Saturday, August 18, 2012

Shaken Baby Syndrome: Florida; New trial ordered after judge refused to allow defence to call a biomechanical expert; "On SBS" Blog.

STORY: "A successful appeal," published on the "On SBS" blog. (We are grateful to the "On SBS" blog for bringing this case to our attention. HL);

GIST: "An appeals court in Florida has partially reversed a shaking conviction, ordering a new trial because the first judge had excluded biomechanical testimony.........From the decision: "Assuming the trial court erred in excluding Dr. Lloyd’s testimony, the state argues any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because (1) appellant presented testimony from Dr. Edward Willey, a former medical examiner who practiced forensic medicine, that the victim’s injury could have been the result of the victim’s own rambunctiousness or playing; and (2) defense counsel’s primary argument during trial was the victim’s injuries could have been intentionally inflicted by the victim’s mother. However, Dr. Lloyd’s testimony was not merely cumulative to the testimony of Dr. Willey, who had not conducted systematic studies on brain injuries due to falls and was not allowed to testify that the victim’s brain injuries could not have been caused by shaking due to the victim’s size. Furthermore, even though defense counsel argued the victim’s injuries could have been inflicted by the victim’s mother, this did not diminish the fact that appellant was not allowed to present relevant evidence on his alternative theory of accidental injury. Accordingly, the state has failed to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the trial court’s ruling excluding Dr. Lloyd’s testimony did not affect the jury’s verdict."

The entire post can be found at:






Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.