A Dallas County shaken baby syndrome case that sent a man to prison for 12 years has been dismissed.
In 2000, a jury convicted Andrew Wayne Roark of causing injury to a child after a 1997 arrest. His girlfriend’s 13-month-old was believed to have been injured by severe shaking. However, the Dallas County District Attorney’s office announced Monday, that the 48-year-old Roak is innocent.
Defense Attorney Gary Udashen thinks the court has now determined “Shaken Baby Syndrome” as junk science after hearing this announcement.
“Over the last 25 years, there’s been a constant development of new science, new studies, and new medical opinions that have come out that have completely undermined the entire theory concerning shaken baby syndrome,” Udashen said.
The arguments in Roark’s case are similar to the Anderson County case of Robert Roberson, who is awaiting a new execution date . But in Roberson’s case, there is a dispute over whether his conviction is because he shook his daughter to death or whether he beat her to death.