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."

 

by John Sweeney
BBC Real Story

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  "
 

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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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(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.