Tag Archives: Wrongful Conviction

Statement of the Innocence Network On Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma

Posted on December 15, 2019 by Lisa Dawson

December 2019, By The Innocence Network Shaken baby syndrome (SBS), now more frequently known as abusive head trauma (AHT), is a medico-legal diagnosis that has served as the basis in thousands of cases where children have been separated from their … Continue reading →

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Shaken Baby Syndrome Hypothesis Has Never Been Scientifically Validated

Posted on May 3, 2019 by Lisa Dawson

May 3, 2019, by Jenna Little, California Innocence Project For years we have known that the diagnosis of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is flawed. Yet too many innocent parents and caretakers remain wrongfully incarcerated and face wrongful convictions based on this false … Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Havard’s Story Told In ‘The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist,’ by Radley Balko and Tucker Carrington, with a foreword by John Grisham

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Lisa Dawson

A shocking and deeply reported account of the persistent plague of institutional racism and junk forensic science in our criminal justice system, and its devastating effect on innocent lives After two three-year-old girls were raped and murdered in rural Mississippi, … Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Havard Removed From Death Row, His Fight Continues

Posted on December 19, 2018 by Lisa Dawson

In 2002, Jeffrey Havard was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s six-month-old daughter, Chloe Britt.  In May 2016, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for Jeff’s case … Continue reading →

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Changed opinions, new sentence: Ex-death row inmate in Mississippi gets life in baby death

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Lisa Dawson

December 18, 2018, by Jeff Amy, Associated Press A judge ruled Monday that a Mississippi man should spend the rest of his life in prison after the state Supreme Court ordered a review of evidence that he shook an infant … Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Havard Has Been Removed From Death Row, But His Fight Is Far From Over

Posted on October 2, 2018 by Lisa Dawson

In this podcast, Bruce Fischer of Injustice Anywhere discusses the Jeffrey Havard case with advocate Lori Howard. In 2002, Jeffrey Havard was convicted and sentenced to death in the state of Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his … Continue reading →

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September 24, 2018: Murder evidence evaporated, but Jeffrey Havard still sits in a Mississippi prison

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Lisa Dawson

September 19, 2018, by Radley Balko, The Washington Post In 2002, Jeffrey Havard was convicted in Mississippi of sexually abusing and killing Chloe Britt, the 6-month-old daughter of Rebecca Britt, his girlfriend. He was sentenced to death. In the years … Continue reading →

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After 16 years, Jeffrey Havard is off Mississippi’s death row

Posted on September 14, 2018 by Lisa Dawson

September 14, 2018, by Jerry Mitchell, Clarion Ledger On Friday, Adams County Circuit Judge Forrest A. Johnson ordered Havard off death row after questions arose regarding whether 6-month-old Chloe Madison Britt actually died of shaken baby syndrome. “While the evidence … Continue reading →

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‘Shaken Baby Syndrome’ Diagnoses Discredited, Convictions Questioned

Posted on May 15, 2018 by Lisa Dawson

May 15, 2018, by Matthew Clarke, Criminal Legal News The term “junk science” does not quite cover the revolution in our understanding of the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. Medical experts now know that their belief in how to diagnose … Continue reading →

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Shaken Baby Syndrome As a Controversy in Wrongful Conviction Cases

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Lisa Dawson

Spring 2018, by Eza Bella Zakirova, Gale Academic OneFile Shaken Baby Syndrome (“SBS”) is a controversial medical diagnosis that has led to wrongful convictions. Since 2001, there have been about 2,000 cases where defendants were charged with SBS (1) and … Continue reading →

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Use of the Death Penalty for Killing a Child Victim

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Lisa Dawson

August 16, 2017, by Robert Brett Dunham, Death Penalty Information Center About half of all death penalty states include the murder of a child as an aggravating circumstance that can subject a defendant to the death penalty. As of January … Continue reading →

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Controversial medical examiner backs off ‘shaken baby’ claim in death penalty case

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Lisa Dawson

This week, the controversial former Mississippi medical examiner Steven Hayne testified at a hearing for Jeffrey Havard. Havard was convicted in 2002 of sexually assaulting and shaking to death Chloe Britt, the 6-month-old daughter of Havard’s live-in girlfriend. Havard has … Continue reading →

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The Defense’s Rebuttal to the State

Posted on January 4, 2016 by ♡Lori♡

The Defense’s Rebuttal to the State – Jeffrey Havard Continue reading →

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The Wrongful Conviction of Jeffrey Havard: What Happened In This Case?

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Lisa Dawson

In 2002, Jeffrey Havard was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s six-month-old daughter, Chloe Britt. In May 2016, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for Jeff’s case … Continue reading →

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Mississippi and New York Shaken Baby Convictions Tossed

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Lisa Dawson

December 17, 2014, Innocence Project Two Shaken-Baby convictions were overturned this week, with judges citing changing medical opinion regarding the controversial diagnosis.  On Monday, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Leevester Brown, who was convicted of murder … Continue reading →

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Judge reverses shaken-baby conviction

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Lisa Dawson

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 … Continue reading →

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Mississippi Supreme Court overturns conviction involving Steven Hayne, Shaken Baby Syndrome

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Lisa Dawson

December 16, 2014, by Radley Balko, The Washington Post In May and July of this year, I wrote about the case Brandon v. Mississippi, in which defendant Christopher Brandon was convicted of killing his girlfriend’s 15-month-old son. The case involved dubious testimony from the discredited, longtime … Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Havard Fights Wrongful Conviction and Death Sentence from Mississippi’s Death Row

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Lisa Dawson

Jeffrey Havard fights wrongful conviction and death sentence from Mississippi’s death row Continue reading →

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A Look at Exonerations in Shaken Baby Syndrome Cases

Posted on August 15, 2013 by Lisa Dawson

August 15, 2013, by Monica Alonzo, Phoenix New Times Drayton Witt of Tucson spent 10 years behind bars after being convicted in 2002 of shaking to death his girlfriend’s 4-month old son, Steven Holt.  And he likely would have served … Continue reading →

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Dr. Steven Hayne Clarifies His Opinion. He Does Not Support Prosecution’s Claims Against Jeffrey Havard. 

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Lisa Dawson

The prosecution argued that Chloe’s cause of death was Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), and the manner of death was a homicide. The prosecution’s case was built primarily on the testimony provided by Dr. Steven Hayne and the ER staff that … Continue reading →

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Levon Brooks, Time Served, 16 Years

Posted on June 4, 2008 by Lisa Dawson

June 2008, Innocence Project Levon Brooks served 16 years in Mississippi prisons for a 1990 rape and murder of a three-year-old girl he didn’t commit. In 2008, DNA testing cleared another man, Kennedy Brewer, who had been sentenced to death … Continue reading →

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Put an end to Mississippi autopsy misconduct

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Lisa Dawson

April 8, 2008, Innocence Project The Innocence Project and the Mississippi Innocence Project today formally asked officials to revoke the medical license of Dr. Steven Hayne, whose fraud and misconduct has led to an unknown number of wrongful convictions. Evidence … Continue reading →

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Kennedy Brewer: Time Served 15 Years

Posted on February 15, 2008 by Lisa Dawson

Innocence Project In 1992, Kennedy Brewer was arrested in Mississippi and accused of killing his girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter. After waiting in jail for three years for a trial to begin, Brewer was convicted of capital murder and sent to Mississippi’s … Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Havard’s Trial and the Rush to Judgment

Posted on January 1, 2003 by Lisa Dawson

Before reading Jeffrey Havard’s trial transcripts, accessible at the bottom of this page, it’s important to grasp the proceedings of his trial. Jeffrey Havard was deprived of a fair trial, lacking the chance to adequately defend himself due to the … Continue reading →

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