December 16, 2014, by Steve Orr and Gary Craig, Democrat & Chronicle

In a ruling that could have statewide significance, a Monroe County Court judge has reversed the 2001 murder conviction of a Greece woman who was accused in the shaken-baby death of a toddler in her care.

In a decision released Tuesday morning, Judge James Piampiano ruled that the science used to convict René Bailey has changed significantly since her trial.

The ruling marks the first time a shaken-baby conviction has been overturned in New York on the basis of changing science. Lawyers have won a handful of reversals in other states in recent years.

“The newly discovered evidence in this case thus shows that there has been a compelling and consequential shift in mainstream medical opinion since the time of the defendant’s trial,” Piampiano wrote in his 28-page decision.

He concluded that the evidence was compelling enough “as to create a probability that it would change the result if a new trial was granted.”

A motion such as the one brought by Bailey’s attorney must show that new evidence has arisen that was not available at the time of the trial. Piampiano ruled that the changes in science constituted such new evidence.

“This would be the first time in New York that we have a head-on, squarely-facing decision saying that a major change in the science qualifies as newly discovered evidence,” said Bailey’s attorney, Adele Bernhard.

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