Jim-Duncan

Jim Duncan has served over 20 years on a 70 shaken baby syndrome conviction. Photo by CNN.

By Jean Casarez, Ann Roche and Kait Richmond
CNN.com

Excerpts:

More than two decades into a 70-year sentence, Jim Duncan maintains his innocence.
The central Florida man is serving time for aggravated child abuse. He was convicted of the crime after he and his wife brought their infant son Kody to the emergency room when they noticed he was in pain and not using the left side of his body. The doctor found 13 broken bones and a skull fracture in his X-rays, but no bruises. He called the police.

“I am innocent,” Duncan told CNN’s Jean Casarez. “I did not harm my son.”

Duncan is hoping a new lawyer, and new medical science, will end his nightmare and bring him home. His lawyer is taking his case to the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Florida next week, and he is hoping for a new trial.

Illinois radiologist Dr. David Ayoub said he believes Kody had infantile rickets, a disease of early life in which bones do not mineralize properly. Ayoub said he believes this led Koby to develop metabolic bone disease, causing Kody’s bones to be very fragile. With that diagnosis, Florida Defense Attorney Lisabeth Fryer is working to get Duncan’s conviction overturned.

Read the full story at CNN.com.

See Also:

University of Michigan Law School Awarded $250K to Learn How to Defend Shaken Baby Syndrome Cases