lot of 40 year old couples.

  Zack had his 6 month vaccinations on May 13th.I told my daughter-in-law that Zack's head looked as if one side were swollen or at the time I thought it was the little bouncy seat they put him in often misshaping his head and left it at that because she also has a mother (one who would not let her be the mother - kept interfering with her while she was caring for Zack- one who often remarked about wishing she could have another baby and couldn't). Zack was taken to the doctor for cough and a rash. He was given hydrocortizone cream for the rash and antibiotic for the cough.

  The day before their lives crumbled I stated my concerns about Zack's eye's being awfully dark underneath and him being fussy about eating. This is an infant that was never fussy and always eating.  The next day my son had a late arrival time for work so he was going to keep Zack and have me pick him up at about 11:00 a.m. after taking my other children to school  (also a late arrival time that day). So my daughter-in-law left for work at approximately 8:30 a.m. about 9:15 a.m. (being a new grandma) I called my son to see how things were going (or do I need to come on and get Zack) and he said everything was great that he still wasn't eating regular but he had just ate and was laying in his bouncy seat watching cartoons and daddy play on the internet, so I said okay I'd see him about 11:00 a.m. At 10:15 a.m. I received a call from my daughter-in-law that my son was at the hospital with Zack. I rushed over to find my son totally distraught, he said Zack fell asleep so he placed him in his crib and went back to his game, in approximately 15 minutes went to look in on Zack only to find him not breathing gurgling mucus and milk and non-responsive.

  Growing up in a daycare my son was fully trained in CPR so he immediately wiped Zack's mouth and began CPR to not avail so he placed him in his seat put him in his truck and tapping Zack's chest gently on the way to the ER got a breath, he made the decision to take him instead of calling 911 was because he lived within less than a 3 to 5 minute drive. Only to end up being accused of inflicting great bodily harm (SBS) and now serving time. At first the DSS held any persons being around Zack within the last 72 hours a possible to doing this then it went to 48 hours then 24 hours and then when it was revealed that my son was alone with Zack they and the physician decided it had to be within the past hour.

  This physician has been a close friend and physician for the other grandmother for over 20 years. Since the other grandparents had not been around him within the past 72 hours we all agreed that a safety plan placing Zack with them would be better than foster care when he was released. We at this time still did not know accusations of SBS were being sought,but the other grandparents knew it all.  They pushed my son being convicted to the point of turning their own child against them because she believed in her husband and was conversing with DSS the whole time about custody being given to them. Well my son and his wife were ripped apart by this because the only visitation was given to my daughter-in-law under supervision of her parents but was never supervised - just used that as an excuse to have her move back home to be with Zack all the time and tried to persuade her to not stand behind her husband or they would seek full custody.

 The DSS also were telling her if she testified or even showed up at his hearings they would have to be entitled to help her parents seek full custody. These children were petrified and didn't know what to do but my son told his wife to go to Zack that he understood. She still would go to his hearings but never would speak. After 2 years of a life of not seeing his son because they heehawed every way you can imagine to keep Zack from his supervised visits with my son and having his wife whenever she could sneak to see him and let him know about his son, he gave up and decided that since his public defender told him he might as well plead guilty and get it over with, the judge denied his monies for an expert witness, and they had the one and only doctor (the family friend )testifying finally gave up. He was also told if he was convicted or plead that when he went to jail that his wife would regain full custody and could move back to their home with Zack.

 He plead guilty and was sentenced to 7 years in jail no parole-100% serve. This is a child that has never been in any trouble, loved by all, biggest heart in the world gave my Doberman mouth-to-mouth to save him) was on top of the world with his new son, never away from his family at all his entire life- always a phone call away-not to mention within a couple of miles. Now he is in a place for wrong doers not children falsely accused. Zack had the subdural hemotoma and retinal hemorrhaging only. No neck injury, no bruising, no fractured anything.  

 My son deserves the right to have someone on his side that can help and he deserves the right to continue his storybook life he was ripped from. We also as grandparents have been given any and every excuse as to why we couldn't see Zack at our scheduled visitation to the point of we no longer get to see him. My first born son and my first born grandchild need me and I don't know where to begin.

 Please if you can be of any help I would be indebted to you forever and nothing is too much not even my life to accomplish this. My daughter-in-law needless to say is still having to live with her parents to be with Zack and she has not been accused or convicted of anything. Now her parents are trying to fight her for full custody. This girl is working 2 jobs to maintain her home and also having to give to her parents. It is so WRONG!!!

 If you can help in any way please contact sweetpea299129@aol.com



Our story begins on Nov3rd, 1995 with the birth of our second child Kieran.  He was full term and weighed 8lbs 10 ounces.  the pregnancy and delivery were unremarkable according to hospital and M.D's records.  He was vaccinated with the Hep B less than 24 hours after birth.  Shortly before being discharged, the nurse commented that Kieran was tremoring and she was taking him back to the nursery for a test.  One hour later she brought him back to my room and said the test was negative and he was okay to go home.  Did this nurse fail to recognize a seizure?  There is no record of this test  or the lot # of the vaccine Kieran received.
 

  Kieran then received his routine vaccinations at his "well-baby" check-up on Dec. 15,1995.  He got the second hep B at six weeks of age.  By the time he had his next "well-baby" check-up one month later, Jan. 12,1996, I had expressed some concerns to his pediatrician 1)  He was arching his back and rolling onto his side with his eyes rolling back in his head. 2) His hands and feet were blue and cold to the touch. 3) his skin tone was very pale almost snow white. 4) He began to vomit late in the afternoon, this is a sign of increased inter-cranial pressure. 5) He started to fist his hands and began gnawing on them. Unfortunately, his pediatrician failed to recognize these concerns as serious neurological signs that something was wrong vaccinated him with the Tetramune (DPTH) and Oral Polio.

   On January 24,1996 Kieran started to vomit.  He had no temperature.  The pediatrician was notified on the morning of the 25th.  His response was that he probably he had the flu and did not want me to bring him in.  A few hours later Kieran was taken by ambulance to the local trauma center, Rbert Wood Johnson Hospital.  He was placed on life-support in very grave condition.  Cat scans done late on the evening of the 25th  revealed a massive interventricular hemorrhage and retinal hemorrhages.

   What followed next was an intense investigation of suspected child abuse.  Kieran was diagnosed as the victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome.  Our older son Ryan was removed from our home, he was just four years old.  This was there scare tactic because I would not admit to something that simply did not happen!  After my interrogation, I called neurosurgeons from all over the country, not because of their diagnosis, but to question whether Robert Wood Johnson was capable of treating this life-threatening bleed.  All were sympathetic and said not to hesitate in calling them back if I had further questions regarding his treatment.

    Kieran was in their care for two and a half weeks when I was asked to give consent so they could send his blood out for cultures to look for something very rare that they may have never seen before.  After the doctor left the ICU, I asked the nurse what was going on?  She replied that the doctors here are so puzzled by your son's condition.  Puzzled?  I was interrogated for five and half hours, lost custody of our four year old, hired a criminal defense attorney-and they're puzzled?     I left the hospital, and called the neurosurgeons again.  One was caring enough to call the treating physician and ask where the bleed was located and how they were treating Kieran.  This neurosurgeon then told the doctor at Robert Wood Johnson that this was not an abused child and unequivocally not a Shaken Baby.  He then called me with this welcome news, as we were facing the possibility of losing the custody of both children and possibly a conviction of a crime we did not commit.  Cat Scans were sent overnight express mail to Dallas,Texas where his associates confirmed his statement.  My son's cat scans have not one shred of medical evidence to support their diagnosis of child abuse.  Instead of taking this experts advice to call off this investigation they continued on. 

  After one of our court appearances, I spoke with the doctors in Texas whom advised us to transfer Kieran to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.  The Chief and Professor of Neurosurgery at UMDNJ also confirmed this type of hemorrhage is not consistent with a diagnosis of SBS. 

  The survival rate for this type of hemorrhage is five to seven percent.  It bled for twenty-one days.  Kieran received three blood transfusions.  He had an external drain to relieve the inter-cranial pressure and for the removal of the blood.  When the fluid became clear a VP shunt was placed to control his acquired hydrocephalus.  Kieran was hospitalized for fourteen weeks.  Eight of those were spent in the Intensive Care Units.

   Upon admission in the emergency room, I questioned his pediatrician if this could be a reaction to his vaccines he received in his office  He replied,"Vaccines would not do this!"  At the time I did'nt investigate my intuitions.  We were more concerned with his condition and trying to get the authorities off our backs. 

  The vaccination link became more apparent after reading an article in the Courier News in August of 1998.  The article stated there  was growing evidence that childhood vaccinations were causing bleeds in the brains of infants and small children. I called the National Vaccine Information Center in Vienna,Va and told them of our horrible nightmare.  I was told that our mistake was going to RWJ Hospital.  They would rather put an innocent person in jail before admitting a vaccine injury.  I have done more research on this topic and have corresponded with vaccine damage experts who believe it is crystal clear that Kieran's hemorrhage is a reaction to the vaccinations he received.

   While we are thrilled that Kieran beat the odds and survived This catastrophic event, we are faced daily with providing the necessary care, medical, therapeutic, and educational well-being of this child.  Our fight did not end when our case was dismissed in court it had just begun.  It has been quite an ordeal getting the proper therapies, medical, and therapeutic equipment covered by our insurance company. 

  His Cat Scans show extensive brain damage and many doctors are surprised he is alive and breathing on his own.  Upon discharge, Kieran had no head control, and was unable to move his arms or legs.  He has since made gains and continues to improve slowly.  He sits independently, eats and drinks by mouth, plays with musical toys, enjoys the pool and shows affection towards members of his family.  Currently he is working on standing and maintaining weight distribution through hid legs and feet.  Kieran attends the Caminiti Exceptional Center in Tampa for the severely and profoundly handicapped.  He has global delays, visual impairment, a controlled seizure disorder, a shunt for hydrocephalus management, and a right hemi-paresis.

   Kieran has had the traditional therapies - Physical, Occupational,Speech along with chiropractic, cranial sacral, vision therapy, hippo therapy (horseback) and homeopathic treatments.  His doctors include a pediatrician,neurologist,neurosurgeon,orthopedic,and a low vision expert.  In the spring of 1999 he was selected to participate in New York Presbyterian Hospital's hyperbaric oxygen study.  His teachers, therapists and I saw significant gains.  We were so encouraged by his improvements that we went to Canada to have more of this exciting therapy.  I'm pleased to say the trip was well worth the improvements noted at school.  This therapy is not covered by insurance, it is considered experimental.

   Financially this has been a huge burden to carry.  Our small savings was drained after paying our attorney, experts, balances to doctors, therapists, and other costs associated with caring for a disabled child.  His care comes first and foremost, so our credit has suffered greatly.  Kieran receives no assistance from SSI or Medi-caid.  He currently is on the Med-Waiver waiting list with 12 thousand other children in Florida.

   We have no recourse against any of the agencies;  The Division of Youth and Families, The Child Protection Center of Central NJ, The Middlesex County Prosecutors Office, The Middlesex Borough Police Department, or the doctors employed by RWJ because of the immunities they enjoy.

  Kieran's lot # from the Tetramune vaccine is considered a hot lot with 17 deaths and 53 life threatening events.  Unacceptable in my book that this was not recalled.  They recall cribs, car seats, infant carriers, toys that pose a choking hazard and many other things.  Why not recall a vaccine?  Pertussis is used in laboratory experiments to induce brain swelling and strokes.  Can you imagine what it is doing to the brains of these innocent  little children?  Medications such as Contac and others were taken off the market because they were causing strokes in people.  Why has it become child abuse when an infant has a bleed?

 
  Backs have been turned on Kieran he deserves some sort of compensation for his pain and suffering.  He missed the statute to file a claim with the governments compensation program for vaccine injured individuals because his parents attention was diverted away from the vaccine issue!    My respect, trust, and confidence in the medical arena, law enforcement, and child protective agencies has been shattered to say the very least. 

                      Belinda, Kevin, Ryan and Kieran Moran   



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/3306271.stm

Mother cleared of killing sons

Angela Cannings has always maintained her innocence A mother who was jailed for life for murdering her two baby sons, has had her conviction overturned.  Angela Cannings, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, was sentenced in April 2002 for the murder of seven-week-old Jason in 1991, and 18-week-old Matthew in 1999.

But on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal overturned the conviction, saying it was unsafe.  Ms Cannings, 40, a former shop assistant, always maintained that the two boys died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), or cot death. Angela Cannings: the facts  SIDS was recorded as the cause of death after Ms Cannings' first child, Gemma, died at the age of 13 weeks in 1989.

Ms Cannings has one surviving daughter, who was born in 1996.  Her trial was the latest in a series of three high-profile cases involving infant deaths.  In January, solicitor Sally Clark, who had been jailed for murdering her two baby sons, was cleared by the Court of Appeal.  And in June, 35-year-old pharmacist Trupti Patel was cleared of murdering her three babies by a jury at Reading Crown Court The government has now ordered a review of the procedures used for investigating mothers accused of murdering their own babies.  And the Crown Prosecution Service has said it will look at whether to review past cases involving certain medical experts, including Professor Roy Meadow.  He was involved as a prosecution witness in all three of the recent cases.

 



http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,8122-927537,00.html

December 11, 2003
Husband's long battle to prove wife's innocence
By Giles Whittell

WHEN Terry Cannings’s second son died, a doctor came out of the Salisbury hospital to which he had been taken and offered some advice. “Terry,” he said into the distraught father’s ear, “this time expect crap in your life.” Whether uttered out of malice or concern, it was a mild warning. Hours after Matthew Cannings’s death, at 18 weeks in 1999, his parents were taken to Salisbury police station and questioned for several hours. It was the start of a purgatorial journey through Britain’s justice system that ended yesterday with tears of relief on the steps of the Court of Appeal. 

That journey showed the family that even after losing three babies to sudden and unexplained respiratory collapse, things can get worse. But it failed to shake his trust in her, or hers in him.

Angela Cannings, then 38, was arrested at her home the day after Matthew’s death on suspicion of murdering him, his brother Jason, and his sister Gemma, who had died in 1989 and 1991 respectively. The arrest marked the start of a waking nightmare, Mr Cannings said, that deprived him and his wife of each other as well as their son, and barely let up for four years.  After her eight-week trial last year, Mrs Cannings told an interviewer she had done “everything in my power to show the jury what I was like as a person”; a person known to family and friends as a devoted mother. Yet her performance as a witness was eclipsed by those of expert prosecution witnesses who damned her on the basis of statistics. A show of compassion from Judge Dame Heather Hallett at the sentencing only heightened the Cannings’s distress.

“I have no doubt that for a woman like you to have committed these terrible acts of suffocating your own babies there must be something seriously wrong with you,” Judge Hallett said in what was meant as an attack on the mandatory sentencing guidelines that impose a life sentence.  Asked after his wife had been jailed if he had any doubts as to her innocence, Mr Cannings said: “None at all. If I had any doubt I would not have had a second or a third child and she would not be part of my life now. As far as I am concerned (the deaths were) an act of God and that is where it should be left.”

The couple met in 1983 while both working at a Tesco supermarket. Angela was 19 and a Roman Catholic; Terry was 29 and divorced with two children. They were married in 1987 and Gemma, their first child, was born two years later.

“Angela was a natural mother,” Mr Cannings told the Daily Mail. “She seemed to know instinctively what to do.” Gemma lived for three months. She died in circumstances that were not suspicious, listed in records as a victim of sudden infant death syndrome (Sids), the umbrella term now under scrutiny. Her parents were at least free to grieve.  Their first son, Jason, was born in 1991 with dislocated hips but otherwise, hospital staff insisted, perfectly healthy. He lived for seven weeks.

Despite everything, the couple vowed not to lose hope. Angela never suffered from post-natal depression, her husband insists, but they agreed she should see a psychiatrist for reassurance and duly received it. When Matthew was born four years ago, they used electronic monitors that let them hear him breathing in any room in the house.

When Matthew died, however, practicalities were far from his mother’s mind. When she realised he was no longer breathing she phoned her husband instead of an ambulance. “It’s happened again,” she said. Her failure to first call 999 helped to seal her fate at trial, but as Mr Cannings later explained it: “She knew he had died. The only person she wanted with her was me.”

As a convicted child-killer in Bulwood Prison in Essex, Mrs Cannings was taunted viciously and burnt with scalding water. “Not only have I lost three babies, but also the woman who is the love of my life,” her husband said.

Yet there was a drip-feed of hope. In January this year Sally Clark, a solicitor convicted on similar evidence, was released on appeal. “The tide is turning,” Mr Cannings declared two months later when Angela’s case was accepted by the Court of Appeal. In June Trupti Patel, a third mother convicted of murder with the help of testimony from Sir Roy Meadow, was also released.

Last month, the BBC broadcast the results of research into a string of infant deaths in Mrs Cannings’s extended Irish family — grounds for suspecting a genetic cause behind the loss of her three children.

 




http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/3409183.stm

Baby death trials to be reviewed

All criminal cases involving cot death over the past 10 years are to be reviewed urgently, the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith has announced. A total of 258 parents convicted of killing a child under two years old will have their cases studied. If they relied on expert evidence they will be fast-tracked to an appeal. The move comes after the Court of Appeal called for an end to prosecuting parents when there is a possibility of cot death. Lord Justice Judge, giving the court's reasons on Monday for its decision last month to clear Angela Cannings of murdering her two sons, said medical science was "still at the frontiers of knowledge" about unexplained infant deaths.

Mrs Cannings, 40, was convicted by a Winchester Crown Court jury in April 2002 of smothering seven-week-old Jason in 1991 and 18-week-old Matthew in 1999. Lord Goldsmith said of the 258 convictions, 54 defendants were still in prison. "These will be accorded the highest priority." Lord Goldsmith said he would meet the chairman of the Criminal Cases Review Commission soon to discuss the review. The commission said: "Such cases are likely to involve a number of causes of death and a variable level of expert involvement and it will be important to identify those where expert witnesses were crucial to securing the conviction," the commission said.

The Crown Prosecution Service had also been asked by Lord Goldsmith to review 15 ongoing cases involving an unexplained infant death. After the judge's ruling, Mrs Cannings said: "We are just glad it's all over and we can be reunited as a family." She also advised other families similarly accused: "Hang in there - wait and hope and it will come right one day." The Cannings' case followed a decision earlier last year to overturn solicitor Sally Clarke's conviction of murdering her two young sons, and the acquittal of pharmacist Trupti Patel on charges of murdering her three babies. Ms Clarke's father Frank Lockyer said the Court of Appeal's comments were a "huge step forward".  Speaking on behalf of his daughter, he said: "For a long time, now we've been saying the criminal court is not the place to find out how a baby has died."

The judges said Mrs Cannings' case had broad implications for other cases involving parents accused of harming their children. Lord Justice Judge, sitting with Mrs Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Pitchers, said: "If the outcome of the trial depends exclusively, or almost exclusively, on a serious disagreement between distinguished and reputable experts, it will often be unwise, and therefore unsafe, to proceed." He said that "justice may not be done in a small number of cases" where the mother has deliberately killed her baby without leaving any evidence. He added: "Unless we are sure of guilt, the dreadful possibility always remains that a mother, already brutally scarred by the unexplained deaths of her babies, may find herself in prison for life for killing them when she should not be there at all." Mrs Cannings always claimed Jason and Matthew - and their sister, Gemma, who died at the age of 13 weeks in 1989 - had been the victims of sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death. The judges said they had been presented with "significant and persuasive fresh evidence" which had not been brought at the original trial, and which offered a possible explanation for the boys' deaths.



WE ARE ALMOST OUT OF TIME!!! HAVE TILL JUNE 1, 2006. We need some HELP! Keep running into slammed doors. My son Travis was 19 when he was charged with SBS in York County, Pennsylvania. He was scared and pressured into taking a plea bargain for something he didn't do. He wasn't read his rights while being interrogated. The officer's admitted to this. First they wanted to get the Death Penalty and then it was Life in Prison without the chance of parole. Then he took a plea for 3rd degree without a jury. Our family is a poor one and he had to have public defender's represent him. They had no doctor's or specialists look at the medical records or listened to anything the family members said. His little girl Leah, 2 months old, was born with a severe cone shaped head and received her first shot after she was born. Day of incident, she had no neck or spinal injuries at all. She had no visible bruises on her body anywhere. She went into respiratory arrest. She had a noticeable small swelling on the top of her head when admitted to Hershey Medical Center. They did an emergency surgery of implanting a tube to stop the swelling in her brain. Leah's mother was talked into donating
Leah's organ's! Dr. Ross did the autopsy for the Prosecutor. He stated in his report that Leah had a rare Pseudomonas Putida and Rare Enterobacter agglomerans in her brain culture, but never brought this up during his testimony. I found this and other crucial information in the records I obtained. He also went beyond the scope of his written testimony and said her injuries were compared to 200 G - forces. I have x-rays, cat scans, and autopsy photo's, but unable to find anyone who can look at them. I also have Leah's birth records. His appeals have all been denied and he has till JUNE 1, 2006 to file a PCRA. Is there anyone out there who can help
financially, or attorney's/specialists who will work with us pro-bono/sliding scale and work out some sort of payment plan. Please, can anyone HELP US!!!   l.runkle@worldnet.att.net

 



Woman charged with shaking son

By KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ
Tribune Staff Writer

A Great Falls woman faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of felony criminal endangerment for allegedly shaking her 9-month-old son hard enough to fracture his skull and land him in intensive care. Elizabeth Ann O'Brien, 23, 1800 9th Ave. S. No. 10, made an initial appearance Tuesday in Justice Court with her social caseworker, Carrie Kangas, by her side.

O'Brien is being allowed supervised visits with her son, Ian, who is staying with his grandparents pending further proceedings. According to a report filed with the court, Great Falls police were called to the Benefis Intensive Care Unit Sunday, where doctors had admitted a baby with a head injury caused by "some form of extreme force to the child's head."

O'Brien at first told police she accidentally hit Ian's head accidentally on the door while putting him in the car Sunday morning. Later that day, Ian had no appetite and couldn't keep his food down. The two went to visit O'Brien's parents, and after her mother noticed a swollen spot on the right side of Ian's head, they took the baby tothe hospital. By Wednesday, doctors had determined that the injuries, which included the swollen spot and a skull fracture, most likely were the result of shaken baby syndrome, the police report said.

O'Brien was interviewed again Friday, at which point she admitted that after she and her boyfriend, Isaac Alatan, got into a heated argument Saturday night. She angrily left Alatan's home, jerking Ianfrom his playpen and possibly shaking him, the report said. Prior to her appearance, O'Brien posted $10,000 bond; she will be arraigned in District Court.

Schultz can be reached by e-mail at kschultz@greatfal.gannett.com, or
by phone at (406) 791-1474 or (800) 438-6600.
 



Man sent to prison for death of toddler
Autopsy report listed blunt trauma to head of 2 1/2-year-old stepson
By JOHN BEAUGE
For The Patriot News
WILLIAMSPORT -- A Lycoming County man will spend 1 to 7 years in state prison for the death of his wife's 2 1/2-year-old son. Emotions ran high yesterday when Judge Nancy L. Butts sentenced Wesley Lane Buss, 25, of the Hughesville area, on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. Buss had pleaded no contest to the charges. The boy's mother, Tina Marie Buss, who testified on behalf of Buss, pleaded for a light sentence. "He's a wonderful father," she told Butts. "I trust him 100 percent with my children."

The two were living together in March 2001 when Elisah David Counsil died. Wesley Lane and Tina Marie Buss had another son in April 2002, later married and are currently separated. Both said they were trying to work out differences. They embraced before a sheriff's deputy led Wesley Lane Buss off to jail. Other witnesses noted Elisah called Buss "daddy." The dead boys biological father, Robert Massic, urged Butts to impose the maximum sentence. Assistant District Attorney henry Mitshell did the same, telling the judge, "I hear Eli crying out." When Buss gets out of prison, he will be ablke to go on with his life, but Elisah cannot, the prosecutor said. The plea agreement called for a minimum sentence in the range of 9 to 16 months. According to court documents, on March 15, 2001, Buss picked up Elisah from a baby-sitter and took him to the home he shared with Tina. At 4:17 p.m. Buss called her at work and told her to come home immediately because her son was sick and unresponsive.

The boy was taken to Muncy Valley Hospital inMuncy and then flown to the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville where her underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on the brain. He was kept on life support until he was pronounced dead March 25. In an autopsy report, a forensic pathologist determined the cause of death was blunt trauma to the head. Further examination by Dr. Danielle K.B. Boal, professor of radiology and pediatrics and the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, revealed Elisah suffered a violent injury to the brain that would have incapacitated him immediately. Buss maintained Elisah had hit his head when he fell off the toilet while being potty trained. Experts told police they though Elisah died from shaken baby syndrome. Had the case gone to trial, defense attorney George E. lepley Jr. said he would have had an expert testify the boy's injuries occurred at another time.

 



Dad, 22, acquitted in baby shaking death
By JONATHAN BANDLER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: February 11, 2004)

WHITE PLAINS — A young father accused of shaking his baby son to death in a Mount Vernon shelter was acquitted yesterday of all homicide charges.

Billy Monroe Jr. and his lawyer, Allan Focarile, hugged after the jury forewoman announced "not guilty" to charges of second-degree murder, second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Monroe, a lanky 22-year-old, buried his head in Focarile's shoulder  for several moments and then sat down and sobbed. "It's been so hard on my son, but I knew he didn't do this," Monroe's mother, Lavandra Whitfield, said moments later. "I'm just happy it's all over, and I can take him home."

Six-month-old Billy Monroe III died Feb. 16, 2003, two days after he stopped breathing and was taken to Mount Vernon Hospital. He had lived in the cramped shelter room with his father and mother, Christine Cooper, and it was his father who was up with him most of the night as he cried from teething problems.

It was later determined that the baby died of injuries consistent with shaken-baby syndrome, and Monroe was charged with murder after telling detectives that, in frustration, he had grabbed his son forcefully, covered the baby's mouth with his hand and pressed the baby's face against his chest in an effort to stop him from crying. 

The defense argued that Cooper was more likely the killer and produced a witness last week, shelter resident Minerva Rodriguez, who testified that Cooper told her she had shaken the baby like a rag doll when Monroe was out of the room. Cooper denied ever telling the woman that, although she conceded that she lied to police when she told them she hadn't handled the child at times during the night.

"After we found (Rodriguez), I knew the evidence against Billy wasn't  there," Focarile said. "(The prosecution) made a choice early on in the case, and I think they rushed to judgment."  The seven women and five men of the jury began deliberating late Monday morning. As they filed into the courtroom yesterday, some were crying. Two held hands as the verdict was announced. Most left the courthouse declining to comment. Two said the evidence  against Monroe was not strong enough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had killed the child. They said jurors were split over whether to believe Rodriguez — and were not focused on Cooper's involvement, only on whether Monroe had killed the baby.

"We couldn't really tell who did it, and there was not enough proof that he did it," said Marian Boateng of Ossining. Colin Fairweather agreed, but said that while he believed he and his fellow jurors made the right decision, there was something unsatisfying about the verdict. "We still have a human being, a young baby, that died as a result of an injury," said Fairweather, of New Rochelle. "There is some unfinished business."

Assistant District Attorney Paul Stein was disappointed by the  verdict but said he thought there was strong evidence to convict Monroe, particularly after the statements he gave police about how he handled the child and because he never suggested Cooper had harmed the baby. "Our investigation showed that it was Billy who was responsible," Stein said.

He said he did not believe Rodriguez's account and suggested that she may have made up the conversation because there was "a climate and gossip" at the shelter blaming Cooper for not taking better care of her son. He said authorities had tried to speak with Rodriguez, but she had never agreed to speak with them. Rodriguez testified that she had felt threatened by a look Cooper gave her not to speak of the  conversation, but Stein said he did not think Rodriguez was someone who would be intimidated by a glance.

Cooper gave birth to the couple's twins a few months after Billy's death, and she now has custody of them, although she is being monitored by Child Protective Services. After the verdict, Focarile insisted that he wanted his client released from the courtroom, not from the county jail, where he had been since the day before his son died. Westchester County Judge Lester Adler said court officers had to make sure there were no warrants for Monroe's arrest. Once they had moments later, Monroe walked out of the courtroom to his waiting relatives. Still shaking, he hugged his mother and leaned on his brother for support as he made his way to the elevator. He said he was not ready to talk about the case or the verdict.
 



Right after his two month vaccinations?hmmmm

Story last updated at 10:12 p.m. on Thursday, December 28, 2000
LAW & DISORDER: Father faces infant death charge

By Veronica Chapin
Times-Union staff writer

More than a year after 2-month-old Alexander Riley was shaken to death in his Jacksonville home, his father was arrested on a murder charge, police said. Patrick L. Riley, 35, was taken into custody about 2 p.m. Thursday at his workplace, said homicide Sgt. Randy Justice of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Initially, the Aug. 17, 1999, death was ruled undetermined. However, Justice said it took about eight months for the Medical Examiner's Office to rule the infant's death as a homicide. Further interviews with the father resulted in the father's arrest. Riley, of the 4500 block of Bannons Walk Court, was being processed into the Duval County jail about 5 p.m. Thursday.

Justice said the mother of the child was not involved in the death.

 



 
http://www.superiorwi.com/placed/index.php?story_id=144047&view=text

Cano-Gonzalez found not guilty in death of 5-month-old son
David Lush
The Daily Telegram
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 17th, 2003 07:39:49 AM

Father’s Day came early for Victor Cano-Gonzalez, the man who was on trial accused of shaking his baby son to death. On Saturday, after nearly 12 hours of jury deliberation, the eight-man, four-women jury returned a not guilty verdict in the case. Cano-Gonzalez was on trial for second-degree reckless homicide in the death of his nearly 5-month-old son Nicolas following an incident the night of Nov. 13, 2002. Nicolas died on Nov. 20 from the trauma injuries to his head and abdomen.

Douglas County Circuit Court Judge Michael Lucci received the verdict and read it aloud in the tension-filled courtroom. Even though Lucci admonished the courtroom about verbal shows of emotion, the words “not guilty” still brought forth subdued but pent-up emotion from the defense side of the courtroom. Family members and friends had waited since noon Friday for the good news when Lucci turned the case over to the jury for deliberation.

“It was wonderful,” said Emilie Johnson, Cano-Gonzalez’ fiancee who sat next to her throughout the week-long trial. “It was a wonderful Father’s Day gift. I can’t thank the jury enough for seeing the innocence in Victor and that the case against him had never been investigated properly.

“If he hadn’t been falsely accused, none of this would happened.” “This is the best day” said Richard Gondik, Cano-Gonzalez’ defense attorney. “I think this is my biggest case and one that should have never gone to trial if the investigation had been done right from the start. “It was elation,” Gondik said about the verdict. The defense was concerned at the length of jury deliberations which could have ended in a hung jury. If that happened, the prosecution could have retried Cano-Gonzalez on the same charges.

“The only surprise was that it took this long. It was a nice Father’s Day gift to Victor and Emilie,” Gondik said. “What a rush,” said Emilie’s father Jim Ksiazyk, who testified during the trial. “Everybody had a half a yell. I was convinced that Victor didn’t do this and that it was a rush to judgment by the police and the prosecutors.” Following the not guilty verdict, Gondik asked the court to allow Cano-Gonzalez to see his daughter Jena, who he’d hadn’t been allowed to see during the seven months he was in Douglas County jail.

Lucci agreed and allowed Cano-Gonzalez, Johnson and Jena to retire for a time to a room in Lucci’s chambers. Even though Cano-Gonzalez was found not guilty, he was later returned to jail to await resolution on immigration issues related to his student visa status. Those issues will be worked on this week “in the hopes of getting him out as soon as possible” said Gondik. The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney James Boughner, left the courtroom minutes after the verdict was read — declining comment to the media. After Lucci dismissed the jury, several jury members hung around and wanted to shake Cano-Gonzalez’ hand “to apologize on behalf of the state,” said Johnson.

Several family members recounted the words and thoughts of several jury members who talked with them after the trial. “Three of them came up to me and wanted me to know — and wanted Victor to know — that they wanted to apologize for everything that had been done to Victor. They said they really felt bad for him for being in jail for seven months and not being allowed to go to Nicolas’ funeral or to his grave or see his other daughter Jena. They were so kind,” said Johnson.

For the jurors who did share their thoughts with family members, the defense was convincing in maintaining that the family’s 85-pound huskie-mix named Noel could have jumped on the bed where Nicolas lay crying and stepped on the boy. Some jurors expressed concern that the police investigation wasn’t “done right” and that investigators hadn’t follow the Superior Police Department’s own Standard Operating procedures when investigating the case.

Of particular interest to several jurors who did comment to the family was:

• That the crime scene hadn’t been secured until the next day after six other people had been through the house.

• That all the crime scene photographs hadn’t been looked by investigators before the trial — nearly seven months later. • That investigators failed to listen to the 911 tape until a month after Cano-Gonzalez had been arrested. • The believability of the prosecution in proving shaken baby syndrome as the cause for Nicolas’s death since medical testimony didn’t agree with each other. • That Noel — when she was brought into the courtroom — was convincing as a backup to the defense assertion that Noel stepped on Nicolas.

“This was a tragic incident involving the death of a small child,” said Superior Police Chief Floyd Peters whose department came under heavy criticism by the defense. “Basically this was a difficult, sensitive case for the family, for the department and for the community. I obviously respect the criminal justice system and the verdict of the jury.” Any further comment on the case or the jury’s verdict will have to wait.  “I’ll withhold any comments until I discuss this with the district attorney’s office. I think he may want to poll some of the jurors on this. We will be debriefing within the department on the case,” said Peters.

 



Tragic city dad cleared Mar 27 2004

A father accused of killing his baby son by violently shaking him has had the case against him dropped. Medical evidence presented to Birmingham Crown Court showed that ten- week-old Aron Arango was suffering from meningitis. His father Juan Arango, formerly of Girton House, Smith's Wood, Chelmsley Wood, had always insisted he shook his son in a bid to revive him after he fell off a bed. The prosecution claimed year that Colombian-born Mr Arango had shaken his son violently in a fit of temper in December 2000, causing his death.

A jury at the city's Crown Court failed to reach a verdict last November after the 25-year-old was charged with murder. In a sensational climbdown prosecutor Richard Bond yesterday revealed  evidence which indicated Aron was suffering from the brain disease.

Two recent Court of Appeal cases also cast doubt on suspicious infant deaths. Mr Bond said the medical evidence could no longer be relied on as concrete proof. "The child, when he was in hospital, had a lumbar puncture to look at his glucose and white blood cell levels. "The results were analysed and the Crown's case was that this was consistent with the baby being shaken to death. "But all those injuries to the head and the results of the lumbar  puncture could be explained by this child having meningitis." Mr Justice Gibbs ordered a not guilty verdict to be recorded. Mr Arango, now of Castle Bromwich, declined to comment.
 



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-locyurko27032704mar27,1,2994068.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

Dead baby's dad closer to retrial By Amy C. Rippel and Anthony Colarossi
Sentinel Staff Writers

March 27, 2004

An Orange County man who says he was wrongly convicted of shaking his baby to death five years ago won a second chance Friday to prove his innocence in court. Orange Circuit Judge C. Alan Lawson scheduled a weeklong evidentiary hearing starting Aug. 23 to decide whether Alan Yurko deserves a new trial. Lawson could decide to overturn Yurko's conviction and order a new trial, or he could let the conviction stand.

Yurko's attorney said he will spend the next few months preparing his case.

"I believe Mr. Yurko is innocent," Loren D. Rhoton said. "The determination of guilt was made by a man who bungled his [the baby's] autopsy, who has been suspended from performing autopsies at this point." Yurko was convicted in 1999 of shaking to death his 10-week-old boy, Alan Ream-Yurko, and sentenced to life. He and his wife, Francine, the child's mother, say the boy had an adverse reaction to a routine vaccination, was given the wrong types of medication and treatments while in the hospital and died.

Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner Shashi Gore ruled that the baby was shaken to death. Gore, whose office has been under fire for two years, has been banned from performing autopsies because of errors in the Yurko case. The Yurkos said Gore botched the boy's autopsy, which contributed to Yurko's conviction. They argue that Gore's credibility is in question and that Yurko's jury was given wrong information.

The Yurkos are backed by a group of international supporters called the Free Yurko Project, who insist that he didn't kill the child. Lawson noted that some of them have contacted him, and he asked Rhoton to discourage them from lobbying the court. Prosecutors handling the appeal say five other doctors, aside from Gore, testified during the trial. The baby suffered rib fractures, hemorrhaging and other injuries that were not vaccine-related, they argue.

"You need to look at the entire picture of this case, and that will tell you this child was murdered," Assistant State Attorney Robin Wilkinson said during Friday's meeting. Wilkinson and fellow prosecutor Chris Lerner said Gore won't be one of the witnesses in the August hearing. But Rhoton indicated his arguments will focus on the problems with Gore. "I think that recent developments have made it so that he will be a large part of the hearing," Rhoton said. "Dr. Gore's autopsy [in this case] appears as if he looked at somebody else's baby. Dr. Gore's ultimate conclusions are definitely suspect."

The hearing comes as Yurko's cause gains more support. Health advocate Gary Null, who has produced documentaries for PBS, is producing a documentary on the case. At the same time, one of the jurors who convicted Yurko is now saying he thinks Yurko is not guilty. "The facts support the complete exoneration of Alan Yurko," Null said from his office in New York City. Francine Yurko said her son had health problems from birth. The baby spent the first few days of life under the close scrutiny of doctors for respiratory and breathing problems, kidney problems and jaundice.

On Nov. 11, 1997, 10-week-old Alan was given six routine childhood vaccinations simultaneously. Within 24 hours, the baby became fussy with a fever and diarrhea, which continued for 10 days, Francine Yurko said. After his wife left for work on Nov. 24, 1997, Alan Yurko said, the baby stopped breathing. He rushed the baby to the hospital, where the child later died. Alan Yurko was arrested days later and convicted of shaking the baby to death. The baby was the couple's only child together.

The Yurkos maintain the baby had an adverse reaction to the vaccines and was given the wrong types of drugs, such as the anti-coagulant heparin. Null, who has produced several documentaries about diseases including AIDS and cancer, started researching the Yurko case while producing a documentary about the possible dangers of routine childhood vaccines. After reviewing the records, Null interviewed Yurko at Century Correctional Institute near Pensacola.

While researching the documentary, Null's associates contacted juror Thomas Miller, 76, who now thinks Yurko is not guilty. Miller told the Orlando Sentinel he hasn't done any of his own research into Yurko's case but is going on what he has read in the newspaper and heard on television news. He said he has not had contact with Yurko or any of his supporters, and that he came to his conclusion before he was contacted by Null. Other jurors could not be reached for comment.

Miller said Gore's mistakes on the autopsy report, including misidentifying the child's race and describing a heart that had been donated before the autopsy, would have been enough to raise questions about Yurko's guilt. On Friday, Rhoton asked that Lawson allow him to interview Miller in preparation for the hearing. Lawson initially indicated he would not allow that inquiry, but then said he would review case law before making a decision.

"If it was up to me, and I knew all this about him [Gore], there's no way I could have found [Yurko] guilty," Miller said. In February, the state Medical Examiners Commission ruled that Gore committed eight mistakes in the infant's autopsy. The commission barred Gore from doing any more autopsies until he retires in June. The commission did not address Gore's finding that the infant had been shaken to death.

That same month, the state Department of Health dismissed a complaint filed by Francine Yurko against Gore for mistakes made in the autopsy.

Amy C. Rippel can be reached at arippel@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5736. Anthony Colarossi can be reached at acolarossi@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6218.



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-asecyurko28082804aug28,1,6597412.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

"Dad freed from life sentence in son's death
Alan Yurko, convicted of fatally shaking his baby, wins his release."

By Anthony Colarossi and Pamela J. Johnson | Sentinel Staff Writers
Posted August 28, 2004

Alan Yurko, sentenced to life in 1999 for shaking his baby son to death, is a free man today after a judge ruled a botched autopsy and other new evidence warranted a new trial. Soon after Circuit Judge C. Alan Lawson's ruling Friday, Yurko reached a deal with prosecutors: He pleaded no contest to manslaughter and was sentenced to the time already served -- six years and 125 days.

Hours later, he was later released from the Orange County Jail into the arms of his wife and to the cheers of about 25 supporters, who have long maintained his innocence.

A broadly smiling Yurko emerged through the jail's glass doors shortly after 8 p.m. with a large white trash bag filled with legal papers and letters slung over one shoulder. "God, I just want to go home," Yurko said. "I haven't really believed this is real until now." He immediately thanked those who fought for his release. "I can't begin to describe what the last seven years have been like," he said. "Right now, I'm focused on the amazing love around me. I couldn't have done this -- I didn't do this. It was all these people and thousands of other people."

In court earlier Friday, Yurko, 34, acknowledged some role in the November 1997 death of 10-week-old Alan Ream-Yurko. "I do admit to an amount of culpable negligence in my son's death," said Yurko, explaining that he allowed the child to receive a series of vaccinations when he knew he was sick.

Yurko said outside the jail that he pleaded no contest because otherwise he would have had to spend two to three more years in prison awaiting the outcome of a new trial. "I didn't shake my son. I didn't hurt him. I didn't abuse him," he said. "But I was negligent. He was premature, and I should have done research about vaccinations on the Web. I trusted the doctors. I assumed doctors knew what was good for my kid. This is about parents taking an active role in their children's welfare."

The Yurko case had gained international attention from many who thought the child's injuries were the result of poor health, vaccinations and medical mistakes -- not shaken-baby syndrome. But the thrust of Lawson's ruling dealt with a deeply flawed autopsy conducted by former Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner Shashi Gore.

The report determined the baby was shaken to death, but the report had so many problems that the state Medical Examiner's Commission earlier this year barred Gore from performing autopsies after reviewing the Yurko case. "I also find that the credible cause and manner of death cannot be gleaned from Mr. Gore's autopsy because of the very serious deficiencies that were found by the medical board and brought to light in this hearing and of course in other places," Lawson said in his ruling.

"Because of that I think it does cast doubt on the entire trial," Lawson continued. "I don't know how you can maintain public trust in a system of justice if you let stand a conviction obtained through reliance on an autopsy that is later so thoroughly discredited." With what is known now about the autopsy, Lawson said jurors could have reached a different verdict after a second trial.

Gore's autopsy included a description of the baby's inner heart muscle, but Gore never examined the heart because it had already been removed for a transplant. But evidence presented by Yurko's defense team questioning the baby's vaccinations, which were given nearly two weeks before he was hospitalized, was not a factor in the judge's decision. "I also find that there is no reliable medical evidence that links the death directly to a vaccine," Lawson said. Yurko's wife, Francine, wept after witnessing the plea and expressed the mixed emotions of having her husband back, but without a complete exoneration.

"By him taking a plea, he gets to come home," Francine Yurko said through tears. "But we're still victims of the system. We've still spent seven years of our lives to prove his innocence and restore the name of our family. And a plea . . . regardless of no contest, that's not a victory to me. "We know he's innocent, and . . . that's all that really matters," she said. Assistant State Attorney Robin Wilkinson said the prosecution still came away from the hearing with a conviction.

"For, I believe a week, we've heard that this child died of a vaccine reaction," Wilkinson said. "In the judge's ruling in court, he found that there was not credible evidence, that it's not been accepted by medical science, which leads to one explanation left . . . this child was shaken to death."

After reviewing the evidence, Wilkinson said she and fellow prosecutor Chris Lerner decided not to proceed with another trial and "end it now." "That is not that we don't believe that Alan Yurko killed his child," she said. "We would have to put Dr. Gore back on the witness stand, and there's an issue as to errors that he made. . . . What this is, is it's a compromise between both sides."

Gore's career has been marred by several controversies since the late 1990s. Most recently, Gore's ruling of an accidental overdose in the 1998 death of Jennifer Kairis, a student at Rollins College, was challenged by three current or former associate medical examiners who say it was a homicide.

Last fall, John Creamer, who was charged with murder in his wife's death and held without bail for 10 months, was released when Gore told the court he could not support his autopsy findings that the woman had been poisoned with cadmium. Gore, who retired in late June, could not be reached for comment Friday, as he is traveling in Europe. Friday night, Yurko said he would spend time with his wife and supporters, and then celebrate his stepdaughter's 11th birthday at home. "I've been eating bologna sandwiches five days a week," he said. "I'm looking forward to some really greasy, nasty french fries."

 



'My life is being turned upside down' by John Sweeney
BBC Real Story


New medical research has cast doubts over the safety of some shaken baby convictions. One woman whose ex-partner was jailed for murdering her baby daughter tells the BBC how she feels about it.

Five years ago, Lisa Davis's life suddenly fell apart. She was called to the phone at the care home where she worked as an auxiliary nurse to be told that her 13-month-old daughter Heidi was critically ill. She rushed immediately to the nearby James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth, where the toddler was in intensive care. There she found her tearful partner, lorry driver Raymond Rock, who said there had been a terrible accident. Heidi had wriggled out of his arms as he tried to comfort her and landed on the floor. Heidi had suffered extensive brain damage. She died a few hours later.

Arrested

Three days later, police officers came to arrest Rock for Heidi's murder. "I remember the day of his arrest vividly," says Lisa.

It's possible that he is not guilty
Dr Jennian Geddes

"It was Monday morning and there were 10 police officers. They said they had come to arrest him for Heidi's murder and I said: 'No, you've made a mistake'."  A devastated Lisa refused to believe the man she loved and trusted had shaken her baby so violently. Heidi's injuries were likened to those of an adult who had been hurled into a wall at 70 mph. One doctor subsequently told Chelmsford Crown Court that Heidi displayed all the classic signs of "Shaken Baby Syndrome" - bleeding and trauma to the brain and eyes.

It was, he said, the worst case he had seen in 30 years of practice.  Only when the jury returned their unanimous guilty verdict did Lisa fully allow herself to believe that Rock had murdered Heidi. Gradually, it started to sink in," she says. "The man I loved more than anything had killed my little girl. It was like two losses at once."

Five years on, Lisa is facing the prospect of her world being turned upside down once again.

Appeal planned

She may have to accept that 32-year-old Rock is innocent and may be a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The main prosecution evidence against Rock was the agreement of several eminent experts that Heidi had died of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

There is no way he killed that baby
Brian Rock

But Rock's solicitors are currently preparing an appeal based on new research by a group of British doctors that directly contradicts the central thesis of SBS - that the 'tell-tale signs' of bleeding to a child's eyes and brain is definitive proof of violent shaking.

The dissenting doctors believe babies are far more vulnerable to brain damage than previously thought and that the so-called "tell-tale" signs can be caused by a seemingly innocuous fall of just a few feet - even from a bed or sofa - and cannot be relied on as evidence of abuse.

"It's possible that he is not guilty," says Dr Jennian Geddes, a leading neuropathologist. "It's entirely possible that people are in prison, convicted of violent shaking, who have in fact done nothing wrong." Mike Mackey, who represents Sally Clark - who was wrongly convicted of killing her two sons - shares that view.  "I am concerned that the experts on SBS might be wrong too, particularly those cases where there is very little or no other indicators of abuse," he says. Meanwhile, Rock who is currently in Frankland Prison, Durham, maintains his innocence. "There is no way he killed that baby," says his father Brian. "It might be what any father would say of his son, but I know it is the truth." None of this will ever bring back Heidi.  But last week, when I asked Lisa about the new evidence that points to the fact that Rock might be innocent, her answer was heartrending.

"Well, if that's so, they've ruined my life, haven't they?

"The last five years are going to be a complete and utter lie."

This story is featured on The Baby Killers? Real Story With Fiona Bruce, BBC One 19.30, Monday 29 March

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3572161.stm

Published: 2004/03/28 07:15:33 GMT

© BBC MMIV
 


http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/04/49367567.shtml?Element_ID=493
67567

 Father found guilty in 'shaken baby syndrome' case
    
By SHEILA BURKE
Staff Writer

A man accused of shaking his baby son to death was sentenced to 51 years in prison. A Davidson County jury found Russell Maze guilty of first-degree felony murder and aggravated child abuse after a four-day trial that featured dueling expert testimony on ''shaken baby syndrome.''

The baby, 5-week-old Alex, died in October 2000, 18 months after he was shaken, prosecutors said.  During this week's trial, the father's defense attorney questioned the ''shaken baby syndrome'' theory and argued that the boy, who had been born prematurely, was quite sick and had pre-existing bleeding on the brain. Attorney Dwight Scott also raised the possibility that the child had a reaction to a vaccine.

Jurors in Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier's courtroom had to wade through a large dose of complex medical material. One of the prosecutors said jurors deliberated for about two hours before they rendered a verdict Thursday night. ''Jurors don't understand all the complexity of the science and too often experts get in with bogus claims that are very difficult to try and refute,'' said Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Brian Holmgren.

During the trial, a pediatrician testified that the only thing that could have caused the swelling and bleeding and trauma to the baby's brain was from violent shaking.  During the trial, Dr. Suzanne Starling, a pediatrician who examined the baby, testified that there was no link between the baby's symptoms and the hepatitis B vaccine, as the defense team claimed. Toni Blake, a consultant who has questioned some cases prosecuted under the shaken baby theory, says she's worked on about 300 cases around the country and came to the trial to help Maze. Blake said she couldn't say with absolute certainty that the hepatitis B vaccine caused Bryan's injuries but said there had been problems with it with certain medically fragile children. The vaccine contained thimersol, a preservative containing mercury.

Opponents of use of thimersol in vaccines claim it causes higher rates of autism and other neurological disorders. Maze, 38, was originally tried in this case and convicted of aggravated child abuse in 2000, but the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial because the judge had failed to give the jury instructions on lesser offenses. Later that year, however, the child died, and the charges were upgraded to felony murder.

This week, the jury sentenced him to serve life in prison, which means 51 calendar years. Dozier will sentence him for the aggravated child abuse at a hearing next month. The baby's mother, Kaye Maze, entered a best-interest plea to a charge of failure to protect the child and was sentenced to serve two years in jail and three years' probation, court documents said.
 
 Sheila Burke covers state courts and can be reached at 664-2144 or
sburke@tennessean.com.    
 



Subject: Defense Fund for Christina Cutteridge

The forwarded email is a tragic case of a child with autism aged 6 years, who died after being given various drugs and, the family suspect after my questions, the pre school booster. I have not seen the full history because just as I was arranging to have that sent over the mother was arrested for killing him and she is in jail. Hence this fund has been set up. I think the autistic communities across the world need to be made aware of this - not necessarily to provide money, though that would help obviously, as with us all, but to raise awareness.

I was alerted to the case whilst in Australia. A colleague of Paul Shattock's who I met when we were both presenting papers at one of his conferences, read stuff on the world news re the MSBP conference and contacted me. She said that a 6 year old autistic boy had died and they were blaming the mother. She put me in touch and it went from there.

The sudden bruising which appeared from nowhere is identical to the post vaccine conditions recognized and charted over many years by Dr's Innis and Kalokerinos in Australia - and involved in various shaken baby cases round the world.  He had a massive projectile vomit - so bad it hit the wall on the other side of the room from the bed this tragic child was lying in - and then died.

He had also been on Ritalin then Risperidone etc, etc. Can you alert everyone to this tragedy? I am in touch with the lawyers and we are waiting for all the papers to come through. I'm alerting Paul to it this morning as well.

We have started an account at:

OLD NATIONAL BANK
3535 N Green River Rd
EVANSVILLE, IN 47715
812.473.9771

Checks need to be made payable to the bank with The Christina Defense Fund in the memo. We ask that you or anyone you know to please make a donation. Feel free to forward this to as many people as possible. We have a long uphill battle ahead of us and require any and all resources available.  Christina is innocent.  Please pray for her and our entire family.

Thanks,

Catherine Dugger
 



According to head helfer herself Dr Christian, if you shake a baby, the flailing legs would cause bucket handle fractures in the long bones. So according to their theory if he was held by the head and shook, the whole body would have been flailing and the arms and legs would have been fractured but weren't. Hummmm makes you wonder what story they'll try next. Another thing.. There were no retinal hemorrhages. So I guess that debunks the theory of the head being squashed\sqeezed and causing pressure to 'pop' the blood vessals in the retina. Look at the timeline. Sept 5th, well-checkup probably with vaccines to Sept 21st bleeding in brain and seizure. Hummmm?

No evidence of trauma, no idea who caused the injury. The vein's burst. Let's look at this for a minute. Maybe there was no evidence of trauma because none occurred. Maybe the injury was not caused by a who but a what. Anyway we all know that veins cannot burst from natural causes. Didn't they ever here of a stroke, or aneurysm?

Doctors take stand in military court case

By Theresa Merto; tmerto@guampdn.com
Pacific Daily News

TO THE POINT

Several doctors yesterday testified in military court that 1-month-old Jonathan Aidan Shepherd was violently shaken but that it was difficult to determine who caused his death.  The person who killed 1-month-old Jonathan Aidan Shepherd held the boy by the head and repeatedly violently shook the infant, but according to doctors who testified in a military court yesterday,  there is no way of telling who committed the act.

In day two of the court-martial against Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Anthony Shepherd, several Navy doctors who treated the baby boy and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Aurelio Espinola, who performed an autopsy after the infant's death, took the stand yesterday.  Anthony Shepherd has been confined at the U.S. Naval Forces Marianas Detention Facility after he was formally charged Sept. 29 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for allegedly violently shaking his baby a few days earlier, according to Pacific Daily News files. The baby was in the care of the father the day before he died, the defendant's ex-wife and Jonathan's mother, Candice Shepherd, has said.

Lt. Casey Self, a pediatrician, had treated Jonathan when he was first brought to Naval Hospital Sept. 21 after suffering a handful of seizures. She said that when they were preparing him to be transported to Okinawa, there already were indications that he might not survive the trip. His "stats were zero on the monitor," Self said. He had been paralyzed. His body was shutting down, said Self, who repeatedly updated Candice Shepherd on the baby's treatment. "I said, 'Jonathan is dying and I can't save him,'" Self said, holding back tears, as she recalled telling Candice Shepherd about her son's condition.  Jonathan was wrapped in a blanket and he was given to his mom, who held him for 40 minutes, Self said.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Lt. Randy Vavra, Self said that Anthony Shepherd appeared to be in shock when they brought Jonathan to the emergency room, and he denied abusing his son when doctors said that the boy was violently shaken. Vavra asked whether a female could have caused the force that led to Jonathan's death, to which Self replied, "Yes." Self also said she was informed that Candice Shepherd was with Jonathan when he had his first seizures. She said there was no obvious bruising, fractures or deformed bones on the infant.  After being questioned by prosecutors, Self said that the infant died as a consequence of brain damage and that the injuries were sustained within the 24 hours before his death.

Self, however, said she could not tell who shook the baby, adding that fingerprints were not left on the body. Another prosecution witness, Lt. Cmdr. Jerry Barton, who is a family  physician at Naval Hospital, said he had done a "well-baby check" on Jonathan on Sept. 5. Barton said he checked the infant's height, weight, reflexes, among others, and said that he was a normal, healthy baby.

During cross-examination, Barton said he did not specifically remember the infant and added that he sees numerous patients a day. Barton said he recalled the information on the baby's check-up after he reviewed his notes. Espinola, who has performed more than 20,000 autopsies throughout his career, performed one on Jonathan. Espinola said he found a blood clot covering the left side of the brain. Espinola said the clot was up to three days old and that the cause of death was the baby was violently, repeatedly shaken. He said the force was so strong, the veins in the boy's brain burst. He said he could not determine who caused the injury.

Espinola said during cross-examination that there was no evidence of prior trauma, no fractures or neck injuries. He said because of an absence of neck injuries, he said the boy had to be held by the head when he was shaken. The court-martial is scheduled to continue today.

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Father Cleared of Murdering Baby Charlotte
A wealthy businessman was today found not guilty of murdering his 10-week-old daughter who had suffered brain damage and 32 bone fractures to her arms, legs and ribs. Despite halting the trial and ordering the jury to return a not guilty verdict, Mr Justice Grigson told Winchester Crown Court that little Charlotte Latta had "beyond doubt" been abused by someone. The judge said Mark Latta, 41, of Bishop's Waltham, Hants, could have inflicted the injuries on his daughter, but "there is  absolutely no evidence that he did so".  Hampshire Police said afterwards there will be no reinvestigation into the death of Charlotte.

The collapse of the trial prompted calls for a public inquiry into the prosecution of parents accused of murdering their children. It is the latest in a long line of high profile cases of parents falsely accused of killing their off spring. The acquittal also leaves the question of who attacked Charlotte repeatedly throughout her short life. "That someone had abused Charlotte Latta is beyond doubt," the judge told the jury. "Whilst Mark Latta was one of those who could have inflicted these injuries there is absolutely no evidence that he did so. All the evidence is that he was a loving and caring father."

Over the last two years several high profile cases involving parents accused of killing their offspring have been overturned on appeal or found not guilty by a jury. In 1999 Solicitor Sally Clark was convicted of killing two of her children but the conviction was overturned on appeal. Shop worker Angela Cannings also walked free on appeal last year after being found guilty of murdering her two sons in 2002. Also last year. pharmacist Trupti Patel was acquitted of killing three of her children. Campaigner Penny Mellor, from the Dare to Care parents justice group, demanded a public inquiry into how prosecutions like Mr Latta's were brought.

"At what point is the criminal justice system going to realise that we now have a serious problem? "We are seeing conviction after conviction being quashed and case after case falling where parents are accused of killing their children. "How many more before we get a public inquiry?" In statement outside court, flanked by his wife Sharon, 29, who stood by him throughout the case, Mr Latta said: "There are no celebrations today. Charlotte's untimely death is a tragedy. "The second tragedy is being wrongly accused of her murder. Today a third tragedy has been averted, the possibility of a wrongful conviction.

"I have always maintained my innocence and I could not have harmed my daughter in any way." During the four week trial, the prosecution alleged that Mr Latta had lost his temper and violently shook and then banged his daughter's head against a hard surface, causing brain damage, because she would not feed properly.It claimed the fatal attack was a culmination of assaults by Mr Latta on his daughter that had caused the fractures. The judge said there was no evidence to convict Mr Latta of the charge.

Earlier in the trial he had also ordered that Mr Latta be found not guilty of two counts of assault in relation to the fractures. He said the prosecution had failed to prove that Mr Latta had deliberately harmed Charlotte on the day she died, or shown what instrument had caused her injuries. Explaining his decision, the judge said that medical evidence was vital to the case and that some expert evidence had concluded the brain damage or bleeding in the eyes could have been due to natural causes. "It is not simply that there is a clash of opinion. There is a dispute and a valid dispute on almost every aspect of the medical evidence," he said.

He said that the bruise to the back of Charlotte's scalp raised suspicions, but he added: "Suspicion is never enough." Mr Latta's solicitor, William Bache, said: "The investigation by the police was marred by what I believe was a premature decision that Mr Latta was the guilty party and that shaped their subsequent investigations to, in effect, prove that he had done it. "But they should have kept an open mind about the cause and then come to a decision about it." Mr Bache, who was also Angela Cannings' solicitor, added: "It is unsatisfactory that police in these and other cases have a predisposition to go to certain experts to give them the opinions they are looking for, rather than experts who will give them an independent view on the basis of the most recent medical research available."

In his evidence to the court last week, Mr Latta said the family were preparing Sunday lunch at their home in Byron Close when he took his daughter upstairs to her bedroom to feed her. It was a normal day, happier than recent days because his daughter had been given a clean bill of health by a doctor in hospital that morning, he said. Mr Latta, who owns an IT company called The Powerworks, told the court that he and his wife Sharon had been having difficulties with  feeding Charlotte but they had been taught a new technique which he was using that day. He described how, after two attempts at getting her to drink her milk from a bottle, Charlotte spluttered and suddenly became very ill.

He said: "On the third attempt she started to feed again but was gulping her milk rather strangely and suddenly, as if she coughed, while the bottle was still in her mouth and milk sprayed from the side of the bottle. "For the first moment I thought she was refusing the feed so I was thinking about taking the bottle out of her mouth. "But within a short period of time her eyes started to close. "I thought she can't be going to sleep and then her eyes rolled back in her head a bit and immediately I realised there was something wrong."  He described how he called out to his wife to come up. She took Charlotte and attempted to resuscitate her. He said: "I could hear Charlotte making rasping noises from deep in her chest."

A neighbour and a doctor attempted further resuscitation on Charlotte until an ambulance arrived and she was driven to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. It was at the hospital that doctors found Charlotte had suffered the 32 fractures, including an injury to the head which was later found to have caused her extensive brain damage, the court heard. Fractures to Charlotte's arms and legs were caused by twisting, the jury heard. She had 20 rib fractures and a broken collar bone. Mr Latta denied mishandling Charlotte. He said: "I loved Charlotte, absolutely loved her, to have a daughter was so special to me. She meant the world to me, I would have done anything for her." Saying that he was "completely devastated" at her death, he added: "I never harmed her, I never mishandled her, I never shook her, I never banged her head on anything." He added: "I didn't believe anyone had hurt Charlotte, I certainly couldn't have believed that Sharon could  "
 



http://cjonline.com/stories/022800/new_amish28.shtml

Last modified at 11:58 p.m. on Sunday, February 27, 2000

Diseases that mimic abuse hard to diagnose
By DAVID KINNEY
The Associated Press
DORNSIFE, Pa. -- The pathologist saw blood in the brain and hemorrhaging in one retina of the dead 4-month-old Amish girl. As a result, a coroner ruled the death homicide due to shaken baby syndrome, stunning this tiny town and Pennsylvania's scattered Amish communities.  Days later, an expert on Amish illnesses said the ruling was wrong, that Sarah Lynn Glick died of a vitamin K deficiency and a rare liver disease.

Two months later, authorities still are trying to unravel the truth. Whatever the eventual ruling, Sarah's death is one more example of the sometimes blurred line between illness and child abuse, as when a rare disease mimics the bruising, bleeding or fractures of shaken baby syndrome. Last year, Minnesota officials took 1-year-old Wyatt Hines from his parents for three months after finding fractures in the boy's bones. His parents insisted he had osteogenesis imperfecta, or "brittle bone disease," a hard-to-diagnose disease that the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation says may affect 20,000 to 50,000 people in this country.
 
In another case, a newborn was taken from her parents in Denver in 1991before doctors diagnosed her with glutaric aciduria type 1, a liver disorder. In Nashville, an infant with the liver disease Alagille's syndrome briefly was sent to a foster home in 1993. Doctors are required by law to report suspicious cases to social workers. "If it's disease, the worst you have is an angry family. If it's abuse, the other kids are in deadly danger," said Dr. Randall Alexander of the Center for Child Abuse at Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine. In Sarah's case, the first to question the pathologist's conclusion of homicide was Dr. Holmes Morton of the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg.

"When you see a child that has blood in the brain, you must think child abuse, because unfortunately that happens in our culture, but you must also think of other disorders that mimic it," said Morton. He said he was angry that Sarah's parents remained under suspicion in the little girl's death. Dr. Michael Kenny, the pathologist at Geisinger Medical Center where she died, is expected to report on his review of the case next week. Neither Kenny nor Tony Rosini, Northumberland County's district attorney, returned calls for comment.  "We're on hold," said State Police Cpl. Carey Latsha, who oversaw the investigation.

Sarah's parents, dairy farmers Liz and Samuel Glick, found her unconscious Dec. 21, after the infant had been vomiting for days. She died two days later. Declaring it abuse, child services put the Glicks' other seven children in foster care until Feb. 17.  "Liz is a very quiet, calm person," neighbor Lisa Williard said. "This really has boggled my mind."  Morton explained that, earlier this century, doctors frequently saw babies with hemorrhaging caused by vitamin K deficiencies. Today, babies get vitamin K in shots and baby formula, but Sarah, delivered by a midwife and then breast fed, got neither. Without it, her blood didn't clot properly. Compounding Sarah's problem was a genetic liver defect, Morton said. Even if she had been getting the vitamin, her body wouldn't have been able to break it down. The illness isn't widely known, but Morton still criticized the handling of Sarah's death. Reports of similar cases involving vitamin K deficiency have appeared in several medical journals.  "The data was in the file the day she died and was never read or understood by the people that pressed this investigation," Morton said. "We haven't discovered anything that supports a diagnosis of abuse in this child."

Authorities who have dealt with similar cases say there is good reason to thoroughly investigate claims of disease that could actually be signs of child abuse.  "You're going to err on the side of protecting the child," said Susan Gaertner, a prosecutor in Minnesota. "Would people want us to do it any other way, when a child's safety is at risk?"

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From Another Angle Forsyth medical examiner challenges an accepted basis for determining child abuse By Danielle Deaver JOURNAL REPORTER Wednesday, April 21, 2004 It was a sad case. A 14-month old had been brought to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center with a serious head injury. The father had said that the baby pulled a television over on top of himself. A 3-year-old sibling who had witnessed the incident had concurred. But doctors found injuries at the back of the child's eyes. There was bleeding, and the retina - a light-sensitive membrane that lines the back of the eye - had buckled. Retinal folds, as they are called, have been reported only in babies who died from shaken-baby syndrome.

The child died hours after being brought to the hospital. The father was suspected of abusing his baby, and the family's other child was put into protective custody.

Dr. Patrick Lantz, a forensic pathologist at Wake Forest and a Forsyth County medical examiner, wasn't so sure that child abuse was cause of death. "When I did the autopsy, it looked like an injury that could be caused by a fallen TV," Lantz said. But doctors told him to look at the medical literature.

Lantz did just that. He found that plenty of people had studied retinal folds and shaken-baby syndrome - but no one had ever looked to see whether the condition could be caused by accidental head injuries. Lantz wrote a paper that cast doubt on the use of retinal folds to diagnose child abuse. It was published last month in the British Medical Journal.

To make sure that he was right about the case at Wake Forest, Lantz got the television that the father said had injured his child and set it up on the stand. Lantz knew the child's weight, and he was able to make a model to replicate the incident. He realized that it could have happened exactly as the father said it had.

His finding was accepted, and the other child was allowed to return home.

"You're looking at the entire picture - what other injuries the child has," Lantz said. "We're not trying to say child abuse doesn't exist. We're just trying to be more careful."

Reaction was mixed, he said.

"Some people thought we missed a child-abuse case."

Lantz is used to facing questions about his work. As a medical examiner, he has to figure out what killed the 750 people he does autopsies on every year. If a person was deliberately killed, Lantz often has to gather evidence for court cases, then testify at trial.

Vince Rabil, an assistant district attorney for Forsyth County, said that Lantz is a valuable asset to his office. "Dr. Lantz is one of the best medical examiners in the state. We have a lot of really good medical examiners in Forsyth County, but Dr. Lantz really stands out because he has done so many of the cases I've had that were really complicated," Rabil said.

Lantz first learned about pathology when he worked in a laboratory to pay for college. The hospital had just started a trauma center, and he had done a little bit of everything, including helping set up the pathology lab. He already knew that he wanted to be a doctor, but wasn't sure what field should be his specialty.

"I was really deciding whether I should go to family medicine, internal medicine or path-ology," he said. "I wanted to do forensics maybe half the time." But he became more and more intrigued with the field. "I just woke up one morning and thought, 'Why fight it,'" he said.

Pathology looks at diseases and the changes they cause in bodies. Forensic pathologists focus on autopsies and causes of death. They have to be able to determine causes of death -at the medical center, 44 percent are from natural causes, the rest from homicides and other causes - and help criminal-case investigators figure out what happened and then testify about it.

Lantz is also good at testifying, Rabil said.

"At first the jury doesn't know what to expect because he has long hair, he often pulls it back," Rabil said. "He often looks like a graduate student from Northwestern University, but once he begins testifying ... everyone is immediately impressed by his knowledge, his objectivity and his credentials."

• Danielle Deaver can be reached at 727-7279 or at
ddeaver@wsjournal.com



http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/041704_ap_ns_shakenbaby.html

Judge refuses to lower bail of teen accused in shaking death of her baby The 16-year-old Sanchez is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her two-month-old son. The infant was hospitalized February 20th and died on March 13th.

(AGAIN...2 MONTHS OLD....VACCINES....)
 



A father accused of killing his baby son by violently shaking him has
had the case against him dropped.

Medical evidence presented to Birmingham Crown Court showed that ten-week-old Aron Arango was suffering from meningitis. His father Juan Arango, formerly of Girton House, Smith's Wood, Chelmsley Wood, had always insisted he shook his son in a bid to revive him after he fell off a bed. The prosecution claimed year that Colombian-born Mr Arango had shaken his son violently in a fit of
temper in December 2000, causing his death.

A jury at the city's Crown Court failed to reach a verdict last November after the 25-year-old was charged with murder. In a sensational climbdown prosecutor Richard Bond yesterday revealed evidence which indicated Aron was suffering from the brain disease. Two recent Court of Appeal cases also cast doubt on suspicious infant deaths. Mr Bond said the medical evidence could no longer be relied on as concrete proof. "The child, when he was in hospital, had a lumbar puncture to look at his glucose and white blood cell levels. "The results were analysed and the Crown's case was that this was consistent with the baby being shaken to death. "But all those injuries to the head and the results of the lumbar puncture could be explained by this child having meningitis."

Mr Justice Gibbs ordered a not guilty verdict to be recorded.

Mr Arango, now of Castle Bromwich, declined to comment.

 



Child killer vows not to return to town

April 13, 2004 11:50

A MAN jailed for life for murdering a 13-month-old baby has vowed not to return to Great Yarmouth. Raymond Rock was 26 when he was jailed for life for the killing of Heidi Smith, who he shook in a fit of rage at his St Nicholas Terrace home in 1998. Rock has always protested his innocence and a recent BBC documentary showcased new evidence which cast doubt on his conviction. Now Rock plans to appeal, meaning he could be free to return to Norfolk within months. Last month his ex-partner Lisa Davis, mother of baby Heidi, told the Evening News of her agony at knowing her daughter's killer could soon be back in town.

But Rock's parents, Brian and Linda, of Perebrown Avenue, today said their son had pledged never to return to the town which holds so many bad memories for him. Mrs Rock, 69, said: "Ray has said he will never come back to Yarmouth when he comes out of prison. "He couldn't live here now after everything that has happened. We don't know where he will live because it is hard to make plans. "But he would not want to bother Lisa in any way. That is not his intention at all. "He knows it would be ridiculous for her to have to move now." Mrs Davis, 34, built a new life in Hemsby with husband Malcolm and their three-year-old son, Jake, following Heidi's death. She had contemplated uprooting her family and leaving the area when she heard the news of the possible appeal.

Now she says the future is still uncertain, but welcomed the news  that Rock would not return to the town. She said: "I suppose it is a relief knowing that he won't be coming  back here. But even knowing he was out walking the streets would be very difficult for me. "It is a consolation, but there's very little that's going to make me happy about all this. There's nothing that's going to bring back Heidi." In court, Rock said Heidi had wriggled out of his arms as he tried to comfort her and landed on her bottom on the floor. But experts said the toddler showed all the hallmarks of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) including cerebral bleeding and retinal detachment. She was diagnosed as brain dead and Mrs Davis took the decision to switch off her life support machine three days after the shaking. Experts at Sheffield University have examined the brains of dead babies and children said to have been shaken violently. Their results showed that 50 of the 53 brains — including Heidi's — showed no traumatic damage to brain cells, throwing doubt over a score of convictions.
 




Capital Murder Trial Underway in Russellville 
Monday March 29, 2004 6:04pm   Reporter: Michelle Rupp   Posted By:
Tony Tabor

Russellville - A capital murder trial is underway in Russellville. Monday a jury of nine women and four men including an alternate were seated just after lunch. They will decide the fate of 30-year-old Peter Vega, who stands accused of smothering his son to death.  A family ripped apart by a child's death and father's murder charge. The child's great aunt chokes back tears remembering their last time together. "He was fine Sunday, Wednesday we got a phone call he was dead."

April 16, 2003 Russellville Police were called to an apartment complex, they would find 6-month-old Elias Vega unresponsive. He would die a short time later at a local hospital. The child's father, Peter Vega would be arrested and charged with his son's murder. Family members are outraged that some evidence may not be allowed in court. "We have been told he was shaken and smothered but they are trying to keep that he was shaken out of court." "That's not true, that's not true that's all I can say about that." "Everything about this indicates the defendant did in fact suffocate this child, few days shy of six months old." ( 6 month vaccines?)

Jurors will be back inside the courtroom Tuesday. Vega is facing a life sentence rather than the death penalty. At the time of the child's death, Vega was sharing joint custody with the baby's mother.

 



Baby's quality of life debated
Medical experts testify about boy's condition By Joel Moroney
News Journal



Case background

Aiden Stein was taken to MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital on March 15 and then flown to Akron Children's Hospital, where he remains comatose. Doctors at the hospital testified Stein suffered severe brain injury, leaving him blind, deaf and unaware of his surroundings. They contend a permanent vegetative state would be his best possible outcome and have recommended terminating life support.

They have diagnosed him with shaken-baby syndrome.

The hospital is requesting permission to end life support against the will of the parents, Matt Stein, 21, and Arica Heimlich, 21, of Mansfield.

The issue is being decided by Summit County Probate Judge William Spicer, whose decision in the similar case of a Wayne County infant ended with the infant's death after removing life support.

The girl's father was sentenced to prison on a manslaughter charge last year.

AKRON -- Dying of thirst or starvation would be better than living the life 5-month-old Aiden Stein is destined for, according to a recommendation to end life support made Thursday by a court-appointed guardian. The Mansfield infant's brain is still capable of operating most of his body, including his heart, and he likely could breathe on his own if taken off a ventilator, according to the testimony of medical experts from both sides Thursday. But he cannot eat or drink, and his feeding tube would be disconnected under a recommendation made by Ellen Kaforey, an attorney and nurse appointed medical guardian by Summit County Probate Judge William Spicer.

Spicer said he expects to issue his written ruling next week.

"The parents do not appear to be well grounded in the medical reality of the situation," Kaforey wrote. "They appear to have little or no comprehension of the care that will be required ... to keep the child alive. They appear to have little or no comprehension of the lack of quality of life that the infant will face." Kaforey recommends withdrawing all life-sustaining support and treatment; issuing a do-not-resuscitate order; directing medical care providers to cease all treatment that would prolong life, and deciding what to do with Aiden if he survives.

Two medical experts battled Thursday over the cause of Aiden's injuries and his prognosis, giving testimony that contrasted severely.

Stark photographs of Aiden's scans flashed in the courtroom, his brain growing darker with the signs of death through the first week of April. The pictures showed it shrinking and losing density, creating space inside the skull, which filled with fluid because "nature abhors a vacuum," according to Dr. Max Wiznitzer, a pediatric neurologist who examined Aiden at the request of the judge. "It is severely, severely, severely, irreparably damaged," Wiznitzer said. "There was inflicted trauma on this child on March, 15, 2004. What we don't know is who did it."

But Dr. Paul Byrne -- a Toledo pediatrician with a pro-life philosophy who has testified in several similar cases nationwide -- said an old injury found on Aiden's brain could have occurred at birth and caused the critical injury after collecting fluid tore an artery in the brain. He said an abnormal head size described by the parents could have been caused by the collection of fluid. He called shaken-baby syndrome a "misnomer," said the infant could hear and had pupils that were reacting slowly to light. He said cognitive function could not be determined in a comatose patient and he had never seen a case where terminating life support was the best option.

"I can't understand why it is in the best interest of Aiden to be dead," said Byrne, adding that everyone needed three essentials to live: Oxygen, water and food. "At this time, he is still living. He is being treated as best they know how, as near as I can tell. But they should keep it up, not stop."

Defense attorney Edward Markovich indicated during closing statements he would appeal any ruling that infringed upon his client's parental rights without any finding of their guilt in causing the baby's injuries.

jmoroney@nncogannett.com

(419) 521-7219

Originally published Friday, April 23, 2004
Case background
 Aiden Stein was taken to MedCentral/Mansfield Hospital on March 15 and then flown to Akron Children's Hospital, where he remains comatose. Doctors at the hospital testified Stein suffered severe brain injury, leaving him blind, deaf and unaware of his surroundings. They contend a permanent vegetative state would be his best possible outcome and have recommended terminating life support.  They have diagnosed him with shaken-baby syndrome.  The hospital is requesting permission to end life support against the will of the parents, Matt Stein, 21, and Arica Heimlich, 21, of Mansfield.

The issue is being decided by Summit County Probate Judge William Spicer, whose decision in the similar case of a Wayne County infant ended with the infant's death after removing life support.  The girl's father was sentenced to prison on a manslaughter charge last year.
 



Local News - Gillette, Wyoming Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Was baby shaken or did she fall?

There's no dispute that a 10-month-old baby suffered bleeding on the surface of her brain in October. But whether the injury was caused by an accidental fall or an act of  child abuse is at the core of a criminal trial that started Monday in Gillette's 6th District Court. Jacob S. Hoem, 23, faces a charge of felony child abuse for what the prosecution alleges is a case of shaken-baby syndrome. Deputy Campbell County Attorney Jack Sundquist said during his opening statement that Hoem "shook this little girl and caused substantial damage" on Oct. 19.

Sundquist said the injuries she suffered were inconsistent with Hoem's explanation that she fell from a couch and caused a whiplash motion to her head. But defense attorney Nicholas Carter maintained that there is no evidence of exactly when the subdural hematoma - bleeding between the brain and skull - occurred. Carter, during his opening statement, pointed to an incident two days earlier in which the baby had fallen onto her head from her crib. The baby's behavior had been fussy, she had not been eating well and her sleeping patterns varied after the fall.

"She was suffering from a subdural hematoma that had nothing to do with Jacob Hoem," he said. Without an exact time of when the injury happened, an investigation should have been launched into anyone who cared for the child around the time, Carter added. "No investigation was done into anyone but Jacob Hoem," he said. If convicted, Hoem faces a maximum punishment of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. His trial continued today and is expected to end Thursday. Monday's testimony centered on the recollection of police and medical personnel who were involved after Hoem called 911 at 6:54 p.m. In a recording of the 911 call Sundquist played for the jury, Hoem told the operator that the baby "fell off the couch." Hoem had been playing a video game and watching his girlfriend's baby while she went to work when the child fell. "She landed on her head," he said on the recording, sounding worried. He said the baby was breathing but "she looks like she's knocked out." "She won't wake up for you?" the operator asked him.

"No," Hoem responded, while repeating the girl's name numerous times during the call. Campbell County Memorial Hospital doctors who treated the baby were asked about their opinions concerning the injury. Diagnostic radiologist James LaManna said he reviewed a CAT scan of the baby's brain and found a 5 cm or 6 cm in diameter blood clot over a portion of her brain. Carter asked when the bleeding could have happened and LaManna replied it was possible from as much as 10 days prior. "Could you get this sort of hematoma from a fall?" Carter asked. The radiologist confirmed that it could.  But Dr. Jonathan Hayden, who works in the hospital's emergency room, said the baby "will not from a same-height fall end up with that injury." Hayden added that he noticed bruises on the baby such as on her shoulder, hip, foot, knee and forehead, but none looked "immediate" because they were yellow.

Sundquist asked if the hematoma could have been caused by the fall  from the crib, which Carter had said earlier was about 40 inches to the ground. "In my experience, a fall onto a carpet floor from that height would not cause that injury," Hayden said.

By MARTIN REED

News-Record Writer

 



Murder suspect may be let out of jail
By Kara Spak Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Friday, May 07, 2004
Angeles Sanchez, the 16-year-old from Elgin charged with the murder of her infant son, may be leaving the county's juvenile jail.

And she won't be posting the required $25,000 cash to leave.

A Kane County prosecutor and Sanchez's attorney worked out a complicated deal in court Thursday that would allow the girl to live in an Elgin home owned by her mother's third cousin, though her mother did not know the cousin's name.

Kane County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Piper Golden signed off on the deal with several restrictions.

Golden said Sanchez, who is not a United States citizen, must be on both electronic home monitoring and tracked by global positioning system, which is used to monitor the whereabouts of the county's sex offenders. Sanchez is not to have any contact with her other child, a 19-month-old girl, or with any other children.  Maria Diaz, Sanchez's mother, will live with her in Elgin. A cousin will watch Sanchez's daughter, who has been in Diaz's custody since Sanchez's March arrest.

The entire deal is contingent on court services obtaining the cousin's permission to have Sanchez move in to her home as well as allowing the electronic home monitoring to be hooked up to the home's phone line. John Owens of the county's adult court services program said phones with a privacy manager feature cannot be hooked up to electronic home monitoring. Features like call waiting and caller ID also can affect the home monitoring service. Sanchez's 2-month-old son, Michael Osnorio, died March 13 after doctors took him off life support equipment. He had been hospitalized three weeks earlier after his father noticed he was having trouble breathing.

Sanchez told police she had picked up her son by his hips the day he was hospitalized. When she lifted him, his head titled, she said. Police said his injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, but a pathologist has yet to determine the baby's cause of death. Golden estimated the earliest the electronic home monitoring and global positioning could be in place at the cousin's home would be Monday. "She's not going to be released until all these conditions are met," Golden said. "It's a situation with a likelihood of fleeing with this serious charge and her not being a U.S. citizen." Assistant Kane County State's Attorney Pam Monaco declined to comment on why the state was willing to allow Sanchez out of jail, saying it is a "unique case."

Sanchez is charged as an adult with first-degree murder.
 



DCF should use common sense to place child
Published May 18, 2004
Jason and Debra Behrens are two upstanding Orlando police officers as well as parents. They have a biological daughter and adopted son. They want to make it a threesome through another adoption. They can't. "It is with regret that we are unable to work with you toward your goal of adopting a child . . ." the Children's Home Society of Florida told the couple in a letter last year. "The founded report of abuse on Mr. Behrens automatically prevents our agency from considering you for adoption."

The Florida Department of Children & Families has labeled Jason a child abuser, which means he is blacklisted by adoption agencies. Two years ago, Jason tripped while stepping over a child gate in his house. He was carrying his 9-month-old son, Tyler. The boy suffered a cracked skull in the fall but survived. A doctor with the state's Child Protection Team ruled that Tyler was a victim of shaken-baby syndrome. The difference between falling with a baby and shaking a baby is that one is clumsy and the other is a crime. The Orange County Sheriff's Office went with clumsy when Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Dr. William Anderson said the child's injuries were consistent with the type of fall described by the father. Anderson was brought in to review the medical records because of his experience with shaken-baby syndrome. He was a former member of the Child Protection Team.

His findings were backed up by a pediatric ophthalmologist. There also were no signs of abuse typically found with shaken babies, such as old fractures or bruises. But DCF did not drop the case. At a dependency hearing, an agency attorney surmised that because of the parents' work schedule, they must have been under a lot of stress and that "the father just lost it." There was no proof of any of that. It was conjecture pulled out of a hat. By that rationale, given the stress of cranking out four columns a week, I'd have put my entire family in the hospital by now.

The judge ruled for the Behrenses.

But DCF still lists Jason as a "verified abuser." A letter from DCF to the Behrenses states, "The verified findings are based on the Child Protection Team's evaluation of your son's injury and the recommendation that the explanation provided was not consistent with this injury." Forget all testimony to the contrary. There is no appeal mechanism. This is a couple who went through a grueling in vitro fertilization procedure to have one child and adopted a second. All kids should have parents who wanted them so badly.

After failing to clear Jason's name with DCF, the couple has filed a federal lawsuit against the agency. DCF will fight it with your tax dollars. I understand that you err on the side of protecting kids. But at some point, you have to inject common sense into the process. DCF isn't big on common sense. We have a loving family here that wants a child. And we have a state that has an excess of unwanted children. Two things need to happen here. The state needs a hearing process by which people can appeal if they are put on the abuse list.

Second, DCF needs to follow whatever internal procedures it has set up -- which right now seem to consist of shaking monkey bones and casting them on the ground -- and take Jason Behrens off the list.

Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525

or mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.

 



Hi All,

Some of you may remember a situation I wrote about maybe 6 months ago where I was contacted by a parents who had her child taken away from her? Just to refresh your memories, her baby reacted after the first lot of vaccinations given at 2 months and was hospitalised. They found bleeding on the brain (subdural haemmhoraging), fluid in the brain cavity, seizures, retinal bleeding and petechia on the face of this child.

She was accused of shaking her baby and lost custody while the child was placed with a foster family. When it was coming close to the time for this baby to get the second lot of vaccines, she begged the dept of family services to not allow it to be vaccinated. Of course, they didn't listen and the child was revaccinated and had exactly the same reaction except worse.

The mother raised bloody hell and was given custody back with no explanation, no apology and certainly no admission that the vaccination had anything to do with this case. We reported this reaction to ADRAC (The Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee) and they actually got back and asked us for more information which is very unusual so we thought - aha! at last they are going to actually look into a reaction instead of just glossing it over like they usually do. Silly us.

The mother in this case sent what medical files she had to ADRAC and I am assuming they also got information from the doctor in this case. We have now received a letter back from ADRAC (P. Purcell, Medical Officer, Secretariat) advising us that, "the events described in the child in Report No ******* are not compatible with a vaccine-related adverse reaction."

Now how the hell they can say this is beyond me! If it happens once, it is possible it's unrelated. If it happens twice and if the reaction actually ACCELERATES as this one did, there has got to be a connection. Children don't just start bleeding on the brain for no reason.

This child has been left with epilepsy, possible vision problems, developmental delays, paralysis on one side of the baody, and cranial fluid and bleeding. Who is going to accept responsibility for what happened in this case? Who is going to accept responsibility for the hell this family went through in not only seeing their beloved child hurt, but in seeing that child put with a strange family and then, forcibly hurt again without any means of stopping it?

The only way that ANYONE will ever accept responsibility is if enough of us raise our voices and force the issue. We need to write NOW - today, not tomorrow - and let our politicians know about this situation. We need to let them know that this is not an isolated event but that it happens on a daily basis in Australia and around the world. And that any government that spends $300 million in one year on an experiemental vaccine (Meningococcal) and plans on spending over $150 million this year on another one (Pneumococcal) must also show a committment to ensuring that more people are not being harmed than are being helped.

Please write to your representatives today! I will put links in to both Federal and State Parliament members - write to both the Federal and State Minister for health and copy the same letter so you don't have to write more than once. Write to your local Federal and State members (most parliamentary websites allow you to search to find out who your rep is if you don't know) and if you feel strongly enough about it, get a group of 2 or more together and make an appointment to go and see your representative and speak with them face to face.

Please don't let this go. Too many innocent children and adults are being injured and killed every day while good people like us stay silent about what we know to be the truth.

All the best,
Meryl

Federal Members - http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/index.htm
Federal Senators - http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/index.htm
NSW Parliament Members -
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/web/phweb.nsf/frames/members
Queensland Members - http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Parlib/Members/
Tasmanian Parliament - http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ (click on the link
that says Members)
South Australia - http://www.parliament.sa.gov.au/members/7_members.shtm
ACT -
http://www.legassembly.act.gov.au/members/Default.asp?session={19%2F05%2F200
4+11%3A11%3A53+AM}
WA -
http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/web/newwebparl.nsf/iframewebpages/Members+-+
Email
NT - http://www.nt.gov.au/lant/members/Members.shtml?OpenDatabase
VIC - http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/mps.html
 



Story last updated at 7:29 a.m. Saturday, April 24, 2004


Father accused of slamming infant on bed

Air Force mechanic charged with attack; 10-week-old has blood clots, eye injuries

BY PHILLIP CASTON
Of The Post and Courier Staff
A 22-year-old vehicle mechanic at the Charleston Air Force Base has been charged with abusing his 10-week-old son, and Charleston County sheriff's deputies say this isn't the first time he has attacked the child.

Alexis Sanchez of Frick Avenue is charged with unlawful conduct toward a child. Deputies accused him of slamming his son Evan Sanchez on a bed to make him stop crying, causing blood clots in the child's brain and retinal hemorrhages, deputies said.

On Tuesday evening, Sanchez and his wife, Nichole Sanchez, were bathing Evan, deputies said. Alexis Sanchez, an active-duty member of the Air Force, took Evan into a bedroom as Nichole Sanchez was taking a shower, deputies said.

Alexis Sanchez called his wife into the room and said Evan started crying, then went limp and stopped breathing, according to deputies. The baby began breathing shallowly, and Alexis Sanchez got an ice pack to place on the child's feet and hands to get a reaction while Nichole Sanchez called 911, according to deputies.

The child was transported to Trident Hospital, where a blood clot was discovered, deputies said. The child was then taken to Medical University of South Carolina, where multiple other blood clots were found, along with retinal damage consistent with "shaken baby syndrome," according to deputies.

As of Friday, the baby did not have signs of brain damage, according to Detective Harry Long of the Charleston County Sheriff's Office. Alexis Sanchez signed a statement admitting to slamming the child on the bed twice, according to Long.

Evan had signs of previous abuse, Long said. "The baby has a fractured rib that is healing," Long said.

In bond court Friday, Nichole Sanchez stated that her husband is not a violent man and needs help for his problems. "Every child deserves to be with his father," she said.

The Department of Social Services intervened after the incident, Long said, but Evan has since been returned to his mother's custody.

Magistrate Jack Guedalia set bail at $100,000 for Alexis Sanchez. Guedalia also set as conditions for Sanchez's bond that the serviceman have no contact with the child, that he receive a mental evaluation and parenting counseling and that he be confined to the Air Force base.

 



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15540&num=62&ctrlInfo=Round2b%3AProd%3ASR%3AResult

Shaken baby syndrome convicted my lover of murder. Now they say he may be innocent; When her baby daughter died, Lisa Davis simply couldn't believe 'the best bloke ever' was to blame. Six years on, it seems she may have been right. 

The Mail on Sunday (London, England); 3/28/2004  

Byline: JOHN SWEENEY

LISA DAVIS'S life fell apart when she was called to the phone at the care home where she worked as an auxiliary nurse to be told that her 13-month-old daughter Heidi was critically ill. She rushed to the nearby James Paget Hospital, Great Yarmouth, where the toddler was in intensive care. There, she found her tearful-partner, lorry driver Raymond Rock, who said there had been a terrible accident.

Heidi had wriggled out of his arms as he tried to comfort her and landed on her bottom on the floor. Within hours she was diagnosed as brain dead and Lisa agreed that her life-support system should be turned off. Her daughter died in her arms that night. A heartbroken Lisa, now 34, went home to grieve with Rock, a man she met after splitting up from Heidi's father. Rock appeared loving and caring and had already become a father figure to Heidi. As they wept together, Lisa threw her arms round him and told him not to blame himself. Three days later, ten police officers arrived to arrest Rock for Heidi's murder. A devastated Lisa refused to believe that the man she loved and trusted had shaken her baby so violently that Heidi died of catastrophic brain damage.

 Heidi's injuries were likened to those of an adult who had been hurled into a wall at 70mph. At Rock's trial, one doctor told Chelmsford Crown Court that Heidi displayed the classic signs of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) - bleeding and trauma to the brain and eyes. It was, he said, the worst case he had seen in 30 years. Lisa listened, horrified, as expert after expert denounced as a baby killer the man she loved. Only when the jury returned their unanimous 'guilty' verdict did Lisa allow herself to believe that Rock had murdered Heidi in a fit of rage after her crying interrupted a TV documentary about UFOs.  It was an appalling setback for any young mother, but Lisa worked to rebuild her life. She fell in love with and married an old friend, Malcolm Davis, with whom she now has a three-year-old son, Jake.

 She thinks about Heidi every day, but has gained some mental peace from the fact that Rock, who has always denied killing Heidi, was sentenced to life imprisonment. BUT now Lisa's life could be ripped apart once more. Five years after Heidi's death, she faces the possibility that 32-year-old Rock may be innocent - the victim of a miscarriage of justice every bit as grave as those of the falsely accused cot-death mothers Sally Clark, Trupti Patel and Angela Cannings. The main prosecution evidence against Rock was the agreement of eminent experts that Heidi had died of SBS, a long-accepted diagnosis that accounts for about 200 clinical cases, many leading to criminal charges, every year - almost all against men. But Rock's solicitors are preparing an appeal based on new research by British and American doctors that directly contradicts the central thesis of SBS - that the 'telltale signs' of bleeding to a child's eyes and brain is definitive proof of violent shaking. These new doubts about SBS were highlighted on Friday in the British Medical Journal.

 The dissenting doctors believe babies are far more vulnerable to brain damage than previously thought and that the so-called 'telltale signs' can be caused by an innocuous fall of just a few feet, even from a bed or sofa, and cannot be relied on as evidence of abuse. It is a prospect that Lisa cannot yet countenance. 'I remember the day of his arrest vividly,' she said. 'The police had come to arrest him for Heidi's murder and I said, "No, you've made a mistake." 'Later, when I was shown the postmortem results, I thought it was all lies. But there it was in black and white, that Heidi had been so violently shaken. Not only had I lost my beautiful daughter, but someone I thought I was safe with was arrested for her murder. I can't explain what I felt. I can't go there. It was unbelievable.' Lisa had fallen instantly for the handsome lorry driver she had met the year before at a nightclub. 'I took one look at him and fell head-over-heels in love,' she recalled. 'I thought he was the best bloke ever. I can remember saying to my mother, "This is too good to be true." I really loved him.

 'He was good-looking and had a great personality. After our second date he brought me home and came in for coffee. When Heidi woke up he said, "Isn't she beautiful?" and she gave him one of her smiles.' The couple moved in together four months later, in the spring of 1998, when Heidi was ten months old. 'Here was a man I loved who really seemed to adore Heidi as well,' she said. 'He'd feed her, bath her and play with her in the mornings to give me a lie-in. I'd leave them alone together without a second thought.' Then, on June 2, 1998, Lisa took the phone call that changed her life. 'At the hospital I believed him. I even put my arms around him and comforted him, telling him not to blame himself,' she said.

 But the experts made her reason that he must be the murderer. 'Gradually, it started to sink in,' she said. 'The man I loved more than anything had killed my little girl. It was like two losses at once. I thought I'd been living with the most kind, caring man, but in his place was this monster.' But what if the scientific evidence was wrong? JUST as in the Cannings, Patel and Clark cases, there was no suggestion of previous abuse. Rock had two children by a previous marriage and his ex-wife says he never abused them or her. But, ironically, the discovery that most tellingly undermines the case against Raymond Rock - and scores of other convicted child murderers - was made by a specialist who was approached as a potential defence witness by Rock's legal team, and concluded that he was probably guilty.

 Since then, British neuropathologist Dr Jennian Geddes has examined the brains of dead babies and children who had supposedly been violently shaken. Diagnosis of SBS had been made by looking for bleeding on the brain's surface. She decided instead to look for visible signs of damage to the axons - the 'wiring' inside the brain - that is obvious in children killed by trauma and whiplash in car accidents. Her findings were astonishing: 50 out of the 53 brains, including that of Heidi, showed no traumatic damage to the axons, throwing a huge question mark over the theory that violent shaking must be necessary to cause the 'telltale signs'. Dr Geddes has now changed her mind about Rock. 'It's possible that he is not guilty,' she said. 'It's entirely possible that people are in prison, convicted of violent shaking, who have done nothing wrong.' Other studies have shown that babies can suffer the so-called ' telltale signs' from birth difficulties or even from a fall of just a few feet.

 One suggestion is that the bleeding to the brain and eyes seen in supposed SBS cases could be caused when a baby stops breathing. The heart keeps pumping blood to the head, but the veins do not return it, causing a massive rise in pressure. One of the key papers supporting the SBS theory is a 1974 report by American radiologist Dr John Caffey, who wrote: 'Although our evidence ... is meagre, it is valuable because it is reliable.' But now, however, a growing band of researchers are casting doubt on that reliability. Australian researcher Dr Mark Donohoe reviewed all the academic papers on the subject and concluded: 'The evidence for SBS appears analogous to an inverted pyramid, with a small database, most of it poor quality.'  

Another eminent brain scientist was more blunt: 'Shaken Baby Syndrome, because there's no scientific evidence to support it, is crap.' But the scientific experts at Rock's trial were of one mind that the accepted symptoms of SBS proved he had killed Heidi. Professor Michael Green told the jury: 'These injuries are not the sort of things you see as a result of rough play. It's a sustained and vigorous shaking.' Professor Green also gave evidence to the police investigating double cot-death mother Sally Clark that her second son, Harry, had suffered bleeding to the eyes. A second eye expert, Professor Philip Luthert, proved Professor Green's finding wrong - a fact that Green later admitted. Sally Clark was freed by the Appeal Court in January last year after the expert evidence of Professor Sir Roy Meadow was shown to be 'manifestly wrong'.  

WHEN Appeal Court judges decided last December that Meadow was also wrong in the case of triple cot-death mother Angela Cannings, they said that no one should ever go to jail again on the basis of conflicting medical evidence.

 Sally Clark's lawyer, Mike Mackey, told me: 'I am concerned that the experts on SBS might be wrong, too, particularly in those cases where there is very little or no other indicators of abuse.' Meanwhile, Rock maintains his innocence in prison, where he has been savagely victimised because of the nature of his alleged crime. He is in Frankland Prison, Durham, after inmates at Long Lartin jail, Worcestershire, beat him unconscious with a billiard ball stuffed inside a sock. For weeks he could barely walk or talk. His mother Linda feared that he would be paralysed for life. She remembers her son telling her: 'They keep on wanting me to admit to killing her, but I didn't do it, Mum, I didn't do it.'

 His father Brian Rock told me: 'There is no way he killed that baby. It might be what any father would say of his son, but it is the truth.' None of this will ever bring back Heidi. But last week, when I asked Lisa about the new evidence that points to the fact that Rock might be innocent, her answer was heartrending. 'Well, if that's so, they've ruined my life, haven't they?' she said. 'The last five years are going to be a complete and utter lie.' .   

The Baby Killers? Real Story with Fiona Bruce, BBC1, 7.30pm tomorrow.

 COPYRIGHT 2004 Solo Syndication Limited

his material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.

All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.

 HighBeam™ Research, LLC. © Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.



The 'experts' who made parents into criminals.(Column)

The Evening Standard (London, England); 4/30/2003; Pearson, Allison
Byline: ALLISON PEARSON

THE greatest medical scandal of our times," is what Dr James Le Fanu calls it. He is referring to Shaken Baby Syndrome. Thousands of parents have been wrongly accused of abusing their children because the medical profession, in its arrogance, has taken a certain set of symptoms to be evidence of severe battering, rather than accepting an explanation that a child may have simply fallen.

Paul and Joanne, a lovely London couple I know, recently lived through the hell of being accused of harming their baby daughter. Taking the baby to casualty after she rolled off a sofa, they found themselves in a Kafkaesque nightmare, with every protestation of innocence treated as further proof of guilt.

"Denial is highly indicative of abuse," says one smug paediatrician cited by Dr Le Fanu. In other words, unless parents confess, they must have done it.

For years, doctors have insisted that severe injuries, such as haemorrhages in the eye, could not be caused by the trivial accidents parents claimed had taken place. The drawback to this position was obvious: no one had ever pushed an infant off the sitting-room sofa in an experiment to see what damage would result.

Instead of proceeding with caution, however, "experts" gave damning evidence of Shaken Baby Syndrome to the Family Court, while bewildered parents, numb with shock and grief, saw their children removed to foster homes. Some of the accused were jailed.

Paul and Joanne were not trusted to take their daughter home. Only the promise that they would never be alone with her - that there would always be a third person present - saved their ninemonthold from being taken to the fearful place we call "care". Any protest was impossible because, if the family went public, the court would seize the child.

In a bitter irony, this family was going through hell in one part of our city at the same time that medical and social services were failing to notice that Victoria Climbie was being tortured in another.

HOW much easier and more satisfying to torment an innocent middleclass family, who had taken their child to hospital in good faith, than to confront some evil brutes who went to every length to keep the little girl in their charge from proper treatment and diagnosis.

Well, now it has become clear that there is no such thing as Shaken Baby Syndrome. A pathologist has proved that in 18 independently witnessed accidents, trivial falls produced exactly those injuries which were meant to be consistent with violent abuse. And what do we hear from the experts? A thunderous silence.

And from the secretive and draconian Family Court? An apologetic cough. The Shaken Baby Scandal could be the source of some of the most grotesque miscarriages of justice this country has seen. There is an urgent need for a public inquiry. Each case will need to be re-examined. The jailed must be freed. Then decent, loving people like Paul and Joanne, who live in fear of their toddler falling off her tricycle lest the cuts and bruises be deemed to have a sinister origin, can be taken off the legal blacklist.

At long last, the cries of shaken parents can be heard.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Solo Syndication Limited


This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.
All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.

http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc3.asp?DOCID=
G1:100913007&num=83&ctrlInfo=Round2b%3AProd%3ASR%3AResult
 



Wonder if this child just had the 15 month vaccinations?

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1G1:79918852&num=60&ctrlInfo=Round2b%3AProd%3ASR%3
A Result Judge ends woman's parental rights; Two of Fe Cortez's four
children died due to shaken-baby syndrome.(City & Region)


The Grand Rapids Press (Grand Rapids, MI); 10/4/2000

Byline: John Agar / The Grand Rapids Press

HOLLAND -- A judge on Tuesday terminated the parental rights of a Holland woman who has lost two of her four children to shaken-baby syndrome.  Fe Cortez has not been implicated in either deaths, but Allegan County Probate Judge George Greig said she was unfit to care for her surviving children. Assistant Prosecutor Mike Buck said that testimony during the two-day hearing showed that Cortez had not progressed during more than a year of counseling.

"She still doesn't accept the role these men have had in the deaths of these children," Buck said.
"She would not protect them in the future. They've suffered the loss of two siblings. They need a stable, secure environment. It was time for some stability." Her sons, Daniel, 8, and Joseph, 5, have been in foster care since May 1999, when police investigated the death of 5-month-old J.R. Zuniga at Cortez's apartment on Matt Urban Drive in Holland. Her live-in boyfriend, Juan Zuniga, 36, is serving a one-year jail term for attempted manslaughter after he admitted that he shook the child "a little" in an attempt to revive him after he began choking on milk. Zuniga, an illegal immigrant, will be deported to Mexico once he finishes his sentence.

Cortez's estranged husband, Remegio Corilla, is serving a five-year prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter in the 1995 shaking death of 16-month-old Jordan Corilla in the couple's Zeeland Township home. His parental rights also were terminated on Tuesday. He testified that he is up for parole in December, and he has filed an application that would allow him to stay in the country. Prosecutors haven't accused the mother of harming her children, but said in a petition that she has proven herself unable to protect them.

"The mother has engaged in individual therapy but continues to demonstrate chronic symptoms which are considered to likely have a significant recurring impact upon parenting skills, and is assessed as being significantly prone toward recurring verbal and physical, punitive punishment directed toward the children," Buck wrote. "The children exhibit symptoms of extreme fears of punishment and of having experienced abuse," he wrote.

He said the 8-year-old boy doesn't want to live with her and is afraid of her. Caseworkers testified that the mother upset her surviving children emotionally during visits. Authorities said she had refused to maintain contact with her Family Independence Agency caseworker, although she had shown progress earlier this year. In sentencing Zuniga earlier this year, Allegan County Circuit Judge Harry Beach said he was "perplexed" by the separate deaths -- at the hands of different fathers.

"There is a family history on the mother's side which makes the court wonder how she could have lost so many children by the same phenomenon," Beach said.  Cortez maintains that both fathers were innocent, and loved their children. That troubled authorities, especially when Cortez repeatedly showed post-autopsy photographs of the last child who died, and claimed that the photos showed doctors played a role in the death.

COPYRIGHT 2000 All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of The Grand Rapids Press by the Gale Group, Inc.

 



So quick to blame, they miss the truth.

The Evening Standard (London, England); 3/31/2004

Byline: ALLISON PEARSON

IT happens. You leave the baby on the changing table, you turn to get the wipes and the baby chooses that moment to learn how to roll. There's a thump and she's on the floor, yelling. Or not yelling, which is worse, because a silent baby who has hit its head is one of the most terrifying things known to to man.

On the way to hospital, you cut this deal with God - who, in the last few minutes, you've decided you do believe in - that if He would only make your baby all right, then you will never ever look away again, you will hold her close to you forever, so long as she is all right.

There can hardly be a parent, no matter how vigilant, who has not had something like that happen to them. Most of us are lucky. The baby squawks, one of those cartoon boiled-egg bumps comes up, the squawking stops, the baby grins, and life goes on.

But, according to BBC1's Real Story this week, there are devoted mothers and fathers whose infants suffer a bleed in the brain and retinal damage after quite a minor fall. The baby is immediately deemed to be a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Once that diagnosis is made, someone has to be guilty.

Lorraine Harris was convicted of shaking her son Patrick to death. She was pregnant when she went to jail, but was not allowed to keep the baby because she was now officially a child-killer.

The expert whose evidence helped put her behind bars has read the recent research and no longer believes Lorraine killed her son. Hundreds more innocent people are serving time for killing children they loved. Meanwhile, as I know from a friend, there are parents whose injured babies did not die from Shaken Baby Syndrome, but who are still treated as potential murderers.

My friend's baby fell off the bed while her husband was taking care of him. My friend believed her husband's version of events: he was, and is, an exceptional carer of their two small children. A lawyer told my friend it would be better if she was seen to accept her husband's guilt because, that way, they might get to keep the baby. When she protested, her social worker wrote on her record "in denial".

The family courts in this country operate like something out of a police state. Any parent who complains about injustice will simply have their child taken away. Terrified, they stay silent. Injustice goes on. My friend blames medical "experts" - the kind who insisted that two cot deaths could not happen in one family by chance. Well, we know how "expert" they were on that one, don't we? MY friend also says that social services are stupid, incompetent and appear to enjoy exercising draconian powers. "They are meant to be social workers for the whole family, but in Shaken Baby cases they turn into prosecutors.

They never interviewed anyone who could have said positive things about our relationship with our kids." It's horrible to not be believed. To not be believed when your baby's safety is in question is a nightmare without end. Common sense tells us that most Shaken Baby cases are twists of what used to be called fate. But the authorities don't believe in misfortune any more; they only believe in victims.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Solo Syndication Limited

This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.

HighBeam™ Research, LLC. © Copyright 2004. All rights reserved
 



The Evening Standard (London, England); 3/31/2004

Byline: ALLISON PEARSON

IT happens. You leave the baby on the changing table, you turn to get the wipes and the baby chooses that moment to learn how to roll. There's a thump and she's on the floor, yelling. Or not yelling, which is worse, because a silent baby who has hit its head is one of the most terrifying things known to to man.

On the way to hospital, you cut this deal with God - who, in the last few minutes, you've decided you do believe in - that if He would only make your baby all right, then you will never ever look away again, you will hold her close to you forever, so long as she is all right. There can hardly be a parent, no matter how vigilant, who has not had something like that happen to them.  Most of us are lucky. The baby squawks, one of those cartoon boiled-egg bumps comes up, the squawking stops, the baby grins, and life goes on.

But, according to BBC1's Real Story this week, there are devoted mothers and fathers whose infants suffer a bleed in the brain and retinal damage after quite a minor fall. The baby is immediately deemed to be a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Once that diagnosis is made, someone has to be guilty.

Lorraine Harris was convicted of shaking her son Patrick to death. She was pregnant when she went to jail, but was not allowed to keep the baby because she was now officially a child-killer. The expert whose evidence helped put her behind bars has read the recent research and no longer believes Lorraine killed her son. Hundreds more innocent people are serving time for killing children they loved.  Meanwhile, as I know from a friend, there are parents whose injured babies did not die from Shaken Baby Syndrome, but who are still treated as potential murderers.

My friend's baby fell off the bed while her husband was taking care of him. My friend believed her husband's version of events: he was, and is, an exceptional carer of their two small children. A lawyer told my friend it would be better if she was seen to accept her husband's guilt because, that way, they might get to keep the baby. When she protested, her social worker wrote on her record "in denial".

The family courts in this country operate like something out of a police state.

Any parent who complains about injustice will simply have their child taken away. Terrified, they stay silent.

Injustice goes on. My friend blames medical "experts" - the kind who insisted that two cot deaths could not happen in one family by chance. Well, we know how "expert" they were on that one, don't we?

MY friend also says that social services are stupid, incompetent and appear to enjoy exercising draconian powers. "They are meant to be social workers for the whole family, but in Shaken Baby cases they turn into prosecutors. They never interviewed anyone who could have said positive things about our relationship with our kids."

It's horrible to not be believed. To not be believed when your baby's safety is in question is a nightmare without end. Common sense tells us that most Shaken Baby cases are twists of what used to be called fate. But the authorities don't believe in misfortune any more; they only believe in victims.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Solo Syndication Limited
 




Posted on Mon, Jun. 14, 2004

Father charged in killing
Child showed signs of shaken baby syndrome
BY MELANIE BENNETT
Staff Writer

A Columbus man was charged Sunday with killing his infant son. Derrick McFolley, 28, of Wilson Apartments, is being held in the Muscogee County Jail on a murder charge. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Columbus Police Lt. John McMichael said McFolley's son, Demarkus McFolley, 6 1/2 months old,   was taken by ambulance on June 7 to The Medical Center. McMichael said McFolley called 911; emergency room doctors summoned police because the child showed signs of shaken baby syndrome, McMichael said.

The baby was airlifted to Egleston Children's Hospital in Atlanta, where he was pronounced dead at 3:53 a.m. Sunday, said Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnavant. Dunnavant said a preliminary autopsy report is scheduled to be released today. McMichael said McFolley was arrested Sunday afternoon after he and the baby's mother, 19-year-old Elizabeth Henderson, were interviewed at the Public Safety Center in Columbus. No charges are pending against Henderson, McMichael said, adding that the case is still under investigation.

According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, the condition results from "violent shaking or shaking and impacting of the head of an infant or small child." The shaking causes swelling of the brain, which can lead to seizures, coma, stupor or death. About 20 percent of the cases are fatal in the first few days after injury, according to the NCSBS.

© 2004 Ledger-Enquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.ledgerenquirer.com

This baby was 6 months old. HMMM....6month shots?
 



Here is an update on my wife Sarah. Her first trial has ended in a hung jury. It started with 8 people who believed the state and 4 who thought the charges were unbelievable beyond a reasonable doubt. But by the Grace of God one continue to see thru the states lies and exaggerations and held firm while the other 3 gave into the bullies of the jury.

Today the state of Maine has decided to attempt to try Sarah again in late fall. I use those words because there is nothing for sure except God is in control and he has so far hidden us both behind his Cross and the blood of Jesus. Since Christ is the perfect Judge and Jury, I throw my family at his feet and ask Him to judge us if there be any wickedness in us. What the Asst Attorney General doesn't know is she is fighting against God and His will for our lives. The bible calls it fighting against the goad in Acts 26:14.

I wanted to give you all an update to my last email. God has been merciful and gracious and kept Sarah from being falsely imprisoned on a charge she didn't nor couldn't commit. But since we have already in the negative after $86,000 dollars, trying to defend ourselves we are on a mission to do it again. A deep thanks those who have given to our cause thus far and hold us up in prayer. We just raised another $1500 from the last plea/email I sent out. Thank you so much.

There are some things that need your prayer:
1. Judge is under review for her decision to allow certain "evidence" into another trial so if she is overturned by State Supreme court it could change rulings in Sarah's case.

2. The AG is an elected official and so is the governor and reps. Make sure you register to vote and call/email/write to them and complain about fraud waste and abuse of their power/position or your
tax dollars. Make sure this is done in the right spirit.

3. Pray for our lawyer and that he would find a suitable 2nd chair to help with the burden of proof that is on us. Give him direction and stand firm for the truth against the states tactics and not get
pulled down to their level.

4. Pray for our experts to systematically lower their fees and find new ones who are the right ones as we need newer more specialized experts on top of the ones we already have. Or that he will use my side business of Ecoquest to pay for the fees since my military pay keeps us in our mobile home, since we had to sell our first home to pay for some of our legal bills.

5. Pray that the minds/hearts of the doctors and "experts" that the state has called will confess their lies and change their story to tell the truth or not testify at all.

6. Pray for our safety and strength as we prepare for another battle with evil agendas and deep rooted powers against loving families.

7. Pray for those who have it in their ability to support our cause for truth to open up their hearts and wallets. Remember we can't bring it with us but we could sure use it here to fight for justice/truth that will affect laws and procedures in the future.

8. Ultimately and thru out our dealings we will do God's will and bring glory and honor to him and to accept the fact that He has decided to use us thru this horrible situation to uproot the evil and possibly change laws that exists in DHS and this state.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Allen

"If there is any greater crime or sin that we as members of the Human Race and citizens of this great country can commit beyond that of harming a child, it is to wrongfully accuse and/or persecute an innocent parent that has already suffered the loss or harm of one of their offspring" -- Lee E Woodard, Sr.Human rights USA

 



Posted July 01, 2004
Experts differ in shaken baby case


By Dan Wilson
Post-Crescent staff writer

APPLETON — A forensic pathologist testifying in a “shaken baby syndrome” case Wednesday said the injuries sustained by 8-month-old Jhovany Santiago-Castellanos could have been caused by a fall.

Dr. John Plunkett, of Hastings, Minn., testified in the fifth session of the adjourned preliminary hearing in the case against Yanet Arcos-Tapia, a Bear Creek baby sitter charged with child abuse and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Outagamie County Circuit Judge Dennis Luebke said he would postpone making a decision on binding the case over for trial until he gets briefs from both sides summarizing the complicated medical testimony the case has generated since the preliminary hearing began in November.

Tapia, 28, is accused of shaking Castellanos on Oct. 21 in her Bear Creek home. According to the criminal complaint, police were called to Arcos’ apartment in response to an emergency 911 call of an injured baby. Arcos told police the boy fell out of a bouncy chair and struck his head. However, authorities claim Arcos shook the baby, causing the injuries. Plunkett, who was called by defense attorney Mary Lou Robinson, testified Wednesday that the absence of a visible head injury does not mean the baby could not have fallen as Tapia described. “Children that age have soft skulls which bend on impact,” said Plunkett. “The skull deforms and that causes the injury.”

Plunkett said there would not necessarily be a corresponding bruise or visible injury to the outside of the head. Plunkett said there is a growing debate on the diagnosis of “shaken baby syndrome,” although it is taught as a medical condition in medical schools. Earlier testimony in the case from a pediatrician indicated the boy had retinal hemorrhaging and a subdural hematoma that led to the conclusion of abuse. Plunkett said those symptoms by themselves are not enough to indicate child abuse.

Dan Wilson can be reached at
 920-993-1000, ext. 304, or by e-mail at dwilson@postcrescent.com

 




1)   Was he guilty???  taken away at 12 days for breaks - inconclusive
death at 8 mos. 
FATHER gets 32 years in baby's death
Oakland Tribune - Oakland,CA,USA

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1726~2253914,00.html#
Oakland Tribune

Father gets 32 years in baby's death
By Tim Hay
STAFF WRITER
Monday, July 05, 2004 - REDWOOD CITY -- Ronnie Gile Marinda was sentenced today to 32 years to life in prison for shaking his infant son Angelo to death. "This child, while on earth, was living in what I would characterize as living hell," said Judge James Ellis of Angelo, who was 8 months old in 2002 when he died of Shaken Impact Syndrome, or violent shaking paired with blunt-force trauma.

Marinda, who appeared in a red jail jumpsuit with his hands shackled, did not visibly react when he was sentenced.  But his 75-year-old stepfather did. "Ronnie is innocent," said Marc Tongohan after the sentencing. "He is too slow to speak for himself. If you do not know him, he might seem suspicious. But if you know him, you know he is just a simple man. He is easily manipulated by others." Tongohan, who said he brought Marinda, now 26, to the U.S. nine years ago, declined to speculate on what happened to the baby if Marinda was innocent.

The infant's death prompted a major investigation of the Human Services Agency that allowed the unsupervised visits. An overhaul of that agency is ongoing. Ellis could have given Marinda 25 years to life, but opted for a stiffer penalty because the baby was badly harmed more than once. "(Angelo) suffered immeasurably," the judge said. Marinda's attorney, John May, had asked Ellis for the more lenient sentence. "Sitting before you is a 26-year-old man who has lost everything," May said before the sentencing. "He has lost his life ... We don't need to pile on (years) for this young man. This is a mild human being."

Deputy District Attorney Al Giannini quickly fired back. "He still has his life, and that's more than you can say for Angelo," he said. Giannini later said Marinda would likely serve a lot longer than the minimum 32 years. "I would not expect any reasonable parole board to release this man until he's so old, feeble and incapacitated that he's unable to hurt even an infant," Giannini said. ay said Marinda plans to appeal the sentence.

Thursday's hearing also featured a plea from Shauna Mullins, a former foster mother of Angelo, not to forget the child who died. "He held all the hopes of the world, of life and of human potential," she said as Angelo's mother, Lady Rajan Diesta, sat with her eyes cleched shut and tears falling. Diesta did not speak to reporters after the sentencing. Angelo Marinda became a ward of the County when he was 12 days old and was hospitalized with fractured ribs and ankles. When he was eight months old, he was allowed an unsupervised visit home at Christmas.

He died of a fractured skull.



Baby died after being shaken, court told 
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2964827a11,00.html

07 July 2004

*A four-month-old baby who died in Flaxmere this year after being shaken by its father was killed by injuries to its brain stem, a court has been told.* Hastings District Court yesterday heard the evidence from pathologist Jane Zuccollo at a depositions hearing for unemployed Flaxmere man
Arthur Charles Niania, 22.

Niania is accused of the manslaughter of his four-month old son, Raiden Heretini Niania. Crown Prosecutor Jonathan Krebs told the court the baby died in Hawke's Bay Regional Hospital on January 16 immediately after his life support system was turned off.

The child had been admitted to hospital with a severe brain injury. Mr Krebs said a post-mortem examination revealed the baby had died from non-accidental brain injuries, caused by shaking. Niania was the sole caregiver of the child before he was admitted to hospital, and had admitted shaking his son but said he did not intend to kill him.

Dr Zuccollo, who conducted the post-mortem examination, said a dissection of the baby's brain stem showed extensive injury, including haemorrhaging within the stem and along its entire length.

The brain stem controls the body's respiratory function.

Dr Zuccollo also discovered signs of earlier injury to the baby, which could have occurred anytime between five days and two months before the autopsy. The fatal injuries could have occurred anytime within the past five  days, and Dr Zuccollo agreed with Niania's counsel Tony Snell that these were likely to have been caused by "shaken baby syndrome."

Mr Snell conceded a prima facie case and Niania was remanded in custody to appear in the High Court at Napier for callover on August 31. Mr Snell entered a not guilty plea on Niania's behalf.


 



 
Posted May 27, 2004

Father charged in kids’ deaths

Son died in ’99, daughter in ’01
By Andy Nelesen
anelesen@greenbaypressgazette.com

A 35-year-old Green Bay man was arrested and charged with homicide Wednesday for allegedly killing two of his infant children — one in November 1999 and another in October 2001.

William Bagneski faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of his 6-month-old son, Joel, in 1999 and his 8-month-old daughter, Kelby, in 2001. He is being held in the Brown County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center in lieu of $300,000 bail.

Police said Wednesday that the death of the first child did not show any evidence of foul play and was attributed to sudden infant death syndrome at the time. It wasn’t until forensic pathologists found evidence of abuse on Kelby’s body that they began to rethink Joel’s death.

“Initially with the first death there were some concerns the detectives had, but with the evidence they were able to gather at that time and the results of the autopsy, they were unable to go further with that investigation,” said Green Bay police Lt. Bill Galvin. “With the death of the second child, and the results of the autopsy and other information we gained through interviews, the investigation began immediately.”

According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, detectives interviewed Bagneski at least four times, and he gave four different versions of how he discovered Kelby’s lifeless body. The family lived at 321 N. Ashland Ave. at the time.

Brown County District Attorney John Zakowski said police were waiting for analysis of some evidence — including processing of a 911 recording by the FBI — before filing criminal charges. Backups at federal crime labs following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks contributed to the delays in the investigation.

“There were a number of things we were waiting on,” Zakowski said. “We talked to specialists regarding some of the medical findings to rule out certain causes, such as colitis. We sent some material to the FBI for analysis. We were able to use mathematical statistics in terms of the likelihood of two people in the same family dying of SIDS.”

Dr. Daniel Davis, a forensic pathologist, reviewed the case files of both children.

“Davis’ conclusion was that the deaths of (Kelby) and (Joel) were not the result of unspecified natural or accidental causes, but instead the direct actions of William Bagneski,” the complaint said. “Dr. Davis believed the most likely mechanism of death in both cases was suffocation.”

Dr. Jordan Greenbaum, a forensic pathologist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, reviewed Kelby’s case file and offered a similar opinion. She was troubled that Bagneski’s version of the facts kept changing.

Greenbaum found bruises on Kelby’s scalp, three broken blood vessels inside Kelby’s eyes and other head injuries consistent with shaken-baby syndrome.

The head injuries and brain injuries found in Kelby’s autopsy are common in shaken baby cases, Greenbaum said.

“In summary, the changing history provided by the father, as well as the findings on physical exam and subsequently on autopsy, argue strongly for nonaccidental trauma as the cause of death,” Greenbaum said. “The findings are consistent with either fatal abusive head injury or asphyxia.”

Zakowski said it took some time to gather all the opinions, but once everything was complete, it was time to act.

“Then, basically, we got to the point where all of these avenues of further investigation had been exhausted, and then it was a matter of coordinating with the police an appropriate time to go forward with the next phase of this prosecution.”

That’s when police arrested Bagneski at his 12th Avenue home. Zakowski said Bagneski’s wife, Kelly, continues to support him.

Galvin said they didn’t believe Bagneski would flee the area, even though he knew detectives were still probing the case.

“We felt that with the wife that he had here in town, after the first death he didn’t leave, we were fairly confident that he would stay in town through the course of this investigation,” Galvin said.

Bagneski, during his initial appearance in Brown County Court Wednesday, said he planned to stay in Green Bay to face the charges. If convicted, Bagneski faces life in prison.

“I don’t have any intention of going anywhere,” Bagneski said during his brief hearing. “I want to see this through … and be with my family.

“I would have run by now if I really wanted to.”

Bagneski said he has a lawyer on retainer handling a child-in-need-of-protective-services petition. The couple has one surviving child, and the petition indicates social workers are intervening on that child’s behalf. Bagneski is due back in court on the homicide charges June 3.

Zakowski said prosecutors do not have a motive in the deaths. They said Bagneski had a history of drug and alcohol use. The criminal complaint indicates that there was a $5,000 life insurance policy on Kelby.

“That’s part of the investigation,” Zakowski said. “Whether it was financial or there was anything else that will paint a clearer picture ... we can’t state what the particular motive was at this time.”

Prosecutors asked David Dolan, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay professor, to analyze the odds of two SIDS deaths in one family in less than three years. According to the criminal complaint, Dolan computed the odds as being 1 in 25.8 billion.

Other pieces of evidence — albeit circumstantial — complete the picture, Zakowski said. Those pieces, according to the criminal complaint include:

• Bagneski called a family friend and a co-worker before calling 911 when he found Joel to be not breathing. Bagneski told his co-worker that he couldn’t remember the number to call in case of an emergency.

• Bagneski, while living in Georgia with his first wife, took the daughter he had with that woman to the hospital in 1989 with facial and neck bruising and a bloody nose. Bagneski told doctors that the 9-month-old hit her face on a padded canteen while falling off a couch. Doctors said the injuries, which they characterized as life threatening, were too severe to have been caused by a fall off a couch.

Social-service workers in Georgia took the girl from her parents and placed her in foster care for three months. The girl was later returned to her parents but remained under a protective order. Bagneski and the woman separated in 1992.

• Both Joel and Kelby had recently visited the family’s doctor and had clean bills of health shortly before they died.

• Police got a call from a woman living in Virginia who was chatting with Bagneski in an Internet support group for parents who lost children to SIDS. She said Bagneski made statements that caused her enough concern to contact the authorities. The woman told police she felt Bagneski expressed more anger over the police investigation than he did about the death of his two children. Bagneski revealed medical information that the woman knew was not consistent with SIDS and sounded more like a shaken baby case.

The woman also said that Bagneski told her that “before the paramedics were called, there was a two-hour block that he could not let himself remember because it was ‘too painful.’”

• The 911 call taker that gave Bagneski instructions on how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Kelby thought that he was not following the instructions and not performing CPR at all. A couple of times during the call, Bagneski told the call taker, “I can’t do this.”

• A neighbor told police that he was out on his porch smoking a cigarette a short time before the ambulance arrived at the Bagneskis’ house in October 2001. The neighbor said he saw William Bagneski outside, nervously smoking a cigarette for two or three minutes before the ambulance arrived. The neighbor said he did not remember if Bagneski was holding a telephone.

 



FRIDAY July 09, 2004

Man guilty of murder in shaken-baby case By Stephen Hunt
The Salt Lake Tribune

    Warren Clifford Hales shook his girlfriend's infant son nearly two decades ago and inflicted brain injuries that led to the boy's death 12 years later. Thursday evening, a jury found Hales guilty of murder.   "What goes around sooner or later comes around, and it came around and got Warren after 19 years," said the victim's mother, Michelle Westerman, following the verdict.    "I'm so happy it is finally over," Westerman added tearfully. "I can go to my son's grave and know he does, finally, rest in peace."

    Hales, 43, a Salt Lake County truck driver, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 27 by 3rd District Judge J. Dennis Frederick.  "I'm glad he's going to jail," said Westerman's 15-year-old son, Dustin Lewis. "I'm supposed to have an older brother and because of [Hales], I don't." During two days of testimony, expert witnesses gave opposing opinions of the medical evidence, while Hales and Westerman recalled different versions of events.

    Prosecution witnesses claimed 5-month-old Luther Deem became a victim of shaken baby syndrome on Dec. 5, 1985. They pointed to a unique constellation of injuries -- retinal bleeding, brain bleeding and brain swelling -- that would have immediately rendered the boy unconscious.
    But Minnesota forensic pathologist John Plunkett -- one of a handful of doctors who claim SBS is a fallacy -- testified the boy was most likely hurt during a traffic incident three days before he stopped breathing and was rushed to a hospital.

    A key prosecution witness was pediatrician Frank Bentley, who had examined the infant earlier on Dec. 5, declaring him healthy except for an earache.   Deem suffered brain death from the shaking, but survived in a vegetative state until Dec. 12, 1997.   Hales was interviewed several times by police, but Salt Lake County prosecutors declined to bring charges before and after the boy's death. The Utah Attorney General's Office filed the murder charge four years ago.

    "Talk about manifest injustice," complained defense attorney Deborah Kreeck-Mendez after the verdict. She said prosecutors had "construed the evidence the way they wanted," while keeping out facts beneficial to the defense. She declined to elaborate. She said it was equally likely that Westerman had injured her son before leaving him with Hales while she went grocery shopping.  Assistant AG Craig Barlow told jurors Hales had done "a horrible, bad, evil thing," and that there was "abundant evidence to convict."
   
   



Shaken baby concept denied

By Stephen Hunt
The Salt Lake Tribune

Minnesota forensic pathologist John Plunkett entered the lion's den Wednesday, appearing in a Salt Lake City courtroom to testify that violently shaking an infant cannot cause traumatic brain injury. Disputing the widely accepted concept of shaken baby syndrome, Plunkett told The Salt Lake Tribune: "It doesn't exist. It's the medical scandal of the last 20 years." He noted the irony of coming to Utah -- home to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome in Ogden -- calling it the SBS "capital of the world." Plunkett, an assistant coroner for the Minnesota Regional Coroner's Office, said that five years ago he was practically alone in his disbelief of SBS. "Not now," he said. "It's falling like a house of cards."

Plunkett came to testify on behalf of Warren Clifford Hales, who is charged with murder for allegedly shaking his girlfriend's 5-month-old son at their Midvale apartment in 1985.
The boy, Luther Deem, suffered massive brain damage but lived 12 years in a persistent vegetative state before dying of complications in 1997. Hales, now 43, was charged with first-degree felony murder in February 2000.

Pediatric neurosurgeon Marion Walker testified for the state that Luther suffered classic SBS injuries: massive retinal bleeding, diffuse bleeding in the brain and brain swelling. Walker, chairman of neurosurgery at Salt Lake City's Primary Children's Medical Center, said violent shaking shears tiny blood vessels in the fluid between the brain and the skull. The swelling that follows shaking kills brain tissue and is often fatal, he said.

Walker claimed the time of Luther's injury can be pinpointed because the infant would have lost consciousness and stopped breathing immediately following such a violent shaking. Hales called an ambulance on Dec. 5, 1985, claiming the baby had stopped breathing. Prosecutors claim Hales injured the boy during a 25-minute interval when the boy's mother was out grocery shopping.

But Plunkett testified Luther was most likely injured during a traffic incident three days earlier. Hales claims he slammed the brakes of his truck to avoid another car, causing Luther to hit his head on the dashboard. Walker disagreed, saying head trauma from a fall or a blow causes localized bleeding in the brain. He said Luther's entire brain was injured.  Plunkett began questioning the mainstream medical community's adherence to SBS in a 1999 article challenging the scientific basis for the diagnosis. In 2001, he published a report in the American Journal of Forensic Medical Pathology documenting 18 cases of fatal brain injuries from falls of less than 10 feet from playground equipment.
 
Plunkett said four of six children whose eyes were examined had retinal bleeding. He also found that 12 of the children had a so-called "lucid interval" of normal activity before succumbing to the effects of brain damage. Several Utahn's charged with fatally shaking children have cited Plunkett's study during trials to bolster claims that the victims fell from beds or bunk beds. But mainstream experts say most of the children Plunkett looked at suffered skull fractures, which are not usually associated with SBS. Plunkett's group of children were also older than most SBS victims, who are often younger than 1 year old and become victims due to incessant crying. Most medical experts agree violent shaking is the only way to inflict the tell-tale triad of eye and brain bleeding and swelling of the brain. And most dispute there can be a lucid interval following violent shaking.
 
Plunkett -- who also works as laboratory and medical education director at Regina Hospital in Hastings, Minn. -- testified shaking can cause an infant "significant neck damage . . . [but] cannot cause direct brain damage."  Prosecutor Craig Barlow noted Plunkett works with dead children, while the state's witness, Walker, treats living patients. Plunkett told The Tribune the medical community has bought into the SBS "belief system" to the point where "all other thought of any other explanation ceases." But Marilyn Sandberg, executive director of the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, told The Tribune that SBS is based on 30 years of "sound medical research. There is no controversy about the diagnosis."
 
Randell Alexander, who teaches and practices pediatrics at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, noted in an interview that the legal system is designed to give each side equal weight, "even if 99 people believe one way and one person believes the other." "Of the people that take care of children, I don't know of any who share Dr. Plunkett's opinions."
The case goes to the jury today.
 



http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/8916491.htm

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer - Columbus,GA,USA
Posted on Mon, Jun. 14, 2004
Father charged in killing
Child showed signs of shaken baby syndrome
BY MELANIE BENNETT
Staff Writer

A Columbus man was charged Sunday with killing his infant son. Derrick McFolley, 28, of Wilson Apartments, is being held in the Muscogee County Jail on a murder charge. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Columbus Police Lt. John McMichael said McFolley's son, Demarkus McFolley, 6 1/2 months old, was taken by ambulance on June 7 to The Medical Center. McMichael said McFolley called 911; emergency room doctors summoned police because the child showed signs of shaken baby syndrome, McMichael said.

The baby was airlifted to Egleston Children's Hospital in Atlanta, where he was pronounced dead at 3:53 a.m. Sunday, said Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnavant. Dunnavant said a preliminary autopsy report is scheduled to be released today. McMichael said McFolley was arrested Sunday afternoon after he and the baby's mother, 19-year-old Elizabeth Henderson, were interviewed at the Public Safety Center in Columbus. No charges are pending against Henderson, McMichael said, adding that the case is still under investigation.

According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, the condition results from "violent shaking or shaking and impacting of the head of an infant or small child." The shaking causes swelling of the brain, which can lead to seizures, coma, stupor or death. About 20 percent of the cases are fatal in the first few days after injury, according to the NCSBS.

 



07/14/04 - 6:14 pm
Baby's Death Ruled Shaken Baby Syndrome

An Austin man is accused of killing his nine-week-old baby girl. It is a case of a baby being shaken to death. The Travis County Sheriff's office is now charging the little girl's father in connection to her death. According to doctors at Children's Hospital, nine-week-old Astrid Jade Townley suffered from shaken baby syndrome.

She arrived at intensive care July 3 and died a day later.

Investigators are now looking for her father. Tommy Townley is being charged with injury to a child, a 1st degree felony charge. Court records show that the baby's mother briefly left the house last week leaving the baby alone and asleep with her father.  When she returned, she says that she found the nine-week-old covered with blankets in the bedroom. Later, records show that both realize something was wrong with the baby and called 911.

Doctors say the child had several injuries to the head including a subdermal hematoma. Detectives believe the injuries are non accidental. "These kind of cases aren't just shaking a baby a little bit -- bruising and bleeding," Roger Wade with the Travis County Sheriff's Office said. Investigators chose not to charge Townley with murder because they can't prove that he intentionally caused the injuries to his child.

They say injury to a child is easier to prove in court and can result in some serious jail time.
 



Baby Sitters Commit Suicide After Killing Infant
Tuesday, April 20, 2004

SOUTHGATE, Mich.  — A couple committed suicide after a 6-month-old boy in their care was shaken to death, police said. The infant, Tyler Vanpopering, died Wednesday at the University of
Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor (search), about 40 miles from this Detroit suburb.

His baby sitters were Carissa Columbus, 25, and Leonard Columbus, 35, who disappeared after Tyler's death. Police broke into their home Saturday and found them in the garage dead of carbon monoxide poisoning.

A suicide note signed by Carissa Columbus denied she or her husband hurt the boy. The couple took care of Tyler and his 18-month-old sister, McKenzie, over the Easter holiday, said police Chief Larry Hall. McKenzie was not hurt.

They brought Tyler to a local hospital on Easter evening, saying he had had a seizure. He was airlifted to the University of Michigan Hospital. Sara Vanpopering, 19, told the Detroit Free Press on Monday that she had been planning to let the couple adopt her children.

Leonard Columbus worked for Ford Motor Co. Police said his wife was on disability from the automaker.
 




http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/US/imprisoned_mother_040720-1.html

Young Mother Hopes New Medical Evidence Will Clear Her in Baby's Death

By Mike von Fremd and Gina Treadgold

July 20, 2004 — Brandy Briggs sits in a Texas prison, serving a 17-year sentence for shaking her 2-month-old son so severely that he later died. But now, a medical examiner says the baby was never shaken at all. Briggs, from a small town outside Houston, was just 17 years old when her son, Daniel Lemmons, was born. During his short life, Daniel was in and out of hospitals, suffering from kidney problems and urinary tract infections.

On May 2, 1999, Briggs called 911, saying she had gotten up to feed her baby and found him barely breathing in his crib. Daniel was taken to the emergency room at one hospital, where the medical staff made a horrible mistake. They put a breathing tube in his stomach, not his lungs, and pumped air into his stomach for 42 minutes. Daniel was transferred to another hospital, where the breathing tube mistake was corrected, and he was put on life support. He died in his
mother's arms on May 9, 1999 — Mother's Day.

Briggs' nightmare only got worse. A Harris County assistant medical examiner ruled Daniel had died from "shaken baby syndrome," and his young mother was charged with murder. Four years later, tears come to Briggs' eyes as she remembers what it was like to have her child die in her arms, and then be accused of killing him. "It is hard, very hard, there are so many nights, I lay in bed and cry," Briggs, now 23, said from the women's prison at Gatesville, Texas. "It is something that will never leave me."

`He Told Me to Take the Plea'

When Briggs was charged with murder, her family went into debt to pay her attorney's fee, $10,000. Briggs' mother, Shelbia Goss, says she has always known her daughter was innocent. But money was a problem. "We had no more money, we was losing everything we actually had, we didn't have anything left, all our money was going to fighting for her innocence, and so here she is, in prison, because we don't have any money," Goss said.

Instead of questioning the medical evidence and fighting the case, the attorney told Briggs she should plead guilty to a reduced charge and spend some time on probation. "He said there was no way we could win because he didn't have the money for the medical people he needed to testify for me," Briggs said. "He told me to take the plea that would be the only chance, that there wasn't no way the judge would give me prison time."   

In October 2000, Briggs pleaded guilty to second-degree felony charges of injury to a child. Two months later, a judge sentenced her to 17 years behind bars.

New Medical Opinions

Briggs' family was in despair. The restaurant they ran was in dire straits. Then, a cook at the eatery put Goss in touch with attorney Charles Portz. Portz had medical examiners in three other states look at Daniel's autopsy, and all three came back with the same finding: Daniel died of natural causes. The medical examiner who performed the original autopsy has said she stands by her findings. But in December 2003, the Harris County chief medical examiner, Dr. Luis Sanchez, amended the autopsy report, listing the cause of Daniel's death as "undetermined."

Sanchez testified in a hearing Friday that "there was no clear evidence" Daniel was shaken or suffered any other trauma. He also said that Daniel received very little oxygen to the brain for a
considerable period of time because the breathing tube was in the wrong place.  The matter is now in the hands of a Harris County district judge, who can decide if Briggs' conviction should be immediately overturned, or if the matter should be sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Briggs hopes the judge will rule in her favor and that she will soon be back home with her family. She says she wants to be vindicated, but she isn't looking for an apology. "For a part of me, it doesn't matter, as long as God knows and I have my family," she said. There is an especially pressing reason for her to get home: Briggs has another son, Joseph, who she had to give up when she went to prison. Now 4 years old, Joseph lives with his godparents. It has been almost
four years since his mother has been allowed to hold him. 

Every day Briggs sits in prison is a day too long, says Portz. "I would like to see her released so she can be reunited with her other child and get on with her life," he said. "She has been punished by being sent to prison for doing absolutely nothing wrong."

 



http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2694908
July 22, 2004, 7:53AM

Autopsies by former examiner reviewed
Several cases got a second look after questions about neutrality
By ANDREW TILGHMAN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
A former Harris County associate medical examiner accused of botching an autopsy that led to a young mother's imprisonment has come under scrutiny in several other cases in which her conclusions were later contested or revised.


The work of Dr. Patricia Moore, who now performs autopsies in Montgomery County, is the focus of renewed debate since officials recently reclassified one of her 1999 autopsies from "homicide" to "undetermined." The cause of 2-month-old Daniel Lemons' death is at the center of an appeal by his mother, Brandy Briggs, who is serving a 17-year prison sentence and has asked a judge to recommend her release.

A Houston Chronicle review of county records reveals at least two other cases in which Moore's supervisors revised her findings in autopsies on children. She was admonished once for appearing to show a bias in favor of prosecutors, and criticized for "not understanding  the objectives of neutral medical-legal investigation."

In a sworn affidavit last week, Moore acknowledged concerns about her autopsy report in the Lemons case.

"I still believe that my initial opinion as to the cause of death and the manner of death of this 2-month-old boy are most likely correct," she wrote. "But since there have been other views on this matter ... I feel that another opinion from an outside expert would be of utmost importance."

Her finding of "shaken baby syndrome" reinforced the case against Briggs, who pleaded guilty to child endangerment in 2000. But the county's chief medical examiner, Dr. Luis Sanchez, testified July 9 that there is no evidence of shaken baby syndrome. He recently changed the official manner of death.

Briggs' attorney, Charlie Portz, has asked state District Judge Mary Lou Keel to recommend reversing the conviction, saying there is no longer evidence that the death resulted from a crime. Keel has not made a ruling.

Doesn't add up

During her time in Harris County, Moore attributed infant deaths to shaken baby syndrome at a rate considerably higher than the rate at which it happens in the general population, according to a study by a doctor and defense attorney who worked on a case involving one of her autopsies.

"She may be biased toward the district attorneys instead of playing it straight," said Portz. "And that means the defense doesn't have an even playing field."

DR. PATRICIA JEANNE MOORE
• Age — 42
• 1984 — Received a bachelor's degree from the University of West Florida in Pensacola
• 1989 — Received a doctorate in osteopathy from Southeastern University of the Health Sciences in Miami
• 1990-92 — Resident in pathology at Baptist Medical Center, Birmingham, Ala.
• 1994-96 — Fellow of pediatric pathology at Baylor College of Medicine
• 1996-2002 — Associate medical examiner in the Harris County medical examiner's office
• 2002-03 — Associate medical examiner with the District 5 Medical Examiner Department in Leesburg, Fla.
• 2004-present — Medical examiner with the Southeast Texas Forensic Center in Conroe

Source: Harris County medical examiner's office

Moore has declined to comment to the Chronicle since Sanchez's testimony. She resigned her Harris County job in July 2002, citing a need to spend more time with her child. In nearly six years with that office, Moore was widely respected by the legal and law enforcement communities. Records show she conducted up to 500 autopsies a year and had special expertise in pediatric pathology.

Moore received a doctorate in osteopathic medicine from Southeastern University of the Health Sciences in Miami. She currently works in Conroe for the Southeast Texas Forensic Center, which contracts with Montgomery County to provide autopsy services. Sanchez, who became chief medical examiner after Moore left her Harris County post, said he has little reason to doubt her competence and could not recall any instance other than the Lemons case in which her findings were revised.

Similar case

But a claim similar to Briggs' was made by another woman earlier this year, after the medical examiner's office changed the cause of death of 7-month-old Trevor Seber from "homicide" to "undetermined." In October 2002, prosecutors charged the infant's mother, Ruth Ann Gilliam, 22, of Pasadena with reckless injury to a child, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

"I was thinking, 'Oh, my gosh, I've lost my son and now they are charging me with my son's death?' All I ever did was love my kids," Gilliam said recently. She spent nine months in jail before posting bail. During that time, her parental rights were terminated and her other child was adopted. In preparation for trial, another medical examiner, Dr. Dwayne Wolf, reviewed Moore's autopsy and disagreed with her homicide ruling. Sanchez concurred and the ruling was changed, county records show.

Prosecutors then offered to let Gilliam plead guilty to a lesser charge and receive a sentence of time served, meaning she would not go back to jail. She refused. "I guess they wanted their little plea or whatever," she said. "But I told my lawyer, 'Absolutely not. I'm not pleading to something I didn't do. I'm fighting my case all the way.' And then the DA backed out."

The case was dismissed in March.

"That's not to say we don't believe a crime was committed," said Assistant District Attorney Charles Thompson. "It just becomes more difficult to prove." Gilliam's attorney, Ernest "Bo" Hopmann, contends that Moore tried to match her findings to law enforcement investigations.

"I think that once a detective on the scene or some other law enforcement officer made the original analysis that a possible crime had been committed, then she did her work from that standpoint and tried to substantiate those allegations with medical conclusions," Hopmann said.


Butting heads
While working in Harris County, Moore had a contentious relationship with then-Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joye Carter. In employee reviews in 1999 and 2000, Carter cited Moore for "defective and improper work."

Moore was criticized for handing in paperwork contaminated with blood and making written requests for X-rays on paper towels. One employee review calls her "headstrong." Carter reprimanded Moore in 1999, saying she seemed biased in favor of the prosecution.

"Dr. Carter reminded Dr. Moore that our office is neutral and that we are not doing cases for the DA's office. We need to be open to both the prosecution and the defense," states a July 19, 1999, memo by Alex Conforti, the chief administrative officer at the medical examiner's office.

The remark stems from the death of 10-month-old Christina Dew. Doctors suspected shaken baby syndrome, but the precise time of the fatal injuries was unclear. That left prosecutors unsure whether to pursue charges against the mother or the baby sitter, who said she found the child semiconscious shortly after the mother left for work. Moore's initial report indicated that the baby must have become unconscious right after the injury, a finding that would point to the baby sitter as a suspect.

But after police said the mother had failed a lie-detector test that the baby sitter had passed, authorities focused on the mother, county records show. Shortly afterward, Moore met with a prosecutor and other doctors. The autopsy report was then changed. After learning of this, Carter confronted Moore. "You stated your opinion of who the guilty party was. I responded to you at that point to say you were overstepping your boundaries," she later told Moore in a memo. "We as medical examiners should not opine as to who did what, if we are to remain neutral."

Carter followed up with a note in the case file.

"It remains impossible to gauge a thirty minute time frame as to precisely when the fatal injuries occurred to this young and unfortunate victim," Carter wrote. "So as not to impede the legal process, the new version is now signed after careful review. The prosecutor was reprimanded as to the serious risk of collusion when changes are made to a public document."

The baby sitter, Trenda Kemmerer, was tried in 2000 on a charge of injury to a child.

The jury deadlocked, but in 2001, Kemmerer was convicted and sentenced to 55 years in prison.
Assistant District Attorney Kelly Siegler, who prosecuted Kemmerer's second trial, said autopsies usually are contested in this type of case because defense attorneys often claim the child died of natural causes. "It's always the main thing in a shaken baby case," she said.

Siegler said she had no concerns about Moore's work.

Second-guessing

Questions about Moore's autopsy on a Fort Bend County child led prosecutors there to drop capital murder charges and give a man probation on a lesser charge.

Frank Chavez was accused of killing his 2-year-old stepdaughter, Hallie Lohner, after Moore concluded the child was beaten to death in 2000. The Harris County medical examiner's office was providing autopsy services to Fort Bend County at the time. After Moore testified about the autopsy at a civil court hearing on custody of another child, prosecutors decided to have an expert review the case before taking Chavez to trial in criminal court. That expert suggested the death had resulted not from blunt force, but from illness. Prosecutors later had the capital murder charge dismissed.

The case ended in 2003 when Chavez agreed to plead guilty to failure to seek medical attention. He faced up to 10 years in prison, but got probation. A statistical examination of Moore's work suggests a trend of finding shaken baby syndrome as a cause of death, said Dr. Jim Bromberg, a physician and defense attorney who worked on a shaken-baby case in which Moore performed an autopsy.

Based on numbers from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bromberg estimated that Houston's metropolitan area should see one or two fatal cases of shaken baby syndrome each year.

Moore, however, cited it as a cause of seven deaths in one 18-month period. "The numbers suggest one should look into whether this is being overdiagnosed," Bromberg said. District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said he has worked with Moore on many cases and sees no reason to question her work. "She acted pretty middle-of-the-road," Rosenthal said. "I thought she did them pretty much as she saw them. She didn't come across as a biased state witness on any of the trials I had."

Child fatalities that raise suspicions of abuse or neglect have received more scrutiny in recent years, said Assistant District Attorney Denise Oncken, longtime head of the district attorney's child-abuse division. "Years and years ago, people felt so bad when somebody's kid died  that nobody wanted to look for any foul play," Oncken said. But Bromberg said the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite
direction.

"This is a politically sensitive area of medicine. They all want to protect children, but they are using incomplete science," he said. "I don't think there is malice. I don't think there is collusion. But I do think there were scientific errors that have created legal errors."

andrew.tilghman@chron.com


ps. Get your state medical examiner examined!

 



http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=2180468

and newer http://www.monroe.xtn.net/index.php?table=news&template=
news.view.subscriber&newsid=113882

Autopsy to determine whether Monroe Co. infant was abused

August 16, 2004

By YVONNE NAVA
6 News Anchor/Reporter

MONROE COUNTY (WATE) -- Monroe County investigators are waiting for the results of an autopsy on a three-month-old girl to determine if she died from shaken baby syndrome. The investigation started last week. The girl's parents took her to Children's Hospital in Knoxville on August 10th. The girl died there on August 12th. Doctors say they're nearly certain she was a victim of shaken baby syndrome.

According to the offense report, the infant's mother, Cynthia Fortener, said her husband, Jonathan, called her at work the night of the 10th saying, "The baby had fallen off the couch and was acting funny." Monroe County Sheriff Doug Watson says the baby was breathing but unresponsive. Doctors ran tests, concluding her injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. The baby was put on life support. 6 News went to the parents' house Monday to ask them about what happened. No one was home.

"I think they knew the child was in bad shape. The reason they took the child to the hospital was she was unresponsive. They knew something was going on with the child," Watson said. The report by the state Department of Children's Services states that investigators interviewed both parents several times. Their stories didn't change. They continued saying the baby fell off the couch. The morning of August 11th, doctors noticed the girl's condition had gotten worse. The next day, they removed her from life support. She died moments later.

"We talked with the parents and friends and started a case file. We're now waiting for the autopsy reports to come back so we can get with the DA's office for prosecution or whatever we need to do on this case," Watson said. The sheriff said the autopsy should be complete in the next day or two. He adds it's too soon to talk about what kind of charges if any the parents could face.
 



http://www.w3exit.com/exit.php?account=rchmura&tid=1092713073&ref=http://gostats.com/

NEW: Mother cleared of charges in shaken baby case
Web Posted: 08/17/2004 03:44 PM CDT

Meena Thiruvengadam
Express-News Staff Writer

Judge Richard Garcia today dismissed charges against Tanya Barragan, a mother accused of shaking her 36-hour-old baby boy at North Central Baptist Hospital.

Prosecuting attorney Harriett Wells said there was "no evidence she (Barragan) caused any trauma to the child."

Barragan now will be reunited with her child.

A nurse at the hospital had reported seeing Barragan, a 37-year-old mother of three, grab the baby by the head and shake him. A web of incorrect information, including inaccurate reports of broken bones, provided mistaken supporting material for that claim. The baby, born in late July, was diagnosed with retinal hemorrhaging, a condition that can be linked to abuse but sometimes occurs in newborns after normal delivery.

According to Wells, Barragan, a home health care provider and former pediatric nurse, was not shaking the baby but instead trying to get the baby to open his eyes for a photograph.
She was arrested as she was preparing to leave the hospital. After her arrest, the baby was placed in the custody of Child Protective Services. He developed viral meningitis while spending the first weeks of his life in foster care.

"We begged those people to put our baby with family," Barragan said after the dismissal. "It was terrible to have him in foster care and for me to be in jail less than a week after surgery. There's no way to make that up." Lisa Dossmann, Tyree's court-appointed guardian, said, "The state failed to conduct a thorough investigation and it failed to keep the child safe."

 



Donovan Wright and Doug Wright Forgotten by Justice
 

Little Donovan Wright’s death was a tragedy.  That tragedy was compounded by the dogmatic misdiagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome and the erroneous insistence of a pediatric ophthalmologist that he could reliably time the critical injury based on progression of brain swelling to exclude all but one suspect.  The suspect—Donovan’s father, Doug Wright—was convicted of murdering his child based on the ophthalmologist’s testimony. 

Now the ophthalmologist has changed his mind.  He acknowledges his testimony in Doug’s case was faulty, that he was wrong.  But the doctor is unconcerned about Doug’s plight—and the failure of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to bring Donovan’s abuser to justice—because he can’t remember either of them


Doug Wright

When Donovan Wright was born on December 28, 1995 in York, Pennsylvania, he already had two strikes against him.  His parents, April Klinedinst and Doug Wright, were young and unmarried, and Donovan had no place to call home.  After his birth, April took Donovan from York Hospital to her mother’s home, but two weeks later April’s mother asked both of them to leave.  Doug’s parents took them in temporarily, but there simply was not enough room in the Wright home.  On February 7, 1996, April and Donovan moved to a homeless shelter.

Shelter staff were concerned about April’s lack of parenting skills and her apparent failure to bond with her baby.  She propped Donovan’s bottle with a pillow instead of holding him to feed him, and routinely left him in the care of other shelter residents, including strangers and the four children of another shelter resident who at 5, 6, 7 and 8 were too young to appropriately care for an infant.  Another resident reported seeing April vigorously shaking Donovan to make him stop crying.  Shelter staff noted that when Donovan “would get fussy, his mother would shake his foot and shake his leg and he would wince.  . . . Her way of comforting him would be take his foot in her hand and just jiggle it back and forth.”  Early in March, 1996 Donovan became ill, unable to hold down his formula.  When he developed such difficulty breathing that he turned blue, shelter staff insisted that his mother take him to the emergency room.  Donovan was hospitalized from March 4th to 9th for bronchitis with severe respiratory distress, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and streptococcus. 

Throughout their stay at the shelter, April received written notices of rules violations, all related to her neglect of Donovan.  The resident whose young children took care of Donovan moved out of the shelter while Donovan was hospitalized.  At this point, April convinced Doug to get an apartment and try to make their relationship work for their child’s sake.  Shelter workers who observed Doug during his visits with Donovan said father and child interacted well.  They were encouraged Donovan would be living with his father.  On March 17, 1996, the three moved into their own place.

Doug already had a job, and April soon found work in a restaurant.  She arranged for the former shelter resident whose four children had so often taken care of Donovan to provide babysitting services.  In mid-April, 1996, April was driving her father’s car with Donovan in his infant seat when she lost control and crashed.  The car left 180 feet of skid marks and had to be towed from the scene, but Donovan was not seen by a doctor, perhaps because his mother didn’t have a driver’s license.
 

On May 9, 1996, April took care of Donovan alone.  Doug worked all day, then attended a work-related conference.  He didn’t get home until 10:30 p.m. 
 

Donovan was at his babysitter’s on May 10, where Doug picked him up around 8:00 p.m. 
 

On May 11, Doug went to a bike shop while April took care of Donovan.  Later they left Donovan with Doug’s mother from noon to 3:00 p.m. while they went to a car show.  While April worked from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Doug cared for Donovan.  They took the child with them while visiting friends later that evening. 
 

On May 12, while April worked from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Doug cared for Donovan.  The baby slept most of the day.  He continued to sleep after Doug picked up April from work and they stopped to buy groceries, and throughout the drive to Doug’s mother’s house, where they arrived at about 10:00 p.m. 


At Doug’s mother’s, Donovan was limp and could not be roused.  He was taken to Hanover Hospital.  Deeply comatose, Donovan required a respirator to breathe.  Donovan was transferred to Hershey Medical Center, where he remained in a vegetative state for over a year.  On June 12, 1997 by court order Donovan was removed from the ventilator and died.

Studies at both hospitals showed blunt force head trauma with a healing skull fracture on the left side of Donovan’s head, subdural hematomas on both sides of his head, a bruise of the left front of his brain, and retinal hemorrhages in both eyes.  In addition, multiple healing rib fractures, torsion (twisting) injuries to bones in the knees and ankles and a healing injury of the left tibia (shinbone) were identified.  Skull fractures cannot be reliably dated, but Donovan’s was not fresh because his scalp was not swollen over the fracture.  His rib fractures dated to between the first week of April and the end of the first week of May.  The twisting injuries to his knees and ankles cannot be reliably dated but were probably not fresh. 

There was overwhelming evidence that Donovan had been subjected to multiple episodes of abuse over at minimum the two months prior to May 12, 1996, and that he had been hit—very hard—in the head at least a week before May 12th.  His injuries are consistent with rebleeding into an old subdural hematoma, either spontaneously or because of a mild bump that went unnoticed.  But doctors at Hershey Medical Center declared Donovan’s injuries were the result of violent shaking—Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), a controversial diagnosis that holds shaking as the sole cause of retinal bleeding.  In Donovan’s case, this diagnosis is preempted by both the evidence of blunt force trauma and the absence of other indicators of SBS—fingertip bruises, fresh rib fractures from squeezing, injury to the neck or witnessed shaking.

The doctors who diagnosed SBS stated dogmatically that the fatal shaking must have occurred within 8 to 12 hours before Donovan was admitted to the hospital.  This timing was based on the progression of brain swelling that occurred in reaction to trauma.  That left only one suspect: Doug Wright, Donovan’s father, who had cared for the child from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on May 12th.  Such certainty made a more thorough investigation unnecessary.  Doug Wright was charged with murder and was tried in July, 1998.

Testimony at trial by Dr. James MacManaway, a pediatric ophthalmologist at Hershey Medical Center, was unequivocal:

Q: ... [I]n your testimony, you indicated that you thought that the results you had seen would have had an immediate impact on an intellectual level of the child.  Is that a fair statement of what you had thought?

A: That is – it depends on what you call immediate, but there should be a rapid change in the patient’s neurologic status, ability to hold its head up, response to sound or touch, things like that.

Q: Okay.  Can you put any time frame on that?  Are you able to do that?

A: It is my opinion that given the severe retinal hemorrhages and macular detachment, the brain would have been subjected to those same forces and the child should have had very rapid loss of – changes in his neurologic status.  I think loss of consciousness should have happened very quickly, whether it was ten minutes or half an hour.  I think an hour at most.  These are estimates.

This was pivotal testimony.  It ruled out anyone else.  The jury convicted Doug Wright.  He was sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison and his conviction was affirmed on appeal.

In 1999 a babysitter in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania was charged with abusing—specifically, violently shaking—a young child in her care.  Dr. MacManaway examined the boy on July 14, 1999 and found retinal hemorrhages and macular detachment in his left eye.  His finding, as he testified at the babysitter’s trial in October, 2001, was that “to a reasonable degree of medical certainty the injuries were caused by non-accidental injury.” As in Doug Wright’s case, timing the injury was essential, to exclude everyone but the babysitter based on when the child was in her care.

Q: Can tractional macular detachments be timed precisely?

A: No.

Q: And you said that rather emphatically.  Why do you say it with such certainty?

A: The appearance of the retina and of the retinal hemorrhage is characteristic of non-accidental injury but the findings do not evolve in any predictable way meaning to say it looks like this 12 hours after injury and looks like this 24 hours after injury.  There is nothing in the medical knowledge or medical literature to allow myself or any other opthalmologist to time the hemorrhage or the macular detachment in terms of how long after the injury.  At a national meeting in April 2001 I attended a symposium on non-accidental injury and the consensus of the group was, no argument, was that it is impossible to time the hemorrhage.  No one can do that.

 . . . No one has studied what happens and how long after an animal or child or whatever has injuries.  So the science has not been done to determine how the injuries evolve over time to be able to date them.

When Dr. MacManaway was reminded of his testimony in Doug Wright’s case—handed a certified copy of the transcript—he stated, “My conclusions at that time were based on some personal experience as well as the conclusions in this paper, New England Journal of Medicine in June 1998.”

Q: What steps have you done now that you have changed your mind to go back and rectify the situation?

A: . . . You are asking me to compare one thing which I know today to something which I vaguely remember.  I cannot answer that question.

The jury acquitted the babysitter.  Doug Wright is still in prison.  The real circumstances of Donovan's death remain uninvestigated.  Who is going to go back and rectify this situation?
 

By Denver Post Staff and Wire Reports

Man gets probation for shaking infant Matthew Miguel Dalton, 28, who pleaded guilty to negligent child abuse, was sentenced Friday to four years' probation and 200 hours of community service. In November, Dalton's 2- month-old daughter was hospitalized with injuries consistent with "shaken baby syndrome." According to an arrest affidavit, Dalton initially told investigators he shook his daughter after he found her unresponsive. But investigators found signs of a previous injury - fractured ribs that were on the mend.

Pam Russell, a spokeswoman with the Jefferson County district attorney's office, said the child is recovering from her injuries "but continues to have a few medical challenges."



Silver Spring man cleared of child abuse charges

by Meredith Hooker
Staff Writer
Sep. 22, 2004

Son had undiagnosed medical condition

A 35-year-old Silver Spring father once accused of attempted murder and the abuse of his son was cleared Friday after it was determined that the boy had a medical condition that misled authorities. Doctors once thought Steven Kent Smith's young son, Craig, was the victim of shaken baby syndrome. But others later determined Craig had a previously undiagnosed genetic bleeding disorder that was exacerbated when he fell off a bed in the family's home while playing with Smith's two other children.

After surgery for neurological damage, Craig's condition continues to improve.

"The scary part is, if this could happen to me, it could happen to any father, any mother, any caregiver," Steven Smith said at a press conference at Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville. Smith said the past year has been emotionally and financially difficult. People thought he caused his son's injuries, Smith said. He sought support from family, friends and his church.

Smith was charged with attempted second-degree murder in June 2003, after medical authorities thought his baby was the victim of shaken baby syndrome. He was also charged with first-degree assault, child abuse and reckless endangerment, according to a release from Montgomery County Police.

Eventually, Smith's charges were reduced to child abuse, said Teresa Whalen, Smith's lawyer, who is based in Silver Spring. Family members helped him make bond so he could be released from the Montgomery County Detention Center.

"It's kind of like the nightmare is finally over," Whalen said.

On April 26, 2003, Steven Smith's three children, including Craig, who was about a year old at the time, were upstairs playing in their parents' bedroom before bedtime, Whalen said. Steven Smith had been with them, but went downstairs to get a bottle for Craig. He heard a thump and went back upstairs, where his children told him Craig had fallen off the bed.

Smith took Craig, who went limp, to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring. The child was unresponsive and was flown to Children's Hospital for further treatment, three days before his first birthday. Evidence indicated the event was an accident, Whalen said. The children told people that Craig had fallen off the bed, and Steven Smith was "distraught, as any parent would be."

However, hospital officials were required to report symptoms of shaken baby syndrome to the police, Whalen said. At Children's Hospital, surgery was performed for massive swelling of Craig's brain and severe bleeding, and a portion of his skull was removed due to the swelling. Although Smith told officials his son had fallen off a bed, doctors maintained Craig had symptoms of shaken baby syndrome and a second opinion from another doctor agreed.

But Smith's wife Corinne, who works in the medical field, was convinced something else caused Craig's bleeding and continued to investigate other possibilities. The family later found out Craig had a genetic bleeding disorder, called von Willebrand's disease, that was never diagnosed. When Craig fell, a blood vessel broke.

The disease affects the blood's ability to clot and about 1 percent of the population has it, according to information from the National Institutes of Health. Craig's condition was confirmed by an expert at a hospital in Boston, Mass. Von Willebrand's disease causes people who sustain injuries, even minor ones like a bruise, to bleed easily and more than normal, said Dr. Ronald Uscinski, a neurosurgeon based in Olney who dealt with the Smiths. It's possible to go through life not knowing you have the disease.

Shaken baby syndrome is what pediatricians term injuries -- usually head injuries -- that appear to have occurred with no explanation, he said. However, Uscinski said studies show that it's not possible for a person to shake a child with enough force to cause a head injury. It is possible for a child to sustain a major head injury through a fall, he said. "A fall between 18 and 24 inches is enough to fracture an infant's skull."

Such an injury, along with von Willebrand's disease, is enough to cause death, Uscinski said.

Corinne said doctors have determined that she has the disease, as well as the Smiths' other two children, ages 5 and 6. It runs in her family. The Smiths are looking into treatment at Georgetown Hospital. Doctors had predicted that Craig, now 2 and a half years old, would die that night, Corinne said, but the family never believed it. However, Craig has suffered neurological damage.

But the parents have high hopes that his health will improve. "He's making amazing progress," Corinne said. Craig plays and babbles, and loves Cheetos and pizza, she said. And like any other 2-year-old, if he doesn't like his food, he'll throw it across the room. He's there ... and he's trying to overcome," Corinne said. "We just want to give him every opportunity to do it."

Two weeks ago, Steven Smith was able to move back into his home to view his son's progress firsthand. Since the incident last year, he wasn't allowed to sleep in the family's home and wasn't allowed to be with his children without an adult escort, he said. He also hadn't been allowed to be alone at the hospital with Craig.

Corinne said the children missed seeing their father when they woke up in the morning. And Smith missed his children, and missed taking them to daily activities, like soccer practice. "It's sincerely our hope that others learn from our experience," Steven Smith said, referring to doctors' original misdiagnosis of Craig.

"If this could happen to us, it could happen to anyone," Corinne said.
 



Below is a current trial in South Bend, Indiana.

September 30, 2004

Mother testifies she did not harm son
Defendant says she was afraid of police.

By MARTI GOODLAD HELINE
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- A woman accused of shaking her baby and causing his death told a jury Wednesday she did not harm her son and said she had only said so because she was afraid of police. "I've never shaken my baby," testified Diana McDyess, 24, of the 1200 block of North Kaley Street.

She is on trial in St. Joseph Superior Court charged with aggravated battery, battery and neglect in the death last Nov. 2 of her son, William McDyess, who was not quite 3 months old. The baby died of brain trauma, testified Dr. Joseph Prahlow. The forensic pathologist said that in his opinion, shaking caused the bleeding in the brain and the swelling. Breaking into loud sobs while questioned by her lawyer, Deborah Hays, McDyess said, "I was afraid for my life. I had to say something." The jury viewed the videotape of her interview Tuesday.

Already distraught over the death of her son the day before, McDyess said she was in fear what police would do to her. She claimed county Metro Homicide Unit officers struck the desk, kicked chairs and threatened that Child Protective Services would take away her daughters, then age 3 and 4.

That was her explanation when Hays and Deputy Prosecutor Jane Woodward Miller asked why she said she hurt the baby if she hadn't. "I hadn't done anything to my son," McDyess testified, in tears. McDyess is accused of fracturing the baby's ribs and allowing him to be in a place where he was injured. At 1 month of age, the infant was taken to the hospital with a fractured leg and a skull fracture. The mother claimed the skull fracture and rib fractures were from the child's birth. Miller pointed out on cross examination that testimony from two doctors revealed McDyess' theory impossible, but she did not budge. "I never did any of these things to my baby," she repeated.

Because of McDyess' claims about her treatment by police, Judge Roland W. Chamblee Jr. agreed to Miller's request to reshow the video statement to the jury Wednesday -- this time unedited -- so jurors could see exactly what took place.
 



Posted on Fri, Dec. 03, 2004
Mother convicted of assault

Her 2-month-old son suffered head trauma.

By Jacqueline Soteropoulos
Inquirer Staff Writer

A South Philadelphia mother was convicted yesterday of three misdemeanors for injuring her infant son last year, but Common Pleas Court Judge Gwendolyn Bright found Renee Knight not guilty of felony aggravated assault. Two-month-old Terry Lane was near death on Nov. 7, 2003. His head was swollen from severe internal bleeding and he had extensive skull fractures, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctor Cindy Christian testified yesterday during the non-jury trial.

Knight told police and doctors that the 8-pound infant had been sleeping in bed with her and had fallen onto the floor. But Christian testified that she believed the head trauma was caused by severe blunt-force trauma. She also said that because Terry was small and had been born two months premature, she did not believe he would have been able to roll or scoot off the bed by himself.

Assistant District Attorney Evangelia Manos told the judge that Knight's story was not plausible. "She was the cause of those injuries. She assaulted her child," Manos said. But defense attorney Kenneth Mirsky told the judge that police never recovered a weapon or any other physical evidence of violence at Knight's home on the 400 block of Fitzgerald Street. "The mere fact that a child sustains a fracture does not prove child abuse," Mirsky said.

Bright found Knight, 29, guilty of simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment, and scheduled sentencing for Jan. 25. Terry had multiple seizures during his first two days of hospitalization, and tests revealed that the baby suffered strokes in two areas of his brain, according to medical testimony at Knight's preliminary hearing earlier this year. After several months in the hospital, he was released into foster care, where he remains. Manos said that so far, there have been no signs of permanent damage from his injuries.

Contact staff writer Jacqueline Soteropoulos
 at 215-854-4497 or jsoteropoulos@phillynews.com.
 



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id= 328897&in_page_id=1770

Hope for mother jailed for killing babies

13:46pm 29th November 2004

A mother convicted of killing two of her babies is one of six people having their child murder cases investigated by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, it has emerged. Donna Anthony, of Yeovil, Somerset, was given two life sentences in 1998 for killing two of her babies.

Prosecutors built the case against her at her original trial around the evidence of the now-discredited paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadows. An appeal against the conviction was dismissed in 2000. The Commission is also looking into five separate infant death cases to see if there are grounds for appeal. The majority of the 11 are still serving their sentences. They are among 28 cases referred to the Commission following a review by the Attorney General, a spokesman for the Commission said.

The Commission, which investigates miscarriages of justice, has been unable to contact around a dozen of that number and is still trying to contact others. The Attorney General's review followed the quashing of the conviction of Angela Cannings in January this year for killing two of her children. That conviction also relied on Sir Roy's evidence.

Today, at a press conference in central London to launch the Commission's annual report, its chairman Professor Graham Zellick, said changes were needed in the way courts dealt with expert evidence. He said: "I would have thought that we have now reached the point where we needed to re-examine the whole law of admissibility of expert evidence from first principles". He said judges should be allowed to throw experts out of court if they did not think their evidence should be relied on. He said: "There ought to be some quite straightforward legal framework which would allow the judge to say 'get out of my court, don't come into here with this nonsense'."


 





Doctor's diary: false accusation
(Filed: 26/10/2004) Dr James Le Fanu says that being a parent is just as risky as ever

Most parents seeking medical help for their children should be well aware by now that they run the risk of being accused of deliberately harming them. They may think that the risk is small but, as Cassandra Jardine pointed out in this paper last week, it is not so: every working day, in Britain, 15 parents find themselves in court - an astonishing total of 4,000 cases a year.

In some cases, the evidence of multiple bruises, burns, fractures and neglect will be indisputable. But for the vast majority, the case rests on a medical expert's opinion that, on the balance of probability, the carer is likely to have deliberately caused the child injury or illness.

This situation, one might think, would have changed following Sally Clark's and Angela Cannings' successful appeals against the charge of child murder. Indeed, over the past few months, critical scrutiny of several of the allegedly characteristic signs of child abuse has shown them to be much less secure than previously thought.

Specifically, birth trauma - as the head is squeezed on its way through the vaginal canal - is now recognised to account for previously "unexplained", and therefore suspicious, bleeding under the skull. "Acute life threatening episodes", where a child goes floppy and has difficulty breathing, which were previously attributed to parental smothering, have now been shown to be due to acid reflux or abnormalities of heart rhythm. "Fractures", confidently diagnosed on X-ray in the absence of clinical signs of injury, may be normal variants in the appearance of the bone as it grows.

And, in March, the most powerful of all images of child abuse, Shaken Baby Syndrome, became unstuck, when it was reported in the British Medical Journal that the allegedly characteristic bleeding at the back of the eye might not be due to shaking at all but to insufficient oxygen reaching the brain, for which there can be several explanations.

This litany of faulty diagnoses is without precedent and should have encouraged paediatricians to be rather more hesitant before jumping to conclusions. Yet the risk of wrong accusation is almost as great as ever.

• There have been a couple of useful suggestions for Mr PG's girlfriend, who is distressed by recurrent episodes of chilling of her body ("the hairs on her arms stiffen, the heartbeat slows"), together with a powerful sense of déjà vu.

Brian Wharton, consultant psychiatrist in Northampton, thinks it likely to be temporal lobe epilepsy, which can be readily confirmed with an EEG (brainwave recording). Alternatively, a gentleman from Surrey wonders whether it might be a migraine. He describes a similar "tingling sensation of blood rushing to my legs and an extra-clear, dreamlike recall of the past" after his migraine attacks.

• This week's query from Stuart Stavelly in Rossshire concerns the likely effects of the Earth's rotation on sleep. Specifically, several years ago, he was informed on the best authority that those sleeping in an eastward-facing bed were more prone to sleep disturbance because this position would accelerate the flow of blood to the brain. He concedes that this theory sounds unlikely. But it has certainly been his experience and he wonders whether this is "only an illusion induced by preconception".

 



Rocky Mountain News URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article
/0,1299,DRMN_15_3513122,00.html Dad guilty in abuse death

Defendant's family shocked by verdict

By Sue Lindsay, Rocky Mountain News
February 1, 2005

Members of Matthew Schneider's family gasped and cried, and one fled the courtroom, as a jury verdict was read Monday convicting him of reckless child abuse resulting in the death of his 29-day-old son. Schneider, 25, must be sentenced to at least 16 years in prison. The charge carries a maximum of 48 years.

Schneider and his wife, Denise, who sat as an advisory witness throughout the trial in Jefferson County District Court, huddled crying as the verdict was read. One man ran out of the courtroom and collapsed.  Before deputies took him away in handcuffs, Schneider and his wife wept and embraced. The Schneider family left the courtroom without comment.  "This was a very tough case, a very tragic case," said defense attorney Kenneth Eichner. "This is a very sad day for the family."

Prosecutor Charles Tingle said the jury's verdict was justice for the baby, Christopher.

"Each and every day we came to court fighting for Christopher," Tingle said. "He was the reason we were there. It's easy sometimes for jurors and those involved in the court process to forget the people who have been victimized, especially in a lengthy trial. The jury's verdict shows that did not happen here."  Jurors rejected the defense argument that Christopher died from undiagnosed medical problems, including a seizure disorder.  Eichner presented expert testimony from physicians that the baby may have died from a neurological problem or blood clotting disorder. He argued that the case was full of reasonable doubt that should cause the jury to acquit Schneider.

But prosecutors said all the doctors who treated Christopher on Sept. 17, 2003, recognized his condition as the aftermath of child abuse. The coroner concluded that Christopher died from a brain hemorrhage caused by blunt force trauma and shaken baby syndrome. Prosecutors say Schneider admitted to police that he caused his son's death when he became "frustrated and snapped," shaking Christopher because he wouldn't stop crying. Police said he also told them, "I didn't mean to hurt him." But during the trial, Schneider denied making the statements and said the detective manipulated him into saying things that made him appear guilty because he was so distraught over his son's condition.

Schneider will be sentenced on March 25.

Copyright 2005, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.



Adoptions followed abuse allegations

By Ben Sutherly

Dayton Daily News

A rare genetic disease killed Logan Crow.

Mistaken for abuse, it probably caused the death of his older brother, Daniel Crow Jr.

Its symptoms — which often mirror those of Shaken Baby Syndrome — set off a chain of events in Darke County that ultimately cost the boys' mother, Tammy Fourman, two more children.

This month, the revelation Daniel Crow Jr. had Menkes Disease put to rest the homicide investigation into his December 2003 death — and raised unsettling questions that Fourman may force a court to answer.

No longer under the cloud of a criminal investigation, the 29-year-old Union City, Ind., woman said last week she will seek to regain custody of Daniel's 9-year-old sister, as well as his 5-year-old half brother, who was taken from Fourman at birth in January 2000. Both children have been adopted.

At issue aren't just the rights of the biological and adoptive parents. There are also the best interests of the child, favored by Ohio law and policy, leading child welfare and adoption experts to agree Fourman faces a formidable challenge should she try to undo the adoptions.

When told of the case, Kent Markus, director of the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy at Capital University Law School in Columbus, said it struck him as "highly unlikely" the adoptions would be vacated.

Judith Rycus, program director of the Institute for Human Services in Columbus, said disrupting the permanence of a child's living arrangements can have a "disastrous impact" on the child's development — "even more sometimes than abuse or neglect."

That partly explains the stringent requirements local children services offices must meet before permanently removing a child from a home where abuse is suspected — as well as the extraordinary circumstances needed to invalidate an adoption, even if a mistake was made.

Michael Voorhees, a Cincinnati attorney who has handled more than 500 adoptions, marveled at the quandary surrounding the custody of the Fourman children. "This could be a novel case," he said.

'A life of fear'

Tammy Fourman and Daniel Crow Sr. met in November 1993 at his mother's viewing. They married eight months later. Their daughter was born seven weeks prematurely in September 1995. On Jan. 11, 1998, they had Daniel Jr. From the beginning, things didn't seem right with the boy. "Everyone who came to see him always asked, 'What's wrong with him?'" recalled Fourman, who then went by the name Tammy Crow. "All he really did was sleep. If he opened his eyes, that was amazing."

Twice, Fourman said, she picked him up beneath his arms from his swing "and he would just scream. I just thought he didn't like the swing." Exactly two months after his birth, Daniel seemed to have a fixed look. "He was clenched up," Daniel Crow Sr. recalled. While Crow stayed home with their daughter, Fourman took Daniel Jr. to Wayne Hospital in Greenville for seizures. From there, he was taken to Children's Medical Center in Dayton.

Crow was the first to see Daniel Jr. at that hospital. When he rejoined Fourman in a waiting room, where she had been fielding calls about Daniel Jr. from friends and family, he had shocking news about their son. "Daniel asked me if I knew he had 14 broken bones," Fourman said. "The first thing I thought was that they were talking about somebody else's child." As night fell, Daniel Crow Sr. sensed clouds of suspicion gathering and subtle changes in the manner of doctors and other officials at Children's Medical Center. At one point, he recalled thinking, "I'm going to prison for something that's not been done."

Since then, he said, "It's been a life of fear."

Darke County Children Services obtained a court order and placed Daniel Jr. in protective custody. On March 13, the Crows dropped off their daughter at the Children Services office in Greenville after the agency successfully sought temporary custody of the girl through Darke County Juvenile Court. Crow recalled placing his 2½-year-old daughter on the floor. He played with her for a couple minutes, then left with Fourman. "I lost it," he said. "I think I cried more then than I did for a long time." Political wrangling thrust Daniel Jr.'s case into the public eye in October 1998, when Darke County Common Pleas Judge Lee Bixler ordered then county Prosecutor Jonathan Hein to investigate Daniel's injuries. The order came just weeks before Hein unseated Bixler in the November election.

At the time, Hein told the Dayton Daily News, "There is no question the child was injured. The problem with the case is we cannot identify who caused the injury." In early 1999, a grand jury met to consider evidence in the case. No indictment was handed up. Fourman gave birth in January 2000 to a second son, who is now 5 and has a different biological father. Three days after the boy was born, Darke County Juvenile Court Judge Richard E. Hole II granted temporary custody of the infant to Children Services, which told the judge Daniel had been deemed an abused child and circumstances surrounding that abuse had not been resolved.

In October 2001, Hole granted permanent custody of Daniel's half brother to Children Services, which in June 2000 also had obtained permanent custody of Daniel's sister. Both were adopted at least a year ago. Fourman and Crow unsuccessfully sought to regain custody of their daughter through the courts in 2001; Fourman's appeal to regain custody of Daniel's half brother in 2001-02 also met with defeat. Through it all, Fourman and Crow fought among themselves. "The kids were gone. It brought a lot of stress," Fourman said. "Neither one of us had the answers." In November 2000, Fourman divorced Crow, saying she hoped it would help her get back her children. Pregnant by another man, she moved to Indiana in 2001, fearing Children Services would also take custody of that child, Aaron Kaiser. Aaron, now 3, lives with Fourman and Daniel Crow Sr., now 32, in Union City, Ind.

Then, in October 2003, Fourman had a fifth child — her third by Crow. Named Logan, he would ultimately change the course of the investigation into his older brother's death two months later.

Daniel's diagnosis

After more than five years in a vegetative state, Daniel Crow Jr. died Dec. 29, 2003, at Children's Medical Center. He was less than two weeks shy of his sixth birthday. Meanwhile, across the state line in Indiana, doctors were trying to figure out what was wrong with Logan. In early November 2003, Fourman and Crow had taken Logan to his family doctor, Brandon Connerly. Tammy said Logan appeared to be gagging and pulling himself up into a little ball. For Connerly, who was in his first week of practice, the boy's jerking trunk was the beginning of an "eye-opening" medical mystery.

Connerly had Crow and Fourman rush their son to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis. There, doctors decided Logan had cerebral palsy. But it wasn't until the end of February 2004 that doctors discovered his brain had hemorrhaged and had shrunk to half its size.

"They suspected child abuse," Fourman said.

This time, however, a geneticist who had worked with Logan intervened in a child-abuse investigation, suspecting something else was at work. The geneticist told Crow and Fourman their son's bones were like glass. "He had fractures from head to toe," Fourman said. "We didn't know his bones were like that." In March 2004, another geneticist visiting St. Vincent Pediatric Rehabilitation Center was shown Logan. Fourman recalled that geneticist ran her fingers through Logan's kinky hair, then just starting to emerge, and requested more tests. Days later, Logan was diagnosed with Menkes Disease.

Fourman and Crow had been on their way to place flowers on Daniel's grave at Newcomers Cemetery when they got the call that Logan had taken a turn for the worse. He died the next day, April 30, at six months of age. Menkes Disease primarily affects male infants, with copper accumulating at below-normal levels in the liver and brain, but at abnormally high levels in the kidneys and intestinal lining. Symptoms may include seizures, low body temperature and osteoporosis that can cause fractures. Most children with the disease die before age 10.

Darke County paid $3,367 for a genetic test that confirmed Daniel, too, had Menkes Disease. Connerly said the recognized incidence of Menkes Disease is 1 in 300,000 births, but added, "There are probably quite a few more cases out there that we're not recognizing because it looks like child abuse." "If there's a moral to the story, even doctors' opinions are fallible," said Darke County Prosecutor Richard Howell, who said this month he's closing the homicide investigation into Daniel's death.

Shades of gray

Confidential Darke County Juvenile Court documents and Children Services case plans that Fourman provided to the Dayton Daily News claim she and Crow had a checkered compliance with court-ordered plans meant to reunify them with their children.

A December 1999 handwritten note from Children Services reads "Tammy's compliance with most services so far is very good"; an April 1999 document states the parents "seem concerned about their children and their medical needs." But other documents indicate the Crows were inconsistent in making child support payments — an inconsistency Fourman attributed partly to a lack of money and partly to defiance. She said it was "ridiculous" that she had to pay child support "when they took my children."

The Crows completed psychological evaluations and a parent seizure disorder support group, but while Tammy attended individual counseling regularly, Daniel attended just once. And they didn't participate in group sessions addressing anger management. In an April 1999 Juvenile Court filing, Judge Richard Hole II ordered Daniel and his sister to remain in Children Services' temporary custody while their parents completed the court-ordered program a second time.

The order frustrated Tammy Fourman. "I felt I went through the first time, and there was no need for the second." Fourman lost unsupervised visitation privileges with her daughter in January 2000 after she allegedly violated an order not to have contact with Crow. Fourman and Crow deny having contact during that period, but both acknowledged Crow was then using the address of Fourman's parents as his mailing address. Noting the time the Crows' daughter had been in foster care and her need for a "legally secure placement," Judge Hole granted Children Services permanent custody of the girl in June 2000.

In his order, he noted the girl's parents had "failed continuously to substantially remedy the conditions causing (their daughter) to be placed outside the home." Rebecca James, county Children Services administrator, speaking in general about cases in which child abuse is suspected, said parents know upfront a reunification plan is in place and, if they complete it, their chances of getting their children back are "great." But Children Services is supposed to find a permanent home for a child within 24 months of assuming custody of that child, James said. In the face of noncompliance by a child's parents, she said, child welfare workers sometimes decide the permanent home shouldn't be the parents'.

While the public often has a black-and-white view of the child welfare system — some feel it's abhorrent to tear families apart, while others feel children should be removed from homes at the first sign of danger — Rycus of the Institute for Human Services said the choice is often anything but clear for those in the child welfare system. When abuse is apparent in a family, "their charge is to make sure the children are not harmed again," Rycus said. "But they also have a mandate to protect children from the trauma of separation and placement."

James said she has spread the word about Menkes Disease in hopes of raising awareness of it in Ohio's child welfare system. Public recognition that Menkes Disease probably caused his son's injuries instead of abuse hasn't provided much relief for Daniel Crow Sr., who noted that Daniel's sister and 5-year-old half brother aren't home yet. "That's when I'll feel relief," he said. The adoptive parents of Daniel's sister declined comment for this article. An adoptive parent of Daniel's 5-year-old half brother could not be located for comment.

"It makes me feel bad, but it wasn't my fault," Fourman said of the difficult situation facing many people after Daniel's diagnosis. Asked why she felt regaining custody of Daniel's two siblings was in the children's best interest, Fourman said matter-of-factly, "Because I'm their mother."

Contact Ben Sutherly at 335-0509
 



 
Carteret parents charged in alleged abuse of infant
February 22,2005
JANNETTE PIPPIN
DAILY NEWS STAFF

MOREHEAD CITY - The parents of a 10-month-old infant were arrested over the weekend in Carteret County on felony charges of child abuse.  Jerome Anthony Moore, 20, and Carrie Ann Triplett, 19, both of Morehead City are accused of two incidents of abuse resulting in the serious injury of their daughter. After the most recent incident, the child was hospitalized with injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome, said Morehead City police Lt. Robin Conley.

"After the child was at Pitt (County Memorial Hospital), several tests were run and they discovered a subdural hematoma," Conley said. In addition to the bleeding on the brain, there was retinal hemorrhaging, which is also an indication of shaken baby syndrome, Conley said. While at the hospital, a full skeletal exam was done. It revealed two hairline fractures, estimated to be 10 to 14 days old, in the child's right leg, police said. Conley said the fractures are apparently due to a blunt force trauma such as someone hitting the child. The injuries have led to two separate felony counts of child abuse.

"There are two separate incidents of abuse. The case of the subdural hematoma on the 8th of February and the fractures that probably happened between the first and the fourth," Conley said.
Officials at Pitt Memorial contacted the Department of Social Services after the infant was admitted there, and local DSS officials then contacted Morehead City police. Conley said the parents initially took the infant to Carteret General Hospital's emergency room on Feb. 6 and indicated that the baby had not eaten and was vomiting. The baby was seen and released that day.

On Feb. 8, they took the child to Onslow Memorial Hospital and indicated the baby was having the same problems. The infant was admitted to Onslow Memorial, but the symptoms described by the parents did not match what doctors and nurses found, police said. "At both hospitals - Onslow and Carteret - they were told the child had not been eating and was throwing up. But what (the parents) presented as being wrong was not showing up," Conley said.

The infant was flown to Pitt Memorial the day after being admitted to Onslow Memorial. The tests run at Pitt Memorial revealed the subdural hematoma and other injuries. After the baby was at Pitt Memorial, the parents indicated that the infant had a seizure on Feb. 8, the day the child was taken to Onslow Memorial Hospital, police said. The infant, who was released into DSS custody on Feb. 15, had to be re-admitted to Pitt Memorial Hospital Friday, Conley said. As their child was treated, Moore and Triplett were arrested and placed in the Carteret County Jail under $150,000 bond each.

Contact staff writer Jannette Pippin at jpippin@freedomenc.com or at (252) 808-2275.

(no neck injuries hmmmm.....)



Bentonville woman pleads not guilty in shaken-baby incident By Tracy M. Neal Staff Writer tracyn@nwanews.com

Posted on Tuesday, April 26, 2005http://nwanews.com/story_print.php?paper=
brog&News=section&storyid=21950

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/story/brog/21950

BENTONVILLE — A Bentonville woman pleaded not guilty Monday to a charge accusing her of seriously injuring her 2-month-old child. Darra Barritt, 35, is charged with battery in the first degree, a class B felony punishable with a prison sentence ranging from five to 20 years. Barritt was scheduled to appear in court Monday for an arraignment. Her attorney entered the not-guilty plea through paperwork.

Circuit Judge David Clinger scheduled an omnibus hearing in the case for 8:30 a.m. June 20.

On March 18, Bentonville police officers went to St. Mary’s Hospital in Rogers to investigate a possible case of shaken-baby syndrome. The investigation revealed a 2-month-old girl had signs of being shaken. She was later taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.

According to an affidavit for a search warrant, on March 18 Barritt took her youngest daughter to Garrett-Goss Clinic for a checkup after Barritt and her mother noticed the baby was twitching. A doctor at the clinic suggested the child be taken to St. Mary’s. The doctor at Garrett-Goss claimed the baby displayed examples of being a shaken baby, the affidavit states.  Another doctor told police that Darra Barritt said she had shaken the baby, but not too hard. Darra Barritt was arrested March 19 and released from custody after posting a $50,000 bond. The 2-month-old and Barritt’s 2-year-old daughter are in the temporary guardianship of their grandparents. There is a no-contact order preventing Barritt from having contact with her daughters.

2months old...wonder if she just got her 2 month shots.......



Clark pathologist guilty of misconduct

Clare Dyer, legal editor
Saturday June 4, 2005
The Guardian

A Home Office pathologist who failed to disclose evidence which could have helped to clear Sally Clark during her trial for murdering her two babies escaped being struck off the medical register yesterday. Alan Williams was found guilty of serious professional misconduct by the General Medical Council and banned from undertaking any Home Office pathology work or coroners' cases for the next three years, but he will be allowed to continue working as a consultant histopathologist at Macclesfield General hospital.

Mrs Clark was jailed for life in 1999 for killing her sons Christopher and Harry, but had her conviction quashed by the court of appeal in 2003. Dr Williams, 58, who carried out the post mortem examinations on both babies, failed to pass on the results of microbiology tests on the second baby, Harry, which indicated he could have died from natural causes.

Prosecution and defence lawyers - and the jury - were unaware of the findings throughout Mrs Clark's trial in 1999 and her first appeal against her conviction, which she lost. It was because of the non-disclosure of this evidence that the appeal court quashed her conviction on her second appeal in 2003, and she was released after three and a half years in prison. Evidence given to the jury by the paediatrician Sir Roy Meadow, that the chances of two cot deaths in a family like the Clarks' was one in 73 million, was only a secondary factor. Professor Meadow faces a separate GMC hearing starting on June 21.

Dr Williams, of Plumley, near Knutsford, Cheshire, is scheduled for a three-week hearing from next Monday before the Home Office pathologists' disciplinary body. But it was unclear yesterday whether or not it would go ahead in view of his ban from Home Office work. Dr Williams told the GMC that he thought the staphylococcus bacteria found in eight places in Harry's body had not been present while the baby was alive but were the result of post mortem contamination. Two other pathologists testified to the GMC on his behalf supporting this view.

Dr Williams performed post mortems on Christopher, who died aged 12 weeks in 1996, and Harry, who was eight weeks old when he died in 1998. He initially gave the cause of death for Christopher as a respiratory tract infection but after Harry's death changed his mind and concluded that there was evidence of smothering. He put Harry's death down to shaken baby syndrome.

The GMC found that Dr Williams had failed in his duty as an expert witness in relation to the bacteria results. Delivering the GMC's verdict, its chairman, Peter Richards, said: "In evidence to the panel you agreed that those test results might possibly have assisted the defence. "Whatever your own views, even if reasonable, you had a responsibility as an experienced forensic pathologist to consider whether test results might need to be openly discussed before being discounted, in order to prevent any risk of a miscarriage of justice."

Mrs Clark and her husband Stephen said it was a matter of "great regret" that failings in the evidence of Dr Williams had been ignored before she was convicted of murder. In a statement, they said: "We are pleased that the GMC has finally acknowledged what we maintained all along - that Dr Williams' post mortems on our baby sons were incompetent in many crucial respects and that he failed in his basic duty as an expert witness to be fair, accurate and objective when he gave evidence against Sally."

The couple said the GMC had earlier tried to dismiss their allegations against the doctor and, but for the persistence of their former MP, Martin Bell, the GMC hearing would never have been held.
 



HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State

June 17, 2005, 12:06AM

Appeals court to review shaken baby case
State's highest criminal court to take a new look at mother's guilt
By ANDREW TILGHMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The state's highest criminal court is taking a close look at the appeal of a young mother convicted of shaking her baby to death.

Brandy Briggs has served five years of a 17-year sentence for causing the death of her sickly 2-month-old son, Daniel Lemons, in 1999. Briggs, 24, contends she was wrongly imprisoned based on a flawed autopsy. She filed a new appeal last year after Harris County Medical Examiner Dr. Luis Sanchez revised the child's 1999 autopsy, changing the cause of death from homicide to "undetermined."

A previous medical examiner had said the child died of shaken baby syndrome. Sanchez testified last year that "there was no blunt trauma, no clear evidence this child died of shaken baby syndrome." Despite the revised autopsy finding, state District Judge Mary Lou Keel rejected Briggs' request that her conviction be tossed out last October, ruling that "Dr. Sanchez's opinion does not, however, unquestionably establish (Briggs') innocence."

A rare order from court
The Court of Criminal Appeals issued a rare order Wednesday for prosecutors and Briggs' defense attorney to file new briefs in the case before the court makes a final ruling. Defense attorney Charles Portz said the high court's order suggests the jurists are skeptical of Keel's recommendation to reject Briggs' appeal.

"They want to inquire into it more," Portz said. "They want to know why they should not believe the medical examiner. Why would they not believe him in this case, but then next time there is an autopsy report comes out in a murder case, they believe him then?" Assistant District Attorney Lynn Hardaway, who said she plans to file a brief as the Court of Criminal Appeals requested, said the court's order is rare, but it does not indicate the panel is leaning toward either side.

Briggs' appeal also hinges on evidence that the former medical examiner, Dr. Patricia Moore, who performed the autopsy, had been admonished by supervisors who thought she showed a bias in favor of prosecutors in an unrelated case. Moore was criticized for "not understanding the objectives of neutral medical-legal investigation."

One case dismissed
Briggs' case was one of at least two in which Sanchez revised autopsies conducted by Moore. In March, prosecutors dismissed a case against another woman, Ruth Ann Gilliam, who was accused of causing her child's death. In that case, Sanchez also changed Moore's conclusion of homicide to an "undetermined" cause of death. Moore now conducts autopsies for a private firm in Montgomery County.

Briggs was 19 when she was charged with murder and, ultimately, agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of endangering a child. She told Keel in 2000 that she found her baby limp and barely breathing in his crib, panicked and shook him. Briggs later said her lawyer was ineffective and had told her a guilty plea would result in probation. Keel concluded, however, that attorney Richard Anderson had represented Briggs effectively and that Briggs entered her plea voluntarily.

Medical errors alleged
During her appeal last year, the doctors hired by Briggs' attorneys also noted medical errors made in treating the baby. The child was taken to Lyndon B. Johnson General Hospital after Briggs called 911 to report he was unconscious. At the hospital, a breathing tube was incorrectly placed in his stomach rather than his lungs, according to medical records.

The doctors hired by Briggs' attorneys said the baby died of natural causes, specifically, complications related to sepsis, a bacterial infection they think developed after he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection when 1 week old. Attorneys in the case have 30 days to file new papers with the Court of Criminal Appeals, which will issue a final ruling.

andrew.tilghman@chron.com



Eye expert testifies for Dittberner
By Steve Sharp of the Daily Times staff

JEFFERSON - An expert witness on Wednesday bolstered the defense of Todd Dittberner, the Watertown man charged with first-degree reckless homicide in the death of his infant son in 2004, by testifying it appeared the child's injuries were accidental. Dr. Horace Gardner, 66, one of the country's foremost experts on the human eye, told the court he had studied a pathology of the eye trauma sustained by 6-month-old Riley Owen Bilke after the child's death in April, 2004. Dittberner, who is Riley's father, was taking care of the boy and feeding him one day at a Cady Street home when he said the child suddenly stiffened up and fell off his lap to the floor. He said Riley landed on the top of his head. The boy later died at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee April 3, 2004.

Gardner told jurors Wednesday it was his opinion as an expert ophthalmologist that it would be impossible for a child to sustain the type of eye trauma Riley did if he was a victim of "Shaken Baby Syndrome," a common form of fatal abuse sustained by infants. Gardner has also conducted extensive research into how the human eye reacts after a case of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Gardner said he conducted his study on the Bilke case after receiving the medical/pediatric records on the boy, as well as pathology slides of his eyes.

He said he determined that "all ocular findings are consistent with the account of the situation given by the father." Bilke sustained retinal hemorrhaging - bursting or tearing of blood vessels in the eyes. Gardner stressed his belief that these injuries to the eyes could not come from shaking, but are more commonly associated with a person who is not receiving enough oxygen, or who has sustained brain swelling due to a blow to the head. Gardner then suggested this blood vessel damage could have been caused by a breathing tube that may have been inserted improperly during resuscitative efforts conducted on the child after he was injured.

"Of course you look at the possibility of abuse in a situation like this, but when a child comes in with Riley's type of injuries, then abuse is not the only way it could have happened," Gardner said. He added that, if Riley was dropped on his head, the pressure in his skull would likely rise, thus causing the type of retinal hemorrhaging found.

After questioning by the defense, Gardner faced cross-examination by Jefferson County Assistant District Attorney Mike Schaefer. "The shaken baby thing is inconsistent with Riley's injury to the top of his head," Gardner told Schaefer, adding that Riley's eyes had hemorrhaged in all of their layers and, in his experience, he has seen no documented examples of Shaken Baby Syndrome causing this. Gardner, a medical doctor and former colonel in the military who became a lawyer in 1999 at age 60, also noted Riley was in poor health at the time of the incident.

"He was getting a small amount of (the mother's anti-depressant) medication through breast milk and he was on an inhaler. His health was unusual," Gardner said. Gardner also noted that Riley was also immunized around the time of the incident with Dittberner.

Following Gardner, Beth Nicholson, director of Kiddie Kampus Day Care and Preschool in Watertown, testified Riley spent a limited amount of time at the facility on the Maranatha campus during his six months of life. She described him as "part-time" there. She said that, one week before his death, she fed the boy and it took him a long time to finish his bottle. She said he also "cried a lot," his lungs were "rattling." Previous testimony indicated the child had a history of bronchial problems. "It seemed he was struggling to get air," Nicholson said. "This concerned me."

Wednesday afternoon's testimony followed Jefferson County Branch III Circuit Court Judge J.R. Erwin's denial of a defense request for a mistrial. The defense claimed the state unfairly compromised Dittberner's case by not sufficiently disclosing, in a timely manner, the mother, Amanda Bilke's, admission she used anti-depressant drugs while nursing Riley. Bilke testified Wednesday she took 50 milligrams of Zoloft per day within one month of Riley's death. If convicted on the charge of first-degree reckless homicide, Dittberner, a repeat criminal with a previous conviction for forgery, could face more than 60 years in prison.

The case is scheduled to last into next week.

 



Death penalty tossed in baby case

By Erin L. Nissley

enissley@centredaily.com


By Erin L. Nissley

BELLEFONTE -- A man accused of killing his newborn in 2002 is no longer facing the death penalty after a judge ruled there was not enough evidence to support a first-degree murder charge.

Alejandro Mendez Vargas, 31, has been in prison awaiting trial on murder charges since his arrest in August 2003. After President Judge Charles C. Brown Jr.'s ruling last week, Vargas faces a charge of third-degree murder.

Police say Vargas was home alone with his son on Aug. 27, 2002, and went to a neighbor's home for help when the child showed signs of medical distress.

The baby died at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville on Sept. 2, 2002.

Prosecutors say the infant died as a result of shaken baby syndrome and offered medical reports at Vargas' preliminary hearing as proof.

To convict someone of first-degree murder, prosecutors must show four things: that the defendant acted with the specific intent to kill; that a human being was killed; that the person accused did the killing; and that the killing was done with premeditation or deliberation.

Vargas' attorneys, Roy DeCaro and Charles Hehmeyer, argued at a hearing in July that prosecutors showed no evidence that -- if a murder even occurred -- it was premeditated, intended or malicious.

Assistant District Attorney Lance Marshall argued at the hearing that the amount of force necessary to "shake a baby to death is significant" and compared it to pointing a gun "at a vital organ."

In his written opinion, Brown said he believed the commonwealth's evidence "lacks a showing of intent on the part of the defendant" and went on to say that "(e)ven if the jury could find Defendant killed his son by shaking him to death, there would be not enough evidence to show Defendant did so with intent to kill."

DeCaro said Tuesday that he is pleased with the judge's ruling.

"It's good. It's not a capital case any more," he said.

Marshall said he does not intend to refile first-degree murder charges.

Vargas' trial is tentatively set for January.

Erin L. Nissley can be reached at 231-4616.