Medill Innocence Project’s First Published Shaken-Baby Syndrome Investigation

This from the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University.

(Emphasis below is mine.)

The Medill Innocence Project published its first shaken-baby syndrome investigation this morning at www.medillinnocenceproject.org. Investigative journalism students, supervised by Northwestern University Professor and Medill Innocence Project Director Alec Klein, looked into the conviction of Pamela Jacobazzi, a 57-year-old former Chicago-area day care owner convicted of first-degree murder. Among the findings:

–Eye experts, including the ophthalmologist who diagnosed the infant with “shaken injury,” now acknowledges that such symptoms may arise from non-abusive causes.

– Medical examiners, pathologists and other experts interviewed for this investigation say they cannot pinpoint the infant’s trauma to the time he was under Jacobazzi’s care.

–Biomechanical experts say it was impossible for Jacobazzi, at 115 pounds, to physically shake the infant, who was 21 pounds, to death, especially given that his neck and spine were undamaged.

–Medical experts question how Jacobazzi could have been convicted, given the child’s pediatric records, which were not raised at Jacobazzi’s trial, and indicated he may have suffered from internal bleeding, while CT scans and a slide of brain tissue may have revealed a slow bleed from an old head injury that remained undetected until he was rushed to the hospital on the day he was under Jacobazzi’s care.

You can read the full story, view the behind-the-scenes photo gallery and see the public documents and medical and scientific studies the students tracked down here.