Shaken Baby Syndrome Defense

Shaken Baby Myth or Fact?

Channel 10 News San Diego SBS Segment 1

Channel 10 News San Diego SBS Segment 2

History

I sat in a courtroom on February 19, 1999, the day after my 30th birthday, and watched an amazing tragedy occur that would change my view of medical science and the justice system forever. It was the second of two trials. The first one ended in a mistrial after the jury hung 7 to 5 for not guilty on a murder charge and 6 to 6 on a felony child abuse charge. As the court clerk read out a guilty verdict for the first of many "Shaken Baby Cases" I would eventually do, I gasped in disbelief. I could not believe that our system of "justice" and modern medicine had let this gentle woman down. A few months later Suzanne Johnson was sentenced to mandatory 25 to life for a crime that I was positive she did not commit.

Read Suzanne's story on Court TV

This would be the first of many tragedies I would see in these cases and it remains the motivation behind my research and this website. After Suzanne's trial, I began to research the syndrome with more intensity. Sitting through multiple trials and researching the cases in the media, I began to realize that prosecutors and doctors were operating under some fairly widely held myths about childhood head injuries and diseases. I watched other families gobbled up by well-meaning pediatricians and overly zealous prosecutors driven by misinformation and mandatory reporting laws. Soon the calls started pouring in from families with stories uncannily similar to Sue's. In the last seven years, I have consulted on over 400 trials related to the topic of shaken baby. I have talked to families, lawyers and legal strategists who vehemently believe that this syndrome is being falsely diagnosed and overcharged.

This website was developed with the hopes of disseminating information about the recognition and defense of false allegations of "Shaken Baby Syndrome" and other forms of nonaccidental head trauma to children. This website is dedicated to Suzanne Johnson and others falsely accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome. It's also dedicated to Braylon Braddy, Alex Maze and other children, whose lives or unfortunate deaths have contributed to our understanding of infant subdurals. We created SBSdefense.com as an educational tool, including a library of resources that could be used by attorneys and family members of those falsely accused. We hope that it helps!

-Toni Blake

Defense Strategy for Allegations of Shaken Baby Syndrome