November 6, 2012
New developments in law, medicine, and psychology affecting child abuse cases. For additional news and information, visit www.ChildAbuseDefense.pro.
Arizona Father Exonerated As "Shaken Baby" Theory Weakens
An Arizona court has released from prison Drayton Witt. Witt had served half of a twenty-year sentence for fatally shaking his five-month-old son, Steven. The court found Witt's conviction rested on medical beliefs whose accuracy is now in question.For decades most physicians regarded subdural hematoma, cerebral edema, and retinal hemorrhage as virtually conclusive proof an infant had been shaken. The person caring for the child at the time he went into severe medical distress was considered necessarily the person who had done the shaking. Many parents and baby-sitters have gone to prison on little more evidence than that.
But now a distinguished minority of physicians is saying there has never been persuasive proof supporting these beliefs. The Arizona Justice Project brought Drayton Witt's case to the attention of some of these physicians, and they wrote reports criticizing the evidence on which the jury had found Witt guilty.
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