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Flawed Convictions

Flawed Convictions "Shaken Baby Syndrome" and the Inertia of Injustice

Author: Deborah Tuerkheimer
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
ISBN: 9780199913633
Published In: April 2014
Format: Hardback , 320 pages
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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This book provides the first account of "Shaken Baby Syndrome," raising the prospect that our criminal justice system cannot adequately vet science or protect innocence. In addition to the U.S., this book would also have special interest in the U.K., Canada, and Australia where high profile "Shaken Baby Syndrome" cases have emerged in the news in these countries.
The first book to survey the scientific, cultural, and legal history of "Shaken Baby Syndrome" from inception to formal dissolution
Exposes extraordinary failings in the criminal justice system's treatment of "Shaken Baby Syndrome" cases
Presents a new perspective on the need for the law to better respond to the scientific contingency
Provides an examination of "Shaken Baby Syndrome," its evolution in science and law, and explores the overlap of forensic medicine and criminal law to explain "science-dependent prosecution"
Proposes a path forward for criminal justice, while suggesting a restructuring of the law in order to deal with the uncertainty of scientific knowledge

The emergence of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) presents an object lesson in the dangers that lie at the intersection of science and criminal law. As often occurs in the context of scientific knowledge, understandings of SBS have evolved. We now know that the diagnostic triad alone does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an infant was abused, or that the last person with the baby was responsible for the babys condition. Nevertheless, our legal system has failed to absorb this new consensus. As a result, innocent parents and caregivers remain incarcerated and, perhaps more perplexingly, triad-only prosecutions continue even to this day.

Flawed Convictions: Shaken Baby Syndrome and the Inertia of Injustice is the first book to survey the scientific, cultural, and legal history of Shaken Baby Syndrome from inception to formal dissolution. It exposes extraordinary failings in the criminal justice systems treatment of what is, in essence, a medical diagnosis of murder. The story of SBS highlights fundamental inadequacies in the legal response to science dependent prosecution. A proposed restructuring of the law contends with the uncertainty of scientific knowledge.

Readership: Professors of law; professors of criminology, practicing lawyers, doctors, informed general readers

Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter One: A Medical Diagnosis of Crime
The Prosecution Paradigm
The Lure of Blame
Chapter Two: Complications
Scrutiny
The New SBS
Doubtful Convictions
Chapter Three: The Triad Endures
Today's SBS
Child Abuse Specialization
Prosecutorial Certainty
Staying Power
Chapter Four: Trials
Deciding Guilt
Case on Trial
Chapter Five: Missed Diagnosis
Diagnostic Error
A Legal Perspective on Differential Diagnosis
Anatomy of a Missed Diagnosis
Chapter Six: Confessions
Non-Confession Confessions
Unreliable Confessions
Inside the Interrogation Room
Chapter Seven: Fluky Justice
Acquittals
Dismissals
No-Arrest Cases
Chapter Eight: Guilty Pleas
A System in Flux
When Innocents Plead Guilty
The Meaning of Lopsided Pleas
Chapter Nine: The Limits of Judicial Review
Sufficiency Challenges
Collateral Attack
Chapter Ten: Reform
Improving Medical Outcomes
Upstream Innocence Protection
Downstream Innocence Protection
INDEX

Deborah Tuerkheimer is a Professor of Law at DePaul University College of Law. She earned her undergraduate degree from Harvard College and her law degree from Yale. After clerking for the Alaska Supreme Court, Professor Tuerkheimer served for five years as an Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney's Office, where she specialized in domestic violence and child abuse prosecution.