Md. court vacates shaken-baby conviction, cites new medical science

A man who served 18 years in prison for shaking his infant son to death had his conviction vacated this week when Maryland’s second highest court ruled the evolving science of shaken baby syndrome over the last two decades brings his guilt into serious question.

In a 3-0 decision, the Court of Special Appeals said the then-widely believed and damning medical testimony that led to Clarence Jones III’s murder conviction and 30-year prison sentence in 1999 has been largely contradicted by subsequent studies showing that babies can suffer the symptoms of SBS without having been shaken.

Jones was released from prison three years ago and has been on parole, according to counsel.

In its ruling, the appellate court granted Jones’ motion to vacate his conviction based on the “newly discovered evidence” – found via advances in medical science – that a baby suffering from the injury “constellation” of a subdural hematoma, brain swelling and retinal hemorrhaging has not necessarily been shaken.

Rather, the newer science holds that these three ailments can result from severe illness such as those from which Jones’ son suffered, the court held.

The Court of Special Appeals said its “unreported” decision – meaning it has no precedential value beyond Jones’ case — follows rulings in Massachusetts, New York and Wisconsin that similarly called for new trials for people convicted of having shaken their babies to death based on the prior medical evidence.

Jones has maintained that he softly shook 2-month old Collin when he was regurgitating baby formula, prompting Jones to take him to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore on Aug. 25, 1998. Collin — suffering from brain swelling, tissue damage and retinal hemorrhaging — died six days later, according to the court’s opinion.

In his short life, Collin had been treated for respiratory difficulty, a blood clotting disorder and pneumonia prior to his final trip to the hospital, the opinion stated.

Jones was convicted of second-degree murder and child abuse after a bench trial in Baltimore County Circuit Court in which the prosecution had presented expert medical testimony that the constellation of conditions arise only as the result of being violently shaken. The judge sentenced Jones to 30 years for murder and 15 years for abuse, to be served concurrently, according to the opinion.

Jones returned to the circuit court in 2018, citing the new scientific evidence as a reason for vacating his conviction. The circuit court rejected Jones’ bid, saying he had adequately presented medical testimony at the 1999 trial that Collins’ condition could have been caused by other factors.

Overturning the circuit court, the Court of Special Appeals said Jones’ medical experts did not have the benefit of the 20 years of post-trial studies to refute the prosecution’s medical testimony inextricably linking the injury constellation to shaken baby syndrome.

“We do not disagree that the treating physicians and expert witnesses engaged in a differential diagnosis process that considered Collin’s medical history in 1999 that was consistent with the medical literature of that time,” Judge James A. Kenney III wrote for the appellate court.

“Evidence that changes the 1999 understanding of those medical conditions in relation to the injuries and conditions associated with SBS qualifies as newly discovered,” Kenney added. “The current research shows that (i) subdural hematoma, (ii) retinal hemorrhage, and (iii) cerebral edema are attributable to a wide variety of both natural and accidental causes.”

This research “does not completely dispel the old evidence” linking the constellation to shaken baby syndrome,” Kenney wrote.

But “(w)e are persuaded that, if a factfinder, be it a jury or judge, would hear the competing professional medical opinions, there is a substantial or significant possibility of a different result” if Jones were retried, added Kenney, a retired judge siting by special assignment.

Kenney was joined in the opinion by Judges Christopher B. Kehoe and Michael W. Reed.

Jones’ appellate attorney, Donald P. Salzman, declined to comment on the court’s decision. Salzman is with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington.

The Maryland attorney general’s office declined to comment on the decision and whether it plans to seek review by the Court of Appeals.

The Court of Special Appeals issued its decision in Clarence Jones III v. State of Maryland, No. 87 September Term 2019.