A botched autopsy and new evidence led to a new trial for Alan
Yurko, the father sentenced to life for shaking his baby son to
death back in 1999.
Hours after pleading no contest and receiving a sentence to the
time he already served, six years and 125 days, Yurko walked out
the doors of the Orange County Jail a free man. Outside, his wife
along with 25 supporters, who have maintained his innocence all
along, awaited his release.
Yurko's first response was to thank everyone for being so
supportive and helping fight for his freedom.
In an earlier court appearance Yurko did admit to contributing
to the negligence of his son's death by allowing his son to
receive a series of vaccinations when he was sick. Yurko was adamant
about not having shaken or hurt his son. He did regret however not
having done more research on vaccinations and instead relying solely
on the expertise of the doctors, before having his son administered
with vaccinations.
Yurko's case had been in the international spotlight because
of the many people who attributed his son's death to poor health
and vaccinations, not shaken-baby-syndrome. The key evidence that
turned the judge's decision was an autopsy that was filled
with flaws. These flaws led to the barring of the practice of the
medical examiner who read the autopsy. It also prompted questions
on the validity of the entire trial.
It was discovered that the history of the medical examiner's
career had been blotted with various controversies since the latter
part of the 1990's.
The prosecutor in the Yurko case stated that since there wasn't
any credible evidence linking the child's death to a vaccine
reaction that it points back to shaken baby syndrome as being the
cause of death.
Based on an examination of the evidence, the prosecutors decided
not to move ahead with another trial and instead made the decision
to end things now.
Orlando
Sentinel August 28, 2004
