Father found guilty in 'shaken baby syndrome' case

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/04/04/49367567.shtml?Element_ID=49367567

By SHEILA BURKE
Staff Writer

A man accused of shaking his baby son to death was sentenced to 51 years in
prison.

A Davidson County jury found Russell Maze guilty of first-degree felony
murder and aggravated child abuse after a four-day trial that featured
dueling expert testimony on ''shaken baby syndrome.''

The baby, 5-week-old Alex, died in October 2000, 18 months after he was
shaken, prosecutors said.

During this week's trial, the father's defense attorney questioned the
''shaken baby syndrome'' theory and argued that the boy, who had been born
prematurely, was quite sick and had pre-existing bleeding on the brain.
Attorney Dwight Scott also raised the possibility that the child had a
reaction to a vaccine.

Jurors in Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier's courtroom had to wade through
a large dose of complex medical material. One of the prosecutors said
jurors deliberated for about two hours before they rendered a verdict
Thursday night.

''Jurors don't understand all the complexity of the science and too often
experts get in with bogus claims that are very difficult to try and
refute,'' said Davidson County Assistant District Attorney Brian Holmgren.

During the trial, a pediatrician testified that the only thing that could
have caused the swelling and bleeding and trauma to the baby's brain was
from violent shaking.

During the trial, Dr. Suzanne Starling, a pediatrician who examined the
baby, testified that there was no link between the baby's symptoms and the
hepatitis B vaccine, as the defense team claimed.

Toni Blake, a consultant who has questioned some cases prosecuted under the
shaken baby theory, says she's worked on about 300 cases around the country
and came to the trial to help Maze. Blake said she couldn't say with
absolute certainty that the hepatitis B vaccine caused Bryan's injuries but
said there had been problems with it with certain medically fragile
children. The vaccine contained thimersol, a preservative containing mercury.

Opponents of use of thimersol in vaccines claim it causes higher rates of
autism and other neurological disorders.

Maze, 38, was originally tried in this case and convicted of aggravated
child abuse in 2000, but the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the
conviction and ordered a new trial because the judge had failed to give the
jury instructions on lesser offenses.

Later that year, however, the child died, and the charges were upgraded to
felony murder.

This week, the jury sentenced him to serve life in prison, which means 51
calendar years. Dozier will sentence him for the aggravated child abuse at
a hearing next month. The baby's mother, Kaye Maze, entered a best-interest
plea to a charge of failure to protect the child and was sentenced to serve
two years in jail and three years' probation, court documents said.
 
 Sheila Burke covers state courts and can be reached at 664-2144 or
sburke@tennessean.com.