A FATHER convicted of killing his baby daughter has been freed following repudiation of the expert medical evidence of “shaken baby syndrome” that was pivotal to the original verdict.
Zavion Johnson was convicted in 2002. He said that his daughter had slipped out of his hands in the shower, but because she displayed the triad of symptoms associated with shaken baby syndrome – bleeding behind the retinas, bleeding in the brain and brain swelling – he was convicted of murder.
Since then, research has challenged the dogma that this triad is proof of child abuse, and that explanations such as Johnson’s must be ruled out. Asked to re-evaluate their original evidence as part of an appeal, two key prosecution witnesses repudiated their testimony. As a result, the Sacramento County district attorney conceded the conviction was wrongful, and freed Johnson on 8 December.
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At least 14 people in the US have had their convictions reversed in shaken baby cases since 2011.
This article appeared in print under the headline “Shaken baby verdict overturned”
