The fate of Shirley Ree Smith, convicted of shaking to death her 7-week-old grandson, is in the hands of California's governor. Child deaths can pose special problems for forensic pathologists. Unfortunately, many forensic pathologists aren't prepared to deal with the complexity of such cases.
California Gov. Jerry Brown is considering granting clemency to Shirley Ree Smith, a grandmother convicted in 1997 of shaking to death her 7-week-old grandson, Etzel Glass. Sentenced to 15 years to life in prison, Smith insists she's innocent.
Prosecutors built their case against Smith almost entirely on the findings of forensic pathologists at the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. During an autopsy, doctors discovered a small amount of bleeding on the infant's brain and in his optic nerves. Based on this bleeding, the forensic pathologists concluded that somebody had violently shaken Etzel's body, killing him.
They ruled the death a homicide. Others, however, aren't so sure.
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Wonder what a ruling like this might mean for the lady who lived in Trappe, MD who was convicted out something similiar. Many in the community believed in her innocence and still to this day believe she was done wrong by.
ReplyDeletereading the article, it goes straight into conjecture and offers no evidence. So it's just a story. If there was pure reason to bring this subject up, verified facts would have been part of the story.
ReplyDeleteBut no?