March 19, 2010
Mr. Barack Obama
President of United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D. C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
First of all, I would like to express to you my deepest respect and admiration for what you represent to millions of Americans and people all over the world, for your brilliant political ascension and for your incredible determination to reach your goals. Your presidency has broken through prejudicial dogmas and is forging a new era in American democracy.
My name is Hernani Ames and I am an immigrant of Peruvian descent who came to the U.S. in 2001 with my wife Trudy Muñoz and daughter Renata, who was then only five years old. Then, in 2003, our second daughter Jimena was born, and we settled in the city of Alexandria, in Fairfax County, Virginia, where we have been living continuously to this day, paying our taxes and working honestly in order to achieve our “American Dream”.
And so it was that in 2004 my wife Trudy set up a daycare center to take care of children, complying with all the permits, inspections and courses required by Fairfax County, ensuring that the nursery was equipped with everything necessary so that the infants´ stay would be safe, calm and enjoyable. With a lot of effort, dedication and professionalism, she gave her love to every child who came to the house, always offering much more than just “a place to pass the time”, taking care of their nutrition, teaching them a new language and motivating them in their development.
On April 20, 2009, there was a tragic incident with Noah Whitmer, one of the children under her care, who went limp and stopped breathing while she was feeding him a bottle. Trudy realized this and immediately began performing first aid according to the procedures she had learned in the courses dealing with this type of emergency situation. Trudy responded with professionalism and diligence when faced with such a delicate situation and immediately called 911.
Trudy managed to revive the infant and saved his life, after which the paramedics arrived, stabilized the boy and transported him to the hospital.
A few minutes later, the police arrived to investigate the situation. They remained in our home for about 5 hours, while they took notes and photographs of the entire house.
For an hour and a half they questioned Trudy about what had occurred, and she – far from refusing to cooperate – agreed to be interviewed and answered each of their questions time and time again trying to explain in detail what had occurred, thinking that all this information would be vitally important for the child´s immediate medical treatment.
As the police were leaving, they told us that the next day there would be investigators from Fairfax County Child Protective Services coming to the house to investigate the events; when they came, Trudy welcomed them in and agreed to a second interview. They identified themselves as a detective from the Fairfax police department and a social worker from the office of Child Protective Services of Fairfax County.
During the interview, the social worker also served as the interpreter. Trudy once again went over the events that occurred, but during the four hours that this interview lasted, both interviewers insisted over and over again that Trudy should “tell the truth” because “the child´s condition is getting worse with every minute that goes by”. The interview became very tense and finally the interviewers concluded that Trudy “had confessed”, and accused her of physically abusing a child through the so-called Shaken Baby Syndrome – SBS. Trudy was placed under arrest and denied bail since, according to the Judge, “the crime that she is being accused of is very serious (a Felony) and there is a risk that the accused may not appear for future court dates”. She remained incarcerated for seven months until finally, thanks to the work done by her lawyers and with the help and support of the Peruvian Consulate which assured the court that she would not be provided with any identification documents, she was set free on bail.
During the trial that was held from the 11th until the 21st of January of this year, the jury found her guilty and recommended a sentence of 10.5 years in prison; immediately thereafter, she was taking into custody and is currently held in Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for the 9th of April, of this year, with Judge Dr. Jane Brodie.
We used to have faith in the impartiality of U.S. justice system, and that Trudy´s innocence would be acknowledged, but apparently we were wrong. During the entire process, the prosecutor was not able to present one single piece of evidence that clearly incriminates Trudy. Quite the contrary, the defense presented medical evidence which shows that the child had been afflicted with medical problems since birth, and that it would have been impossible for the injuries found on him to have been caused by physical abuse.
During the course of this trial, the medical experts testifying for the prosecution were not able to present any conclusive evidence that the child had been shaken.
Quite the contrary, the evidence showed that:
1. The child had been diligently attended to, since as soon as the child stopped breathing and Trudy performed the appropriate first aid maneuvers, in order to save him from asphyxiation. Court testimony given by Trudy Muñoz.
2. That the child did not exhibit one single sign of physical abuse, such as bruises, fractures, head trauma, or muscle tears. Court testimony by the paramedic on the scene, a prosecution witness.
3. That in order to generate injuries associated with “the shaken baby syndrome”, one would need to generate a minimum force of 50 g and a maximum force of 500 g – according to the testimony in court of the President of the National Shaken Baby Syndrome, Dr. Craig A. Futterman, a witness for the prosecution. (That is 50 gravitational forces)
4. A healthy adult woman is capable of generating a maximum force of 8 gs, while a healthy adult man can generate a maximum force of 20 gs – according to the court testimony of the Biomechanical Engineer, Mr. Kirk Thibauld, a witness for the defense.
5. That, the physical examination performed on the child immediately after the events took place revealed a prior bleed at the base of the skull, which is not the result of blunt trauma or abuse, but rather occurred during the birth process as the baby´s head emerges through the mother´s vaginal canal and it is compressed – according to the testimony in court of Dr. Ronald Uscinski, a Pediatric Neurosurgeon, witness for the defense.
6. That, as a result of the continuous accumulation of blood at the base of the skull, there is an increased pressure generated from the inside out, and thus the baby´s skull exhibits an abnormal growth (that is, the baby´s head had undergone accelerated growth) – according to the court testimony of the Ophthalmologist, Dr. Horace Gardner, a defense witness.
7. That Trudy never admitted guilt during the course of the interrogation. What she did instead was to explain the way in which she had interacted with the baby both before and after the incident. Furthermore, she had never refused to be questioned; she answered all their questions in the hope that any information which she provided could be useful for the medical care of the infant.
To convict Trudy, the Prosecution presented false evidence alleging a confession of guilt. In other words, the prosecution called as its witness Mrs. Joselyn Waldron, the woman who had acted as the interpreter during the second interview, and she testified that Trudy had admitted to shaken the baby. This was a complete fabrication because Trudy never said that she had shaken the baby in the course of her interview with any of the investigators. Mrs. Waldron, nonetheless, had jotted down in her notes that Trudy had admitted to shaken the baby. In contrast to the first interview that Trudy had with the other police investigators, where the entire conversation was recorded, Mrs. Waldron did not record any portion of this second interview with Trudy, and did not even ask Trudy to sign her supposed “confession”.
There is also an audio recording which reveals a conspiracy on the part of the Fairfax County Police Department to incriminate Trudy, which was submitted to the court and admitted into evidence, but which obviously was not heard by the Jury during their deliberations.
Mr. President, it is clear that intolerance is what prevailed in this trial. The Jury completely discarded all the evidence that actually showed Trudy´s INNOCENCE. Instead, they found her guilty despite the fact that the prosecution was not able to establish her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense was able to prove Trudy’s innocence at every step of the process.
I sincerely believe that the most fundamental legal principle in a criminal trial has been violated in this case: any doubts must be resolved in favor of the defendant.
I would like to be able to describe how I feel upon seeing my family torn apart in this way, but I cannot find the right words to describe this pain. I can only say that as a father, I am very sorry for what happened to the baby, and that I wish with all my heart that he recovers fully and is able to have a full and complete life. At the same time, I also wish for this injustice to come to an end because I believe absolutely in the innocence of my wife, as the facts prove her to be, and I yearn with all my soul to be able to provide my daughters with the family they once had.
It is for this reason that I turn to you, Mr. President, because it is critical for the Federal Government to intervene through the Department of Justice and review this case. I firmly believe that my wife Trudy was unfairly convicted, and that the only reason her testimony was so thoroughly dismissed is due to the simple fact that she is Latina. Each of the evidence presented by the prosecution was refuted at trial by the medical experts of the defense. Moreover, there is clear evidence of police misconduct from the very beginning of the investigation. Yet my wife was still found guilty. Could it be that being a minority makes us criminals before the eyes of the law? I believe in the Law, and in the equality of justice, and yet I also believe that when our rights have been violated, we must demand that they be restituted.
Thanking you in advance for any interest you can give to this matter, I remain,
Sincerely yours.
HERNANI AMES
It is difficult to be able to express all that we are feeling in these moments, but I believe that it is most necessary to clarify certain points. Above all to the people that have known us for so many years and whose friendship is invaluable after everything that we are living…
The first thing that I would like to clarify is that we totally agree that nobody has the right to abuse any human being, especially a baby. We are parents and as parents we have tried to understand the parents of Noah since the very beginning. Since this happened we haven’t stopped praying in our family, asking for Noah’s improvement.
WHEN THERE IS PHYSICAL ABUSE, MARKS REMAIN. AND NOBODY DEMONSTRATED THAT BABY NOAH HAD THEM.
And, of course, among so much pain we were looking for the explanation of what really happened. With confidence and good faith we assumed that justice would seek for the truth and that all of this would be clarified during the trial. Thus, we looked for renowned specialists certain that they would put all of their knowledge in favor of science and truth.
Through the testimonies of all the specialists and paramedics that analyzed and saw Noah, they exposed a single truth: the baby did not present any bruise nor marks of any kind because nobody shook him…
Either with opened or closed doors when a person abuses someone else visible marks or other type of physical evidence from that violent act remain. Many friends of them comment that a child can not suddenly turn out into those conditions. Situations that we pray should never happen, but please look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0qBR9I34do
There are so many things that we have discovered with this situation that we still find ourselves in shock. Justice and treatment given to their own citizens:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KyO55smJyQ
When someone has not had any type of legal experience, except for theory or general culture, we TRUST that justice will seek the TRUTH. It is impossible for me to understand given that I work for a government education agency that provides services to children with multiple diagnosis of disabilities and performing a work that demonstrates above all professionalism (maintaining documents and forms that serve to support our opinions on educational issues). I figured it would be a work even more delicate in the judicial system regarding the basic rights that entitled to each human being known through our constitution and international rights. We still can not understand how we have been so blind to what was happening in this country. Looking for a logical explanation I submerged myself to the Internet trying to find reasonable answers, because in this moment of our lives it is difficult to be able to trust again. It is difficult to understand that if someone is innocent they should have the means to be able to demonstrate it… What happened to the concept of someone being innocent until they were PROVED guilty? …or at least that they would grant the benefit of doubt, since when do you keep a person from their freedom without having any proof? Since when a social worker needs no record of the declaration of the witness in their native language and a translated statement of someone, read and signed by the same person being accused? Since when the opinions of recognized specialists are no longer taken into account? Then, what difference makes for professionals that choose to dedicate more years of their lives to investigation and study? Within the 12 members of the jury I observed one Latino, which seemed good to me because I thought he would recognize that the translation that the police official was performing in the audio presented was far from good. The official summarized the explanations that my sister was giving modifying and altering it in a wrong way, very different from the true meaning of what she was saying, and it seems that it didn’t make any difference that someone would understand Spanish within the jury. Is that what really happened with the social worker?
The same one who said that my sister had affirmed having ’shaken’ the baby, something that wasn’t true. She [my sister] took a doll that she had around and demonstrated the way she had rocked the child to console him from his crying …placing one hand behind between the neck and the back, and the other hand supporting the part of his buttocks. In this position it is so difficult that someone is going to be able to “shake” the child in a violent way because he would fall from someone’s hands before being able to do that.
Another thing that the social worker did, is to visit my sister during her first arrest presenting herself as her lawyer, so when my sister came by, this woman assuming the place of her lawyer appeared very arrogant continuing with her ’work’, this time asking her about her daughters and telling her that never more could she care for children, etc. etc. We never really understood the motivation for that visit until I found this information:
Social workers, do we have to believe them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufne42PmnJY
And this informative page wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t so much outrage:
http://familyrights.us/how_to/if_cps_comes.html
How do they explain that there was a violent act without any external sign on Noah? Or at least the existence of some inflammation of the nerves that are connected to the brain with the spinal column. This made us ask ourselves about what was the medical history of the child. Did Noah show symptoms of anemia? What happens when a child has anemia? Does it affect something in the brain? I found this so that you can make your own conclusions:
Anemia in a child:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAP28K0PXN4
MRI brain with anemia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RU18RbA6-I
And also we should ask ourselves what other causes could exist so that a baby would arrive to these conditions.
Here I share with you more information:Children and infants are also susceptible to strokes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABuJa_i2t1s
I ask to myself if these people knew of the existences of the toxoplasmosis Does this family live with pets? Yes, two cats and a dog.
Toxoplasmosis (in Spanish):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UkiP87fvwQ
NY times article
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/30/health/30real.html?_r=1
We are very sorry for what Noah’s family has had to go through but the photos that are shown on the Website aren’t something that my sister has provoked. Those photos are the result of a professional incompetence. I ask myself if there are photos showing the baby’s bruises or physical signs of abuse. Up to the point where the facts were presented during the trial, there were many outrageous errors. First when my sister called 911 she reported that the baby was not breathing. Secondly, she started CPR and kept the baby breathing until the paramedics arrived. This information was sent to the paramedics so that they can anticipate what the medical procedures were about to be taken when they arrive. With only a little bit of knowledge someone could say that they omitted something so basic and vital as to immediately providing oxygen. They didn’t do it. (I assume that everyone knows the damage caused to the brain when it doesn’t receive enough oxygen for more than three minutes.) Through my niece that was present there at that moment, I know that the paramedics were around the baby “observing”. No oxygen was administered to him at that moment. They took him by ambulance to the hospital. How long did that take them? 15 minutes. In that lapse they administered two doses of valium – What else happened during that period of time? The photos that are seen on that Website are the result of that.
It is inadmissible that the prosecutor would affirm that Trudy could also have waited 15 – 20 minutes before calling 911…if she would have waited for that long of time the child wouldn’t be alive today.
From the beginning I tried to sympathize with Noah’s parents, but my perception of them especially of the father was changing. During the recesses in the trial he seemed like a person about to explode. We were all upset, but EACH HUMAN BEING GIVES WHAT THEY HAVE INSIDE. I don’t know if he thought that we didn’t understand English or what was his intention, but he was passing by our side appearing to walk around with one of his relatives while making comments at us. What I am saying is, Is that what a honest person does? The wife writes giving recommendations to our family, what makes her think that she is better than us? What gives her the certainty to accuse my sister of having shaken her son behind a closed door? And how does she explain that there isn’t any sign of external or internal trauma present? I believe that she could go through the bother of giving a more complete and coherent explanation, I agree with all of the recommendations posted on their Website about not ‘shaking’ a child. It is correct, no one should ever violently shake a child, but in this particular case with Trudy I tell you that this is not what has happened. There is much evidence that proves the contrary…
I ask myself what would have happened if all of this would have happened after one hour when the mother was arriving to pick him up, Maybe this: Parents accused of SBS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKh98s1tQsU
And they would have been in the same circumstances that these parents are in the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FHYIOafbzM
Check out one of the comments about how much money each county receives per child that is taken away from their family. And if one still doubts how justice is served here, you can visit one of the comments mentioning the payments received for each child.
All I have left to ask live is to give to each person and their loved ones all what they are asking for my sister Trudy, to whom I will continue supporting …. BECAUSE SHE IS INNOCENT.
Hello everyone,
As we know the trial is scheduled from January 11th to January 13th, 2010 in the Circuit Court:
Fairfax County Judicial Center
4110 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
If you would like to attend the trial, you are more than welcome, the courtroom is open to the public.
The courtroom will be assigned on that week. You can learn about the assigned courtroom on Monday morning if you approach information booth – once you have passed through security – and you only need to give my name: Trudy Munoz so that they can give you the floor and courtroom number.
It is very important to show respect to the jury and the judge, so please come dresses as formal as possible.
I’m very excited because this will end soon, God has given me serenity and peace, thanks to each and every one of those who have been praying constantly for me, trusted me and believe in my complete innocence, this will be the final step.
For those who cannot attend I’ll keep you in my thoughts, spirit and soul.
I love you all very much.
Once again “thank you for all your continued support and love”
God bless you
Trudy
God has given me a great gift: a new family, and that is the one we form now with all of you my friends!
First of all I want to express to each one of you my profound gratitude for all the support you have offered me and continue offering me until now; bail was granted me on Friday the 13th of November and since then I am at home sharing with my daughters and my husband, which are the motive of my life.
Everything changed in April, 2009, to feel myself deprived unjustly of my freedom was terrible, in order to not consume myself in self-pity or in depression I had to find my inner strength, but that inner strength isn’t activated by itself, each one has to make it by their own will. Even in the most difficult crisis, God can give us the support, but one needs also to make steps; I don’t have to run, only try to keep myself standing; then I can begin to walk again…
I know that from the beginning you are sharing step by step all of this process: pain by pain, joy after joy……….the process still isn’t finished, the trial is scheduled for January 11th – 13th, 2010.
I want to thank you with all of my heart for your support, because paying our specialists is much more we can afford, thank you also for sharing each moment with me, for crying together, for trusting me, for your confidence in me, for believing in my innocence, for making me feel that everything is easier…
I love you all very much
TRUDY
I don’t know how to start this post, except to say: THANK YOU!!, Thank you to all of you my friends because today justice has started to bloom for us. Our attorneys today filed an appeal for Trudy’s release from the detention she has been since last April 20th, the bail was set and now she is at home with us.
My eternal gratitude to you all, the lawyers and especially to Mr. Fernando Quirós, Consul General of Peru in Washington, DC for their unwavering support and because their participation in today’s hearing was decisive for Trudy’s freedom, now she is free again and will be able to stand the trial in a better position, thanks Fernando, people like you make our -often beaten- patriotism be renewed and grow inside us again.
A big hug and thanks again to all of you, we carry you all in our hearts, we just have barely won a battle today, we must now redouble our efforts for the final victory, which is to confirm Trudy’s innocence.
HERNANI
Have you ever lost anyone close to you? I lost one of the most important people of my life…My mother.
Sure, our relationship wasn’t perfect (especially when I turned 11) but even through all that she was a role model and a loving mother who did all the good things for me because she loved me and wanted only the best for me.
She cared for me through sickness and bad times in my life, giving me wisdom that only she could. She taught me empathy, forgiveness, maturity, and most of all the bright side of any situation, even at its worst. Ever since I was 4 she had started to teach me how things should be done only with your best effort.
She helped me through when I went through elementary school and praised me whenever I got a perfect score and encouraged me to keep at it. Not only did she help me with homework, she made me aware of how important college is and how a GPA works, things that she knew I would need to know. When I was trying to find a style of clothes for middle school she helped me make a good choice. She told me straight forward what looked good and what didn’t. I never fought with her because even if I thought it was good she would point things out that would change my mind.
She is a wonderful mother that I would never trade for anyone!
When the accident happened she was trembling head to toe and she was pale like snow. When the police were done interrogating her and I could finally come into the room my parents were hugging and my mother was crying. I knew from then that something terrible was happening.
The next day I went upstairs and my parents were sitting in our couch with blank looks. I got a horrible feeling in my stomach and I ran to my mom and gave her a tight hug. She hugged me back and told me to take care of my sister. That’s when everything clicked into place; we weren’t going to be together anymore. I didn’t cry in front of her because she needed all the strength she could use. My sister and I watched as the house we had lived in happily with my parents passed by and away with my mom waving bye to us for the last time.
We went to Iowa to live with my aunt Soraya, who’s a close sister of my mom and my godmother. Me and my sister went to finish school and enjoyed most of our summer there. We kept in touch with my dad, but we missed him and all the close friends we had in Virginia. As three months passed we got more and more homesick. I love my aunt, uncle and cousins, but I missed living with my dad.
So now we’re here with my dad in the house of my best friend, with her parents who have taken us in with happiness.
I know that all of this is going to be over soon and I’ll be able to live with my mom, dad and sister, happy and smiling…a bonded family.
I LOVE YOU MOM
Renata Ames
Dear family and friends,
It is very difficult to try to find the right words to express all the pain, frustration and bitterness that we are feeling for the circumstances that my sister Trudy is living. April 20th has been marked in our memories as a terrible and devastating day. We have thought that we could resolve this misunderstanding trusting that since she was telling the truth we would have her back with us as soon as possible and this would remain in being a frightening experience.
I always thought that the fact of keeping yourself on the correct side would keep you away from being able to end in situations like this. Last April all of our beliefs appeared to be collapsing because of the cruelty in which this situation was becoming. Trudy and I have been very good friends. Daily we would call each other on the phone to talk about family things, or in general that which could benefit both of us, children or our daughters. Ironically she is now being accused of something that I am sure she wouldn’t be capable of doing. That Monday I called her one half hour after the incident had happened. Usually I would call her after work but that day I called a little earlier and she in less than one minute told me that the child had choked, but that she gave him necessary emergency procedures and called 911.
I thought in that moment that she did everything appropriate. Her reaction was to save the child. I put myself in her place and I asked myself what I would have done had I been in those circumstances? (I am a Speech Pathologist and I also work with children.) Actually I felt proud that she had acted appropriately and that the child was breathing when the paramedics arrived. The next day we began to ask ourselves why so many hours of interrogation. One would think that she had helped to save a life! From that moment we couldn’t stop crying nor be able to sleep more than just a few hours. Seeing a loved one in that situation that you NEVER thought would be possible of living is something frightening. If you are asking why we didn’t share this before it was because we didn’t want to worry our families that are so far away and weren’t going to be able to do much from their homes. Thus we tried to find strength from where there wasn’t any in order to be able to find the way of proving her innocence, but only our support isn’t going to be sufficient.
We need all of those that know us and that can help us with their prayers and letters addressed to her that can be sent to my e-mail (sorayalinda@hotmail.com). I will print them and send them. We have been through and continue to go through this time of sadness and frustration incomparable. However we continue to keep the FAITH present and we think that the truth will come to light and soon we will be able to be reunited again with stronger ties than before.
Soraya Muñoz
My name is Hernani Ames. I am originally from Peru and I am married to Trudy Munoz Rueda. We have two wonderful daughters, Renata who is 13 and Jimena who is 5. Like many before us, we came to this country to look for a better life and to contribute our best skills and talents to this great country. My wife Trudy worked as a teacher prior to coming here. It has been almost eight years since we came to the United States and over time we have come to love this country as our own.
We are a happy family………..or rather, we were until the 20th of April, 2009.
Trudy and our two daughters
My beloved wife, Trudy, ran a licensed children’s daycare in Fairfax County, Virginia. During the five years that she operated this daycare, she poured every once of energy into the care of these children to ensure that this was not just a “place to spend the day”, but a safe, fun and loving environment. Day after day, she lovingly changed diapers, soothed crying babies, and provided for the needs of the different age groups in her care. The time she spent on her feet took its toll and many nights she went to bed with aching feet, but a full heart for her reward was in the loving touch of each child, a smile, a hug and the memory of each baby’s face as she soothed, rocked and bottle fed each one until they finally slept contentedly in her arms.
Many of the children who have been in Trudy’s care now are successful students in the school system, in part because of the care which Trudy provided. The parents who employed Trudy have been extremely grateful for the high level of professionalism and peace of mind that they could expect from Trudy. Even the children that Trudy cared for, who are now older and in school, still speak of her with great fondness and affection because of the compassion, patience and kindness Trudy gave to each of them.
On the April 20th, an emergency situation arose when a four month old infant in Trudy’s care suddenly stopped breathing as she was feeding him a milk bottle. His arm and legs became limb. Trudy immediately responded by performing CPR on the infant and calling for emergency help at 911.
Through Trudy’s efforts, she was able to resuscitate the infant who began breathing about the time the paramedics arrived at her house. The paramedics then continue to work to stabilize the baby and then transported the infant to the hospital. The police arrived shortly thereafter and immediately interviewed Trudy for several hours and took photographs of the house.
On Monday the April 20th, our family that had been filled with happiness, hope and in pursuit of many dreams began what would be the beginnings of a nightmare without end, a nightmare , which has filled our home with anguish, uncertainty and despair.
The following day, a new the police detective returned with a social worker form Child Protective Services to continue the investigation of the case. Trudy welcomed them into her home with the graciousness that has always come naturally to her. They questioned Trudy for approximately five tense hours during which the police insisted that Trudy “tell the truth” because “the infant’s condition was worsening with each passing minute”. Trudy made every effort to answer each questions as accurately as possible. She further demonstrated to them how she had carefully pick-up the baby when he was crying and how she attempted to comfort him by offering him a milk bottle. At the end of the five hour interrogation, the police detective declared that Trudy had confessed to “shaking the baby” presumably violently and thus she was subsequently charged with child abuse and arrested. We were stunt by such conclusion because at not time had Trudy stated or admitted to violently shaken the baby and her demonstrations to the police investigators clearly showed how careful and gentle she had been in holding the baby.
Once arrested, Trudy, who has never been arrested for any offenses anywhere, requested that she be release on bond through her attorney. Unfortunately, the presiding judge deny her bond due to the seriousness of the charge and because the presiding judge considers Trudy a high flight risk. Thus, since April of this year, she has been behind bars and unable to see us-her husband and children- while she is awaiting trial. Words can not describe the anxiety my children undergo on a daily basis worrying about their beloved mother who is detained and the uncertainty of her fate. Our lives that were once so happy are now filled with heartache and despair.
All of us who know Trudy, including the parents who for years have entrusted their children to her care, know that Trudy is a kind woman with the patience of an angel. She is simply incapable of harming anyone, especially a child. In a critical moment, Trudy reacted quickly and with valor-she resuscitated an unconscious infant. From the very beginning of this tragic incident we have prayed, not just for Trudy, but for the full and complete recovery of this child. We ask that everyone joins us in our daily prayers for his full recovery and for the truth to be known, for we understand that this child and our daughters are the ones most affected by this drama.
Now Trudy sits in jail wrongly and unjustly accused of injuring the very child whose life she saved. How can we be so certain that Trudy is innocent? Because she never did anything to the infant that could have possibly caused any harm to the child. She did not use any violent force against this innocent and beautiful child.
Unfortunately, the police and medical examiners are relying on an outdated and scientifically unsound medical diagnosis to accuse Trudy, it is called : Shaken Baby Syndrome. Under this medical diagnosis, a child is said to have been forcefully shaken when there is retinal bleeding, bleeding in the protective layer of the brain (subdural hematoma) and brain swelling. A shaken baby syndrome diagnosis may be given even when there are no external signs of any violence against the child, such as fracture of the ribs or other bones, bruises, signs of impact to the head, injury to the neck muscles or bones or even plain red marks on the baby’s body. Thus, solely on the presence of a diagnostic triad anyone can be accused of violence against a child. New scientific evidence has cast serious doubts on the reliability of this medical diagnosis, especially when there are no external signs of physical abuse to the child and no evidence of impact to the head. More and more doctors, scientists and legal scholars are speaking out against the injustice of prosecuting a person on the basis of such dubious medical diagnosis.
Although under our legal system a person is innocent until proven guilty, in these types of cases there is only one way to bring the truth to the forefront and that is to hire the best possible medical experts and scientist who have actually study the mechanics and underlying pathology of these types of head injuries to testify at trial. The State has at their disposal an arsenal of expert witnesses, specialists and doctors while my humble family must bear alone the cost of providing for our beloved Trudy with the medical experts she needs to prove her innocence.
We have exhausted our family’s resources and all of our savings in our attempt to save my wife. The truth, however difficult to attain, must prevail. As a free and just society, we can not allow the life of an innocent woman, a wife, a mother and a member of our community to be destroyed because the police and doctors are relying on faulty and outdated science. Trudy is innocent. She harmed no one. That we know. Thus, we have faith in her release as her children who are bereft without their mother’s love, long for her smile, her embrace and her calm presence that imbued our home with the happiness we all took for granted until this nightmare began. We need your support. We need the support of our family, of our friends and every person, where ever they may be, who truly cares about truth and justice during this most difficult time for our family for we may have exhausted our financial resources, but our faith remains strong.
May God bless all of you.
