SBS: Ohio: Tiffani Calise denied new trial

Ed Meyer
October 29, 2011

Summit County Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty has denied Tiffani Calise’s motion for a new trial in the 2010 baby-sitting death of a 23-month-old toddler.
When the case went to trial in June, four medical experts for the prosecution, led by Dr. R. Daryl Steiner, longtime director of the child abuse center at Akron Children’s Hospital, concluded that Aaliyah Ali suffered severe brain injuries from being violently shaken.
In a nine-page decision, McCarty concluded that the “forcefulness and consistency of the state’s medical testimony was sufficient to sustain a conviction in this case.”
She also noted that the jury weighed conflicting testimony by medical experts from both sides “and found the state’s experts credible.”
McCarty’s decision is not unexpected, because trial courts routinely reject such defense motions.
Calise, who turned 21 in June, said in her trial testimony, as well as in the 911 call she made the night of Aug. 9, 2010, that Aaliyah’s injuries occurred from a fall in her apartment bathtub.
She testified that the child fell and hit her head, just as Calise stepped away to grab a towel from a nearby linen closet.
After the June 15 verdicts were announced, McCarty imposed the mandatory sentence of life in prison without any chance of parole for 15 years.
Calise was sent to the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville on June 28, state prison records show.
She was convicted of murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.
Child too old?
In Calise’s motion for a new trial, defense attorney Bill Whitaker claimed the state’s own evidence showed a 23-month-old’s body has developed to such an extent that a child of that age cannot be shaken and incur the severe brain injuries alleged by the state’s expert witnesses.
A chart of shaken-baby deaths by range of age in the publication,Pediatrics: The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics shows the vast majority of shaken-baby deaths are in the range of 1 to 6 months.
In the range of 18 to 24 months, the Journal did not cite a single case of shaken-baby syndrome, Whitaker said.
The chart was introduced at Calise’s trial during Whitaker’s cross-examination of Steiner.
“It’s a shame that the motion for a new trial was denied. Tiffani Calise did absolutely nothing to hurt this child,” Whitaker said Friday in response to the judge’s decision.
“The medical testimony was flawed. The pediatric journal study shows it’s virtually impossible to hurt a 2-year-old in that manner, and there was credible evidence the child was injured prior to coming into Tiffani’s care.”
Calise has a new appellate attorney, Donald Malarcik, who has filed a notice of appeal in Akron’s 9th District Court of Appeals.
http://www.ohio.com/news/local-news/tiffani-calise-s-motion-for-new-trial-denied-in-babysitting-death-1.242496

SBS: Ohio: Dale Wright Convicted In Death Of 5-Month-Old Son

 June 30, 2011 WBNS-10TV

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — A man was convicted Wednesday in the death of his 5-month-old son.

Dale Wright faces a possible sentence of up to 15 years in prison, although no sentencing date was immediately set.
Authorities in Muskingum County determined that Wright's son, Dash, died from blunt force trauma consistent with shaken baby syndrome. They said the boy had suffered a skull fracture and retinal tears,
10TV's Kevin Landers reported.
The child was found unresponsive last August while in Wright's care.
Wright's defense attorneys argued that the boy's injuries could have been the result of an accident.
They said they planned to appeal the guilty verdict.
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/local/stories/2011/06/30/story-zanesville-man-convicted-son-death.html?sid=102

SBS: Ohio: Tiffani Calise, baby sitter, sentenced

Mike Waterhouse, and Bob Jones

AKRON, Ohio - A Summit County jury has found a baby sitter guilty in the death of a 23-month-old girl she was watching.
The guilty verdicts against Tiffani Calise, 20, includes convictions for murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangering.  It was announced just before 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Judge Alison McCarty sentenced Calise to 15 years to life in prison for the death of Aaliyah Ali.
Prior to sentencing, Aaliyah's mother, Gabrielle Moneypenny, faced Calise and said, "I don't know why you did this to her. You have ruined my life."
Moments later, a sobbing Calise said to the judge, "I would never harm a child.  I never hurt Aaliyah. For me to be found guilty on something I didn't do, it just shows how messed up all this can get."
She said she is planning to appeal the verdict.
At the time of the incident on Aug. 9, 2010, paramedics were called to Calise's apartment in Green for a report of a child unresponsive.  The toddler died a couple days later at Akron Children’s Hospital from critical injuries.
According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Department, Calise told deputies she found the child limp in the bath tub.  But authorities later found the child’s injuries were not consistent with that story.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Aaliyah died from shaken baby syndrome.  The defense argued that the injuries happened when the girl fell and hit her head in the bathtub.
"She was shaken by her (Calise).  Violently shaken by her and caused massive brain damage and it did not happen from a fall in the tub," said Greg Peacock, assistant Summit County prosecutor.
Moneypenny believes the verdict means justice for Aaliyah.
"She was the most perfect baby I could ever have imagined.  She's wonderful, always laughed, was always happy.  I love her so much.  I would do anything in the world to have her back," Moneypenny said.
Calise’s 2-year-old daughter was taken into the custody of family members following the murder charge.
Calise also delivered a second child while in custody for the murder.  That child is also staying with a relative, according to prosecutors.
http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/akron_canton_news/baby-sitter-found-guilty-of-murder-in-death-of-23-month-old-girl

SBS: Ohio: Tiffani Calise trial conflicting testimony

June 05,2011 :  Ed Meyer

For years, there was little controversy about what caused the severe head trauma linked to many child fatalities.
Prevailing medical opinion held that with no other outward signs of broken bones or abuse, there was one conclusion: ''shaken-baby syndrome'' — and a very rapid, if not instantaneous, incapacitation of the child.
Some recent scientific studies and research projects in this field, however, are leading forensic pathologists to other conclusions.
The debate will take place again, beginning Monday morning, in the murder trial of Tiffani D. Calise, 20, of Green.
Summit County Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty, who is hearing Calise's case, set up the impending courtroom drama six months ago with the declaration that testimony by both sides' forensic experts ''is going to be rather crucial.''
Prosecutors, backed by their Summit County medical experts, have accused Calise of causing fatal head injuries to 23-month-old Aaliyah Ali while baby-sitting Aug. 9.
Aaliyah died three days later at Akron Children's Hospital.
Deputy county Medical Examiner Dorothy E. Dean, who performed the autopsy, ruled the death a homicide from ''complications of blunt impact(s) to the head.''
Dean concluded that Aaliyah suffered severe brain injuries during an assault.
Her testimony will be supported by the Children's Hospital pediatric experts who treated Aaliyah and by Dr. R. Daryl Steiner, longtime director of the hospital's child abuse center.
Steiner has testified in many of the county's shaken-baby cases over the past two decades.
Laurie Cramer, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, declined to comment on a defense challenge to the state's position that shaken-baby injuries unmistakably caused Aaliyah's death.
''We are bound by ethical rules not to speak, even in general terms, about our evidence,'' Cramer said.
Calise's defense team, Bill Whitaker and Donald R. Hicks, also said it would be inappropriate to comment before the case goes to trial.
But their general position was established with the Aug. 9 emergency call, beginning at 11:44 a.m. and lasting nine minutes, that Calise made from her Mayfair Road apartment.
''Oh, please, help me. Oh, my God, I need a paramedic!'' Calise told the 911 dispatcher. She said Aaliyah had fallen in the bathtub and had bumped her head.
Calise said she didn't see the fall — she said she only heard a thud — because she had stepped away from the nearly empty tub to get a towel.
''I came back in there and she's all limp,'' a sobbing Calise told the dispatcher.
In support of Calise's story that she did not inflict the injuries, the defense has hired neurosurgeon Ronald H. Uscinski, who serves on the faculties of Georgetown University Hospital and George Washington University Medical Center in Maryland. He has 40 years of experience in the field.
Uscinski has filed his own forensic analysis of Aaliyah's injuries, concluding the child did not die from the effects of blunt-impact injuries to the brain.
Uscinski wrote that results of the hospital CT scans were consistent with brain-cell death from oxygen deprivation caused by a bread-like substance removed from Aaliyah's airway as doctors tried to insert a breathing tube in the emergency room.
After about only four minutes of complete oxygen deprivation, brain cells begin to die, Uscinski said.
Experts say such a theory cannot be easily dismissed as simply coming from the defense's ''hired gun.''
'Short-fall' injuries
Forensic pathologist John J. Plunkett of Minnesota, an outspoken critic of shaken-baby syndrome, wrote a 2001 report showing that those findings can be wrong.
Toddlers can and do die from the effects of what is known in forensic science as ''short-fall'' head injuries — similar to Calise's description of how Aaliyah was hurt — according to the report.
Plunkett's case study involved a 23-month-old girl, the same age as Aaliyah, who was playing on a plastic gym set in the garage at her home.
The child lost her balance on the top rail and fell, head first, onto a three-quarter-inch-thick plush carpet remnant spread out on the garage's concrete floor.
She was removed from life support 36 hours later.
Plunkett said hospital personnel, ''who were convinced without any question that this was shaken baby,'' reported the death to law enforcement.
Officers were preparing to arrest the child's father, Plunkett said, when the 23-month-old's grandmother intervened, saying she had videotaped the girl playing on the gym set.
''So the cops went over to the home and found the video camera, which she had dropped when the little girl hit the floor, and they played the videotape and went: 'Oh, my goodness!' '' Plunkett said.
The grandmother's tape showed that the child hit her head on the floor in an accidental fall from a height of 28 inches.
''Prior to publication of my [study] in 2001,'' Plunkett said, ''the pediatric community said, uniformly, that short-distance falls can't cause injuries or death. They didn't say it's rare. They said it doesn't occur. Period. And most forensic pathologists, not all, but most, said the same thing.''

The belief system that once was so firmly in place in the medical community was based on the so-called ''triad'' of sure-fire indicators that a child had been violently shaken to death.
Patrick E. Lantz, professor of forensic pathology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, who said he has conducted more than 1,100 autopsies in his career, said those three signs are swelling of the brain, bleeding over the surface of the brain and hemorrhaging of the retinas.
''It has been assumed for the last 20 to 30 years that [this] combination was fairly diagnostic in little children of shaking or shaking impact, and a lot of [experts] would say it would only occur in shaking or shaking impact or abusive head trauma,'' he said.
But some forensic studies and research, such as that by Plunkett and Lantz, have shown that this triad of signs, particularly retinal hemorrhaging, does not always mean shaken baby syndrome.
An analytical paper from Lantz, scheduled to be published this fall in the Journal of Forensic Science, shows how retinal hemorrhaging can occur from a short fall.
The baby in Lantz's case had fallen down a section of six to seven carpeted steps, suffering bleeding on the surface of the brain and severe retinal hemorrhaging.
''It would have looked just like shaken-baby syndrome or abusive head trauma, except there were three people who were at the home and all three gave the same account of what actually happened,'' Lantz said.
Legitimate challenges to the conclusion of shaken baby syndrome are becoming more common.
''More and more people are realizing that other things can actually cause this triad [of injuries], and if people are basing it on just the triad and nothing else, it's unsafe without more evidence,'' Lantz said.
Calise is charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and two counts of felony child endangering. She has been held at the county jail in lieu of a $500,000 10 percent cash bond since her Aug. 11 arrest.

Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com. http://www.ohio.com/news/123178573.html

SBS: Ohio: David Darst guilty at repeat trial

Ed Gebert : June 3 2011
On Thursday, a jury of eight men and four women accomplished what a jury three months earlier could not do -- reach a verdict in the case against David A. Darst. The first trial ended when jurors could not agree on whether or not the Van Wert man caused major injuries to his then nine-week-old son back in April of 2010. This time after more than six hours of deliberations, the 12 on the panel reached a guilty verdict against Darst on the charge of second-degree felony child endangering.
"I'm happy," stated Assistant Van Wert County Prosecutor Eva Yarger after the verdict was read. "I think this was the right verdict, and I think justice was served. I believed in this case, which is why I tried it again."The prosecution accused Darst of causing a serious injury to the infant when he watched the baby alone on April 22, 2010. Young Logan Darst was finally taken to the Van Wert County Hospital emergency room two days later when he was apparently having some sort of seizures. The baby was subsequently transferred to Dayton Children's Hospital where medical personnel noticed two subdural hematomas, or brain bleeds. The child was also diagnosed with retinal hemorrhages in both eyes and a brain injury from lack of oxygen. The doctors in Dayton gave the case a high probability of being Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS).
In his defense, Darst claimed that the only thing that happened to his son on the 22nd was that the child had slipped from his grasp while on the arm of an upholstered chair. Darst stated that he managed to trap the baby against the arm of the chair so he would not fall, causing three small bruises on the infant's chest. These bruises were not enough to cause injuries common to SBS. On the witness stand, Darst even admitted that the baby's head did not hit the arm of the chair or the floor during that incident.
While the prosecution pointed to Darst as the child's caretaker when the brain injuries occurred, both Darst and his wife claimed the real damage was done the next evening while the couple was at work and Logan was being watched by relatives. However, statements made to investigators placed a big change in the baby's behavior after the child was left with his father. In testimony, both parents made the claim that the baby was actually fine during that day and that earlier statements were incorrect.
The baby was dismissed from Dayton Children's Hospital on April 28, 2010 into foster care. In August, he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor near his spinal cord. Logan Darst died of cancer in January at the age of 11 months. Doctors found there was no correlation between the SBS injuries and the cancer.One of the toughest parts of the trial for jury members was wading through the testimony from doctors involved in the case. Yarger said she was deliberate about making sure that evidence was presented clearly in the retrial. "I think I approached the medical testimony differently," she disclosed. "I tried to make it simpler and on a more understandable level. I've dealt with these things and been to seminars and been to training and I forget that ordinary people may not 'get it' the first time."
The major chore for jurors was to figure out who to believe when conflicting testimony was given. While other relatives gave one side of the story, the Darsts frequently denied that version, offering their own and even calling the others 'liars' when confronted by the differing stories. As for Yarger, she said simply that the decision to retry the case after the March mistrial was because she knew which side to believe.
"I believed [Darst] did it, and I felt it was important to at least try again," she declared." I honestly, in my heart, knew he did it... I think it is justice for Logan. I think it's important in the future. If the defendant has any other children, this is now on his record. That was our concern all along, any future children, because his wife believed him. If they were going to have more children, that was always going to be a concern."
Judge Sumner Walters presided over the three-day trial in Van Wert County Court of Common Pleas. With the conviction, Darst now faces a June 30 sentencing hearing. He faces from two to eight years in prison and a maximum $15,000 fine.

SBS: Ohio: Jennifer Campbell indicted for murder

By Ally Kraemer :  May 25, 2011

Jennifer M. Campbell was indicted Tuesday for murder and other charges in the death of Ohio State men's lacrosse assistant coach Dave Dobbins' infant daughter, Colleen Dobbins, according to court documents.
Campbell faces one count each of murder, involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault, as well as two counts of child endangerment, according to court documents.
Campbell was served a warrant for her arrest Tuesday at her Columbus residence. Several media reports indicated Campbell turned herself in Tuesday afternoon.
Campbell was arraigned Wednesday afternoon and bond was set at $140,000, according to the Franklin County Clerk of Courts registry. The court ruled she is not to have contact with the Dobbins family or any children, except her own daughter.
As of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Campbell was still in custody, sheriff deputies at the Franklin County Correction Center confirmed to The Lantern.
There was no answer at a phone number listed under Campbell's name Wednesday evening.
The Franklin County Coroner reported 5-month-old Colleen was taken by ambulance from Campbell's Columbus home March 22 after Campbell reported she was bouncing the crying baby on her knee when Colleen became unresponsive.
The coroner ruled that Colleen suffered a traumatic brain injury and that her death on March 24 was a homicide.
Sgt. Steven Little, of the Columbus Division of Police Homicide Squad, told local media Colleen's injuries are consistent with shaken-baby syndrome.
Little did not immediately return phone calls for comment Wednesday evening.
The Dobbins family donated several of Colleen's organs.
The men's lacrosse players honored the Dobbins family's organ donations by wearing green stripes on their socks during their Showdown in the 'Shoe on April 23.
Representatives from the men's lacrosse program declined to comment.
The Dobbins' attorney, Mark Collins, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday evening.
<http://www.thelantern.com/sports/babysitter-indicted-for-murder-of-ohio-state-men-s-lacrosse-coach-s-infant-daughter-1.2256501>

SBS: Ohio: Murder indictment returned against Jennifer Campbell (sitter) in death of baby

May 25, 2011  John Futty  jfutty@dispatch.com

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Five-month-old Colleen Dobbins suffered injuries consistent with shaken-baby syndrome, a Columbus police sergeant said.

A 29-year-old baby sitter was indicted on a charge of murder yesterday in the death of the 5-month-old daughter of an Ohio State lacrosse coach.

Jennifer M. Campbell also faces one count each of involuntary manslaughter and felonious assault and two counts of child endangering.
The child, Colleen Dobbins, died March 23 after she was taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital from Campbell's apartment, police said.
Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak ruled the case a homicide, saying an autopsy determined the baby died of a traumatic brain injury. A Columbus police homicide sergeant said Colleen sustained a retinal hemorrhage that was consistent with shaken-baby syndrome.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/05/25/murder-indictment-returned-against-sitter-in-death-of-baby.html?sid=101

SBS: OHIO: John Jones sentenced

Dave Nethers  May 12, 2011

 

Summit County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove on Thursday sentenced John Jones to 15 years to life in prison for the murder of his five-month-old daughter, Jada Ruiz.
Jones, 18, was convicted by a jury after a week long trial in which they heard expert testimony that the child suffered irreversable brain damage and fractures.
Prosecutors said the fatal injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, and that Jones inflicted them while he was watching the infant in March 2010.
Jones' attorneys on Thursday initially asked Judge Cosgrove for a new trial, arguing that the guilty verdict was "not sustained by sufficient evidence."
Judge Cosgove denied the motion saying "this trial involved medical testimony regarding numerous fractures to Jada Ruiz Jones, bilateral hemmhorages behind her eyes, she had bi-lateral breakage of the bones."
"From the time this child was born, until she died, quite frankly, her life must have been a living hell. She must have been in pain every day," the judge continued.
During trial, defense attorneys questioned whether the baby's mother, Deja Ruiz, could have been responsible for Jada's death, inflicting the injuries before she left the home more than an hour before Jones called for help.
At sentencing, Judge Cosgrove rejected that argument.
"It is impossible, according to medical testimony and according to common sense, that you can sustain these life threatening injuries causing the baby to be unresponsive, not breathing, have no pulse, when EMS arrived...and according to some testimony presented by the defense, that the baby had been in that state for an hour," Cosgrove concluded
When asked to give a statement for himself on Thursday, Jones told the court "I didn't do nothing wrong, and that's the honest to God truth. And whether you believe me or not, I shouldn't be the one standing here."
Throughout the sentencing, Deja Ruiz sat quietly in the back of the courtroom surrounded by family and friends.
Her mother, JoNetta Ruiz, attempted to read a victim impact statement she had written but was too emotional. The statement was read instead by a victim advocate.
After sentencing, JoNetta Ruiz told Fox 8 News that all she really wanted to hear in court from Jones was an apology.
"I prayed for an apology, we asked for forgiveness but it never came out of his mouth," Ruiz said.
For several months after the injury, Jada Ruiz was kept alive on life support while her father and mother battled over whether or not it should be discontinued.
Jones had already been charged with felonious assault. Attorneys for Deja Ruiz argued that Jones did not want the infant to remain on life support for her own well being, but because he knew if she died he could be charged with murder.
In July, a judge ruled the life support should be discontinued.
JoNetta Ruiz said after sentencing that the four months during which it became clear the baby was unable to recover were difficult.
"It was hard," she said. "To have to see her every day like that, it's a hurting feeling, especially when you know that conditions were getting worse they were not getting better."
"It was just too much to handle. I feel deep in my heart that we made the right decision as a family for Jada," JoNetta said.
Jones, who was 17 at the time of Jada's death, was initially charged as a juvenile.
Prosecutor Teri Burnside said on Thursday that trying him for the murder as an adult was the right thing to do.
"As I told the jury in closing arguments, this is a sad situation all the way around," Burnside told Fox 8 News after sentencing. "But thankfully, the jury came back and gave Jada, that little baby, some justice."
The sentence means Jones will not be eligible for parole until after he spends at least 15 years in prison, with credit for the 14 months he has already served.
After that, it is still possible he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
His grandmother, Christine Billings, was also in court for the sentencing. She told Fox 8 News afterward that she still believes in her grandson and his innocence.
"We are going to appeal to the highest court in this land, until someone can tell me that my grandson is not innocent, somebody can prove to me that my grandson is guilty, and no one had proven it yet," said Billings

http://www.fox8.com/news/akroncanton/wjw-news-akron-father-sentenced-for-infant-murder,0,3541640.story

SBS: Ohio: John Wilbert Jones' expert medical witness

Ed Meyer :  May 06, 2011
The lead detective in the Summit County murder trial of 18-year-old John Wilbert Jones unequivocally told the jury Friday that the defense theory on the case was wrong.
Gary Shadie, the Akron police detective who investigated the fatal head injuries to the defendant's 6-month-old daughter, Jada Ruiz Jones, based his testimony on the case timeline.
Both sides have agreed that Jada's mother, Deja Ruiz, the 19-year-old former girlfriend of Jones, left her Springdale Drive apartment and caught a bus for school at 8:05 on the morning of March 19, 2010.
A recorded 911 call, in which Jones told police he saw Ruiz off then awoke to find Jada was not breathing, began at 9:44 a.m.
At that time, Jones alone was caring for Jada, her twin sister and their 2-year-old brother in the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment.
Based on the Akron police investigative reports, as well as input from all of the doctors who treated Jada's head injuries that day at Akron Children's Hospital, Shadie told the jury that the effects of those injuries would have rendered her unconscious within ''a very narrow window.''
That period of time, Shadie testified, would have been ''immediately to within 30 minutes.''
''There was no possible way that Deja could have caused the injuries prior to her leaving at the agreed upon time, which they both said was 8 o'clock in the morning,'' Shadie testified.
He said that based on input from the doctors, Jada was a victim of shaken baby syndrome.
Lead defense counsel Joseph F. Gorman told the 30-member jury pool Tuesday morning — hours before the final panel was chosen — that the defense's position was that Deja Ruiz inflicted the injuries before leaving for school.
Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove is hearing the case. Jury instructions and closing arguments are scheduled for Monday morning.
Jones, who was 17 at the time of Jada's injuries, had his case bound over to adult court months after the incident. He was indicted Nov. 2 on two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault and three felony counts of child endangering.
The murder charges were filed after Jada was removed from life support and pronounced dead July 16.
Children's Hospital doctors who treated Jada testified previously that, in addition to her head injuries, she had retinal detachments, fractures of the right and left upper arm, right thigh and lower right leg, left thigh and lower left leg and a spinal injury.
After the state rested Friday, the defense challenged the analysis of the head injuries by local authorities with lengthy testimony by Dr. Jonathan L. Arden, a veteran forensic pathologist from McLean, Va.
Arden received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1980. He did his residency at New York University Medical Center, later served as an assistant medical examiner for the state of Delaware and worked in the New York City medical examiner's office for nine years, eventually rising to a position there of second in command.
He was on the witness stand for more than three hours.
Arden testified that Jada had two types of head trauma — both collections of blood on the brain known in medical terms as hematomas.
He told the jury one was an ''acute,'' or fresh hematoma, which could have occurred up to one week before Jada's brain scans at Children's Hospital.
The other was a ''sub-acute,'' or older hematoma, which was in the middle stages of healing and could have occurred from one to three weeks before the hospital brain scans, Arden said.
Arden said he strongly disagreed with the opinions of the local medical authorities that the effects of Jada's head injuries would have left her unconscious immediately.
He told the jury he had the experience of 2,300 to 2,400 forensic autopsies during his long career and at least 400 pediatric autopsies.
If Jones is convicted of either of the murder charges, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
http://www.ohio.com/news/121418709.html

SBS: Ohio: John Wilbert Jones convicted of murder

Ed Meyer :, May 11, 2011
A Summit County jury has convicted an 18-year-old Akron man of one count of murder and one count of child endangering in the 2010 death of his infant daughter, Jada Ruiz Jones.
After 12 1/2 hours of jury deliberations over two days, Common Pleas Judge Patricia Cosgrove announced the verdicts Tuesday evening.
John Wilbert Jones, the defendant, was leaning over the defense table, his head down, as the verdicts were read at 6:20 p.m.
Moments later, he raised his head with tears running from his eyes, but he said nothing.
Jones is scheduled to be sentenced, facing the maximum penalty of life in prison, at 8:15 a.m. Thursday.
There was a split decision in the six-count indictment.
Jones was found not guilty of the first count of murder as a proximate result of committing or attempting to commit felonious assault. He also was found not guilty of a separate charge of felonious assault in connection with Jada's injuries.
Minutes after the verdicts were read, a sister of Jones bolted the courtroom from her seat in the front row of the public gallery and could be heard shouting: ''I swear to God, I'm going to kill that bitch,'' an apparent reference to Deja Ruiz, Jada's mother.
Ruiz was seated in the third row of the gallery and declined to comment on the case or the outburst.
''They've been threatening like that the whole time,'' an uncle of Ruiz's, Jody Tucker, of Akron, said afterward.
Outside of court, Tucker spoke for his niece and other members of the family, saying he was relieved by the verdict.
''God works in his way,'' Tucker said. ''If he would have just confessed in the beginning,'' he added, referring to John Jones, ''it might have been a little easier for him.''
Tucker said the case put the family ''through hell and back''' because of defense claims that Ruiz inflicted the fatal injuries on Jada.
The lead government counsel, Summit County Assistant Prosecutor Teri Burnside, told the panel in Monday's closing arguments that Jada, who was 6 months old, suffered irreversible brain injuries at the hands of her father.
Jada was pronounced dead July 16 at Akron Children's Hospital. She never regained consciousness over four months.
Burnside said Jada was a victim of shaken baby syndrome, and Jones was the perpetrator.
''He did what we know you should never do with a little baby. He shakes and shakes that baby and she finally stops crying, but she never cries again,'' Burnside told jurors.
The incident occurred on the morning of March 19, 2010, at the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority apartment of Deja Ruiz, who was Jones' former girlfriend.
He had spent the night there and was caring for Jada, her twin sister, Jazmine, and their 2-year-old brother after Ruiz, then 19, left to catch a bus for school at 8:05 a.m.
 Jones made the 911 call, reporting that Jada was not breathing, at 9:44 a.m.
The criminal case began in Summit County Juvenile Court last spring following Jones' March 31 arrest, when he was 17.
He was charged later as an adult with two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault in connection with the injuries to Jada and her twin, Jazmine, and additional counts of felony child endangering in connection with the twins.
The jury found Jones not guilty of both charges related to Jazmine.
Defense attorney Joseph F. Gorman said he was disappointed by the verdicts but respected the process.
''I'm not sure how you arrive at that decision,'' Gorman said. ''In my mind, he either committed these acts against the baby, or he didn't.
''I can't quite wrap my mind around the verdict, but once again, you have to respect it. John will have another day in court with an appeal, and we'll hope for the best in that regard.''
Gorman spent his full allotment of time in court Monday, 45 minutes, on his closing argument.
A good deal of it was spent informing jurors about the legal definition of the prosecution's task in the U.S. criminal justice system — proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
''Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is proof of such character,'' Gorman told the panel, ''that an ordinary person would be willing to rely and act upon it in the most important of his or her own affairs.''
He then provided a compelling example from this case.
Jada's doctors, in their decision to remove the child from life support after four months, ''had to be convinced, before they pull the plug, that there's no coming back, that Jada's never going to come back,'' Gorman said. ''That, God forbid, in our own lives, is a decision we might have to make with one of our family members: Should we pull the plug? That's a terrible, heavy decision,'' Gorman said.
If that type of proof does not exist, he told the jury, the verdict must be not guilty.
One of Gorman's principal arguments that Jones' guilt was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt was the acknowledgment by the lead Akron police detective, Gary Shadie, that Ruiz was also initially a suspect.
However, Gorman pointed out, there were no written reports from what were believed to be the earliest interviews of Ruiz by the juvenile detective unit.
Gorman told the jury no report exists from the first interview of Ruiz, believed to be at the hospital on the day of the incident. Shadie testified that he thought another detective was supposed to have done it, but to this day is not certain that it ever was.
Ruiz also testified that she and her mother went to Akron police headquarters for an interview one or two days after the incident, but no report was ever produced by the detective who did that interview either, Gorman said.
''Shocking,'' he told the jury, using only that word to describe the possible police oversights.
A seventh count in the indictment, for felony child endangering, was dismissed by prosecution motion before the trial began.

---

Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.

http://www.ohio.com/news/121618944.html

 

AHT: Ohio: Cleveland and Pittsburgh statistics

Madonna Behen April 13 2011

Recession-related stress may have triggered an alarming increase in non-accidental head injuries among infants, new research suggests.

 The number of babies hospitalized for non-accidental head trauma -- a form of child abuse previously known as shaken baby syndrome -- doubled during the recent recession, according to the study by researchers at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.

"The reasons for why this is happening are beyond the scope of our study, but it may be that more parents are stressed to the breaking point because of economic problems like unemployment and foreclosures," said lead author Mary I. Huang, a fourth-year medical student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
"In many cases, when people are forced to leave their homes, they may be moving in with relatives who might not have as much of a vested interest in taking care of infants," added Huang, who is scheduled to present the paper Wednesday at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons' meeting in Denver. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The new findings echo a 2010 study by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. That paper evaluated cases of non-accidental head injury among infants and young children from 2004 through 2009 in four urban children's hospitals. The researchers found almost twice as many cases of abusive head trauma per month in the recession period -- starting in December 2007 -- compared with the period prior to the recession.
The idea for the study came to Huang during her third-year rotation on the pediatric neurosurgery service. "Some of the doctors mentioned that we'd been seeing a lot of non-accidental head trauma, and they wondered if it could have anything to do with the recession," Huang said. "I thought this would be a great question to explore using our trauma registry."
Huang and her colleagues reviewed the hospital's database for cases of non-accidental head trauma (NAHT) in children up to 2 years old from December 2001 through June 2010. During that time, 639 infants under the age of 2 were admitted for traumatic injuries, and 93 of the cases were classified as NAHT.
A total of 43 cases of NAHT occurred in the 31 months of the recession period (December 2007 through June 2010), compared with 50 cases during the 72 months of the non-recession period (December 2001 through November 2007), which represented a 101 percent increase.
Significantly more serious injuries were also noted during the recession, resulting in more deaths and cases of severe brain injury, the research team found.
"We really weren't expecting to see such a big increase," Huang noted. "It was pretty startling for all of us."
During the recession, overall traumas decreased by 8.2 percent, and accidental infant head traumas went down 3.5 percent, but the proportion of months in which at least one infant was admitted for NAHT was 58 percent greater than during the non-recession period.
Pediatric care providers need to be aware of the rise in child abuse during economic downturns and screen appropriately, the authors said.
Dr. Robert Block, professor and chair of pediatrics at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, said the study findings weren't surprising.
"We know that times of increased stress may be more dangerous for babies," he said, "and so it makes sense that in a recession, where there are all kinds of very stressful situations, we would see an uptick in these kinds of injuries."
Block, who is president-elect of the American Academy of Pediatrics, speculated that cuts to social services programs in recent years may have also been a factor.
"Cutting services that support children and families is a terribly wrong-headed move," said Block, "because the babies who are affected, if they survive, will have lifelong consequences as a result of this violent abuse."
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/04/13/abusive-head-trauma-in-infants-doubled-during-recession-study

SBS: Ohio: Jeremiah Gillespie charged

Heath man suspected of injuring infant: Jeremiah J. Gillespie, 19, was charged Monday with assault, a second-degree felony, after he reportedly seriously injured Gage Koonts, the infant he was babysitting.

 Written by Jessie Balmert

 Gillespie

HEATH -- A 4-month-old boy was in critical condition Monday at Children's Hospital with symptoms of shaken baby syndrome after his caretaker reportedly assaulted him twice, a Heath police sergeant said.
Jeremiah J. Gillespie, 19, was charged Monday with assault, a second-degree felony, after he was suspected of seriously injuring Gage Koonts, the infant he was baby-sitting.
The Heath Fire Department took Gage to Licking Memorial Hospital from Gillespie's apartment after he called 911 at 12:49 p.m. Friday.
"I have a baby here that has very troubled breathing," Gillespie told the 911 dispatcher.
The infant's eyes would not open and he was limp, Gillespie said.
From LMH, Gage was taken to Children's Hospital, where doctors determined bleeding on his brain was not the result of an accident, according to Licking County Municipal Court records.
Gillespie and Gage were alone in his apartment when the baby was injured, Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt said. The mother was at work, he added.
Gillespie was interviewed by Heath police and gave a version of events, Oswalt said, declining to elaborate.
"I don't feel like I did anything," Gillespie said at a hearing Monday.
Gage was taken to LMH three days earlier because he was sick and vomiting, Heath Detective Sgt. Craig Black said.
Gage was diagnosed with the flu at the time, but detectives now believe the symptoms were caused by abuse, Black said.
Licking County Municipal Court Judge David Stansbury set bond at $500,000 and ordered Gillespie to have no contact with the infant or unsupervised contact with anyone younger than 18. Police had requested a $250,000 bond.
The case then will be reviewed by a Licking County grand jury for possible indictment. Additional charges of child endangering are being considered.

Jessie Balmert can be reached at (740) 328-8548 or jbalmert@newarkadvocate.com.
http://www.coshoctontribune.com/article/BF/20110329/NEWS01/103290302/0/SPORTS/Heath-man-accused-critically-injuring-infant?odyssey=nav%7Chead

SIDS: Ohio:Overlying

Doug Staley  Feb 18, 2011

MASSILLON —

The death of a 6-month-old infant this week appears to have been accidental, according to authorities.
The infant, who was sleeping with his father, apparently died after his father rolled on top of him, according to Massillon police detective Bobby Grizzard. An official ruling is not expected until toxicology and microscopic tests are completed in a couple of weeks, according to the Stark County Coroner’s Office.
The infant was positioned between his parents, Grizzard said.
“They (parents) are saying the baby may have moved, which led to the father laying on the baby,” Grizzard said.
The infant was found unresponsive Tuesday after paramedics were dispatched . The boy was pronounced dead at 2:51 p.m. at Affinity Medical Center. An autopsy performed Wednesday by the Coroner’s Office did not reveal any signs of trauma.
The death is the second in the last six months in Massillon due to a child sleeping with their parents. A 26-day-old infant died Nov. 9 after paramedics were called to a residence, the Coroner’s Office reported. In that incident, a mother was holding her baby when she rolled over in bed, according to Grizzard. The death was ruled accidental.
The majority of infant deaths investigated by the Coroner’s Office are caused by parents sleeping with their children, according to an office spokeswoman. Last year, three infants died as a result of co-sleeping.
Since 2000, 48 sleep-related deaths have been reported in Stark. Most of the deaths were due to sudden infant death syndrome or asphyxia, according to the county health department. However, an unsafe sleeping environment could not be ruled out in some cases in which the manner of death could not be determined.
http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x449516261/Authorities-say-infant-deaths-appears-accidental

SBS: OHIO: John and Yolanda Brown

Feb.23, 2011
McCONNELSVILLE -- John Brown Jr. and his wife, Yolanda Baker Brown, were sentenced to five years probation today in Morgan County Common Pleas Court after pleading guilty to failing to provide for a functionally impaired person.
The couple, who now live in Zanesville, came to the attention of law enforcement after Yolanda's 8-year-son suffered seizures while bathing at the Browns' McConnelsville home in 2005.

The child, who has various physical and mental disabilities and uses a wheelchair, was transported to Genesis HealthCare System in Zanesville, and then taken to Children's Hospital in Columbus. It was there doctors determined the child has shaken baby syndrome and a blood clot in his brain had exploded.
http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20110223/NEWS01/110223014

SBS: Ohio: Timothy White

February 19, 2011 By Elise Franco

Youngstown

An Austintown man accused of abusing his ex-girlfriend’s baby stood in silence as he was sentenced to four years in prison for child endangering.
Timothy White, 30, was sentenced Friday for the second-degree felony by Judge Lou A D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The charge stemmed from injuries to the now 3-year-old girl sustained in November 2009 while in White’s care.
The child, whose name was never made public by police, suffered brain damage, a broken rib, stomach bleeds, damage to her liver and adrenal glands, second- degree burns on her genitals, foot and finger — and hemorrhaging in one eye that an Austintown detective previously said is a potential sign of shaken- baby syndrome.
White’s four-year sen-tence will be served in a state prison. White will be credited for the 460 days he’s already served in the Mahoning County jail and will be on parole for three years after his prison release, Judge D’Apolito said.
He originally was charged with three counts of felony child endangering and felonious assault, which was reduced to one charge of child endangering in a plea agreement made in December 2010.
Before White was sentenced, the girl’s mother, Jacqueline Bagshaw, said White’s sentence “doesn’t touch the punishment this monster deserves. ... No time is enough for what he has done.”
She addressed the court with an emotional letter, noting she and her daughter have spent months trying to work through the “pain this so-called human being put us through.”
Her daughter, who requires special care as a result of her injuries, is a different child, Bagshaw said.
She “will never be the little girl she was born to be,” she said. “She is changed, and I notice it every day.”
White’s attorney Mark Lavelle said though what happened to Bagshaw’s child was a “sad and emotional situation,” he didn’t believe the prosecution had enough evidence to convict had the matter gone to trial.
“I was determined that [White] should try this case,” Lavelle said. “As far as the torture and the heinous things he’s accused of, it’s just not held up by the evidence.”
White, who also addressed the judge, didn’t admit to the crimes but said he would take responsibility since the child was left in his care.
“I was taught to take responsibility for my actions,” he said.
Bagshaw said what she fears the most is having to explain the burn scars to her child. She said no amount of jail time will give her daughter’s normal life back.
http://www.vindy.com/news/2011/feb/19/man-gets-4-years-for-child-endangering/

SBS: Ohio: Tiffani Calise

AKRON, OH (WOIO) - A pregnant woman in jail for murdering a toddler she was babysitting is asking to have her bond lowered so she can leave jail to give birth.

Tiffani Calise is accused of killing little Aaliyah Ali last August at Briarwood Apartments in Green.

Calise's attorneys say they plan on fighting the ruling that the cause of death was Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Calise maintains she left the little girl in the tub for just a few minutes, and the child fell and hit her head.

Calise is pregnant with her second child and remains locked up at the Summit County Justice Center on a half million dollar bond.

The judge has not yet ruled on her attorney's request to lower the bond.

Calise's trial is scheduled to begin April 11th.

http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=14042004

SBS: OHIO: Matthew Boivin sentenced

A Glouster man was sentenced to nearly five years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to three felonies and a misdemeanor last month.

Matthew Boivin, 22, was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison for felonious assault, domestic violence and two counts of endangering children.

The charges stemmed from an incident in March when Boivin caused serious physical harm to his 2-month-old son and caused or attempted to cause physical harm to his wife, according to court documents.

His son, now 1 year old, suffered shaken baby syndrome with a retinol hemorrhage and brain contusions resulting in partial paralysis and blindness, according to the documents.

Boivin pleaded guilty to the four charges as part of an agreement with the Athens County Prosecutor's Office. He could have been sentenced to a maximum of 17 years and six months in prison and pay a maximum fine of $36,000, according to the agreement. Four years and 11 months was the suggested sentence.

Boivin was sentenced to four years in prison for felonious assault and one count of endangering children, 11 months for domestic violence and six months for the second count of endangering children, according to court documents.

The six-month charge will run concurrent to the other charges. Boivin will spend four years and 11 months in prison. He will be given credit for the 305 days already spend in the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, according to court documents.

He could be released early on good time credit. After his release, he will be on probation for three years. He could be released Dec. 21, 2012, with a favorable report from the warden.

If he were convicted at a trial, Boivin could have spent a maximum of 18 years in prison and paid a maximum fine of $36,000, according to the Ohio Revised Code.

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=33717

SBS: Ohio: Randy Allen Wylie

February 12, 2011

LISBON - More time has been granted with a new trial date for an East Palestine man accused of seriously injuring a 4-month-old child in 2009.
Randy Allen Wylie, 25, of 415 Alice St., appeared Friday for a status conference in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court before Judge Scott Washam, who agreed to reset the trial date to May 23. The trial had been scheduled to begin Monday.
A new status hearing has been set for 10 a.m. May 20.
The county grand jury charged Wylie with endangering children, a second-degree felony which carries a possible sentence of two to eight years in prison upon conviction.
The bill of particulars, which outlines the conduct of the offense in the indictment, alleged Wylie "did recklessly abuse" the child on Sept. 1, 2009, resulting in the child suffering serious physical harm with injury to brain tissue and causing the child to suffer "a severe seizure disorder."
County assistant Prosecutor Tim McNicol said previously that Wylie was the child's caregiver at the time and "the child suffered injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome." The incident occurred in East Palestine, with the victim receiving treatment at Akron Children's Hospital. Shaken baby syndrome is defined as a form of child abuse which causes injury when an infant or small child is violently shaken, according to Wikipedia.
McNicol said the victim in this case "has some serious neurological problems as a result of the injury and may have some permanent disability."
The defense requested the continuance for a later trial date. According to McNicol, the defense retained an expert to review the medical records in the case.
http://www.reviewonline.com/page/content.detail/id/540842/Wylie-child-endangerment-trial-postponed.html?nav=5188

SBS: West Virginia: Gary Lee Hensley

Prestonsburg Police say a man arrested on child abuse charges turns out to be a fugitive from Ohio.

35 year old Gary Lee Hensley is accused of severely beating his own baby.

Police discovered he allegedly fled from custody in Ohio before moving to Floyd County.

Prestonsburg Police say doctors at Highlands Regional Medical Center called officers to the hospital Saturday night after an ambulance brought in a seven week old baby.

“There were injuries that would range from fractures to bleeding around the brain. It's an obvious sign of shaken baby syndrome,” Detective Steve Little said.

Investigators questioned the parents, 30 year old Rachel Ousley and 35 year old Gary Hensley and charged them in connection with alleged abuse. Hensley is facing first degree assault charges. When officers arrested him, they discovered he is a wanted fugitive from Ohio.

“My indication was he walked away from a halfway house there,” Detective Little said.

Gary Hensley turned down our request for a jailhouse interview. He is being held at the detention center on a half million dollar bond.

Investigators say the seven week old baby boy has broken legs and severe head trauma. He is now at Cabell-Huntington Hospital in West Virginia.

Police say the child is now in social services custody.

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/Man_arrested_on_child_abuse_charges_is_a_fugitive_from_Ohio_113305599.html

SBS: Ohio: Matthew Boivin

 January 4, 2011

A defense expert could cast some doubt on allegations that a man from The Plains caused shaken baby syndrome in his infant son.

Matthew Boivin, 22, was indicted by an Athens County grand jury last spring on charges of felonious assault, felony domestic violence and two counts of endangering children, one a felony. His trial is scheduled for Feb. 22.
http://www.athensmessenger.com/news/local/article_70ee605c-17f4-11e0-93ee-001cc4c03286.html