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Dr. John Plunkett died this week. He spent nearly 20 years arguing in court against bad forensic science, for which he was maliciously prosecuted and received false ethics complaints. Through his efforts, 300 innocent people were exonerated. (This sentence from fark.com)
Like a lot of other doctors, child welfare advocates and forensic specialists, John Plunkett at first bought into the theory of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). It's a convenient diagnosis for prosecutors, in that it provides a cause of death (violent shaking), a culprit (whoever was last with the child before death) and even intent (prosecutors often argue that the violent, extended shaking establishes mens rea.) But in the late 1990s, Plunkett — a forensic pathologist in Minnesota — began to have doubts about the diagnosis. The same year his study was published, Plunkett testified in the trial of Lisa Stickney, a licensed day care worker in Oregon. Thanks in large part to Plunkett's testimony, Stickney was acquitted. District Attorney Michael Dugan responded with something unprecedented — it criminally charged an expert witness over testimony he had given in court. Today, the scientific consensus on SBS has since shifted significantly in Plunkett's direction.
[...] According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 16 SBS convictions have been overturned. Plunkett's obituary puts the figure at 300, and claims that he participated in 50 of those cases. I'm not sure of the source for that figure, and it's the first I've seen of it. But whatever the number, Plunkett deserves credit for being among the first to sound the alarm about wrongful SBS convictions. His study was the first step toward those exonerations.
(Score: 5, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday April 12 2018, @05:17AM (4 children)
If I die, I want my tomb to say that in big gold letters:
DONALD J. TRUMP
The Most Amazing Businessman,
The Greatest President,
The Sexiest Husband,
The Best Father,
Very Rich.
He Told the Truth.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 12 2018, @06:16AM
If I die...
You're the man!
(Score: 2) by Bobs on Thursday April 12 2018, @10:10AM (2 children)
Well, I hate to say it, but I think he got the math right:
I believe at this point the majority of humans that have ever existed have not died, yet.
So statistically, and depending upon the rate of medical progress, it is an open question.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 12 2018, @11:02AM (1 child)
94% of all humans (homo sapiens sapiens) who have ever lived are now dead.
(Score: 1) by realDonaldTrump on Thursday April 12 2018, @12:46PM
Science is amazing. So nice to be one of the 6 percent!!!