Boise-area cases part of national courtroom trend to imprison innocents
as cover for medical malpractice 

BOISE -- Joshua King and Michael Shutz are two young men residing near
Idaho's state capitol who have been accused of physically abusing a child in
their charge. The child in King's case died as a result of injuries sustained from
falling off the back of a couch. The child in Shutz's case is still alive. The
physical evidence of abuse in both cases was examined by several area experts
who neglected to consider each child's medical history. 

Recent scientific evidence has linked severe vitamin C deficiency, encephalitis
induced by routine childhood vaccines, and improper or excessive drug
dosages to cases of shaken baby syndrome throughout the country. Despite the
attempts by knowledgeable advocate Violet Harris to share medical journal
articles and other published research proving the likelihood of other
explanations for these children's injuries, the courts appear to be biased
towards a guilty verdict. 

In the Shutz case, Dr. Harold Buttram flew in from Pennsylvania to testify on
Michael Shutz's behalf but was never called to the witness stand by his public
defender. And in the Joshua King case, Boise State University Physics
Professor Richard Reiman was not called to testify as to the fact that fatal
injuries can occur from a 32-inch fall. He has stated that the noble crusade
against child abuse can lead to a lynch mob mentality. He agreed that the
picture Harris has painted of the current situation -- where child abuse cases are
zelously prosecuted and often result in convictions because defendants are not
able to put on a proper defense -- is indeed bleak. 

Violet Harris has made copies of several well-footnoted articles and has both
faxed and mailed this material for public defenders, the prosecution, social
workers and law enforcement. After exhausting these avenues in her attempt to
see justice served, she began writing letters to the editor and guest opinions for
both the Idaho Statesman and the Idaho Press-Tribune. While the Idaho
Statesman has printed in full her concerns regarding the Joshua King case,
Idaho Press-Tribune managing editor Vickie Holbrook told her that evidence
presented in court (or not) can not be included in Harris' guest opinions or
editorials. Harris submitted a guest opinion to the Idaho Press-Tribune last
October 30. It was not printed in full and a dozen mistakes were made when it
was retyped and finally printed on December 11, 2002 -- six weeks later. 

It is interesting to note that Vickie Holbrook is a member of the Governor's
Coordinating Council for Families and Children in Idaho and has consistently
supported Idaho's pro-vaccination campaign for children, as evidenced in the
Idaho Press-Tribune. Holbrook asserts that editorials should stick to
information that is a matter of public record such as police reports and
information published in area newspapers. Despite this fact, she denied any
bias on her part regarding the Joshua King case. 

Harris should be commended (not censored) for attempting to awaken her
community as to the possibility Shutz, King and many others are being
convicted and sentenced for crimes they did not commit. Following is the full
text of Harris' guest opinion: 

Don't Confuse Falls with SBS 

The Sept 15 Idaho Press-Tribune article about prosecutors wanting the death
penalty in the Joshua King case is appalling. 

A growing number of experts are concerned that innocent people charged with
child abuse are facing long prison sentences, or even the death penalty, for
crimes that never occurred. 

Patrick Barnes of Stanford University, one of the top neuro-radiologists in the
U.S., says, “The radiologist must be aware of certain conditions that are known
to have clinical and imaging features that may mimic abuse. These include
accidental injury, certain coagulopathies, vascular diseases, infectious or
postinfectious (e.g. postvaccinal), metabolic disorders, neoplastic diseases,
certain therapies, and some congenital and dysplastic disorders.” (“Ethical
Issues in Imaging Non-accidental Injury: Child Abuse,” Topics in Magnetic
Resonance Imaging, 2002) 

Barnes addresses how “the last caretaker with the injured child is automatically
considered guilty of abusive injury, especially if the incident is unwitnessed.” 

He also refers to “fatal pediatric head injuries caused by ... short distance falls”
-- particularly disturbing considering Canyon County Prosecutor Virginia
Bond's apparent denial of such a possibility during the King trial. 

Boise State Univ. physics professor Richard Reimann has expressed concern
about this stating, “Hopefully, the Idaho legal system will seek bio-mechanical
evidence in addition to medical testimony in the future.” 

The University of California, Berkeley website referred to Werner Goldsmith, a
Berkeley researcher and head trauma expert who has written more than 50
papers on the biomechanics of head and neck injury: 

“Backed by decades of research on the effects of head impacts, and as author
of the only book on the subject of impacts, Goldsmith nevertheless sees a rush
by pediatricians, social workers and prosecutors to brand many parents and
caregivers as child abusers when injuries were more likely caused by a fall.” 

Geoffrey Manley, chief of neurotrauma at University of California, San
Francisco, says that, given how little is known about “the mechanical issues
involved in head injury, there may be people who are convicted of crimes they
are not guilty of.” 

As for Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS), Goldsmith says that in 95 percent of
SBS cases, medical examiners do not even look for the injuries he is convinced
must occur to justify the SBS charge. 

Some physicians think that immunization is a factor in SBS cases. According to
“Shaken Baby Syndrome or Vaccine-Induced Encephalitis?” in Medical
Sentinel, the journal of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons,
“the theories on which the SBS is based are both undocumented and flawed”
and in many SBS cases, “the true cause of death or injury [has] been
vaccine-related.” See www.aapsonline.org 

Endotoxin may also be a factor in these abuse cases. See the website of former
NIH researcher Robert Reisinger at www.erols.com/drrobert.sids/ 

In the 2002 article, “Shaken Baby Syndrome: fundamental questions,” British
Journal of Neurosurgery, author R. Uscinski says that, while child protection is
a good and desirable end, this protection must be based on sound science.
“Should the science be erroneous or ill founded, the paradigm shifts and,
paradoxically, another category of innocents becomes imperiled, the
wrongfully accused. This is not justice.” 

Violet Harris
Caldwell, Idaho

Both Shutz and King were found guilty. Shutz will be sentenced January 23,
2003, in Ada County; King will be sentenced January 29, 2003 in Canyon
County. 

Idaho is seeking the death penalty for King even though he scored 98 percent
on a polygraph examination October 28, 2002. The psychologist who
administered the test had rarely seen such a high score and was 100 percent
convinced of Joshua King's innocence. Despite this fact, the results will not be
admitted in court during sentencing. It must be noted that a vast majority of
those who attended King's trial were convinced of his innocence. Others feel
that the judge should have been recused from the case since he is related to the
victim's family.