The 2001 conviction of a woman for murdering a toddler whose death was ascribed by medical experts to shaken baby syndrome was vacated by a judge who ordered a new trial after he was convinced in a CPL 440.10 proceeding by new medical knowledge that it was more likely the child died from an accidental fall from a chair.
Monroe County Judge James Piampiano said there has been a “compelling and consequential shift” among medical experts over the past 13 years, bolstered by improved medical imaging technology, that persuasively argue against 2 1/2-year-old Brittney Sheets having died from shaken baby syndrome at the hands of Renee Bailey.
