Traumatic Brain Injury: Shaken Baby Conviction Appealed

Natalie Beard's body showed no outward signs of abuse when she was brought to the hospital in 1995: she had no broken bones, bruises, or cuts. However, the 7-month-old's eyes showed a different story. Her retinas were puckered and red. Internally, there was acute bleeding outside and underneath the brain's outer membrane, which is the kind of damage usually seen with a burst aneurysm. All of this suggested that Natalie had been shaken to death.

Shaken baby syndrome conviction appealed

Audrey Edmunds was convicted of Natalie's death; she is 10 years into her 18-year prison sentence. However, Edmunds' attorneys question her conviction. They say that shaking alone could not have caused Natalie's injuries without leaving other evidence of abuse. Dr. Robert Huntington III, the forensic pathologist whose testimony helped convict Edmunds, now questions his diagnosis: "I'd say she died of a head injury, and I don't know when it happened... There's room for reasonable doubt."