‘I never shook him’: Woman asks court to quash 2002 conviction in infant son’s death

An Ontario woman, Jennifer Gaskin, is seeking to have her 2002 conviction overturned for the death of her infant son, Joseph. Gaskin was found guilty of manslaughter after two medical experts testified that the newborn had died as a result of shaken baby syndrome. However, the Crown argues that expert evidence pointing to shaken baby syndrome has been "wholly undermined" and should not support Gaskin's conviction.

Gaskin served 18 months of her nearly two-year sentence in prison and maintains that she never struck or shook her son. The Crown also points out that the case was reviewed as part of a provincewide investigation into shaken-baby cases, which cast doubts on the medical evidence in Gaskin's trial. Gaskin's legal team has retained three experts to review the file, but their reports could not eliminate the possibility of an inflicted injury.

The Crown contends that the original expert evidence supporting Gaskin's conviction is no longer valid in light of the current expert opinion.