Advocates

Kronzek & Cronkright

 

Michigan Children’s Protective Services Defense Attorneys

Being accused of abusing or molesting a child will change your life forever. The only thing you can do to offer yourself the best chance of avoiding the many harsh and permanent consequences of a child abuse conviction (including the possibility of termination of parental rights) is to work with a defense lawyer who can aggressively assert your rights in court.

No matter the specific child abuse charges that you may face, the Michigan Children’s Protective Services defense attorneys at Kronzek & Cronkright may be able to help you. We have over 70 years of combined legal experience and a track record of proven success that shows how effective our representation can be. Our attorneys are not afraid to protect your rights even in the face of the most heinous and shocking accusations.

Michigan Children’s Protective Services

In Michigan, the Department of Human Services (DHS) has a special division dedicated to investigating allegations involving child abuse and neglect. This is Childrens Protective Services, or CPS, and Michigan Child Protection Law provides the framework for what CPS must do to achieve this task. Childrens Protective Services is committed to safeguarding children and protecting them from abuse and neglect.

If you have been accused of child abuse or child neglect, Michigan Childrens Protective Services is likely to become involved. You may face criminal charges, may lose custody of your child or children, or may have your parental rights terminated.

Child Abuse and Neglect Defense Lawyers in Michigan

Our top-flight legal defense team is ready to assist you in dealing with CPS and defending against criminal child abuse and child neglect allegations, including, but not limited to:

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy Attorney

The term Munchausen Syndrome was first developed in 1951 by British physician Richard Asher. This describes a psychological disorder where a patient invents or brings on an illness or disease in an attempt to draw attention or sympathy. These may also be referred to as factitious disorders, and the symptoms are often either self-induced or are falsified by the patient. Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) is another form of this disease which was first identified in 1977 by Roy Meadow, British pediatrician.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy describes a psychological disorder wherein a caregiver (often a parent) intentionally produces or feigns symptoms of illness in another person (often a child). The caregiver is then able to assume the role of the ill or injured individual by proxy. The aim of the perpetrator in this case, just as with Munchausen Syndrome itself, is to receive attention and sympathy from others. However, in the case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, the perpetrator receives this sympathy as the caregiver of the sick or injured child.

Brittle Bone Disease Attorney

When a child has unexplained fractures, CPS investigators, police and child protection team (CPT) doctors is to blame the parents. For a child with bone injuries detectable on x-ray, the classic signs of inflicted injury are:

Fractures in various stages of healing.

Explanations by the parents which do not seem to adequately justify the injuries.

In addition, certain types of bone injury are taken by many CPT doctors as indicators of child abuse in virtually all cases. An example of this is Classic Metaphyseal Lesions. Although recent developments in medical science refute this assertion, a vast number of doctors will report the case to Children’s Protective Services as a virtual certainty of inflicted injury when certain fractures or bone lesions are found.

Shaken Baby Syndrome Attorney

Shaken Baby Syndrome, or SBS, is a form of child abuse wherein the abuser violently shakes an infant or a small child, causing brain injury. If you have been accused of causing injury by SBS to your child or a child in your care, your future is at stake. You could lose custody of your child or have a termination of your parental rights, and you could face criminal charges. Children’s Protective Services, a division of the Michigan Department of Human Services, will likely become involved in your investigation, and you will need a defense lawyer on your side for the best chance of avoiding formal charges, imprisonment and a permanent criminal record.

The Michigan child abuse defense lawyers at Kronzek & Cronkright are experienced with helping clients who have been accused of, or charged with, child abuse. Shaken Baby Syndrome cases are complex and can be difficult for the prosecution to prove. There are usually no witnesses, and thus the case will come down to proving, through recreation and physical evidence, that the child was violently shaken. Medical experts will be required to support your side of the story. At Kronzek & Cronkright, our lawyers have the knowledge, experience and resources necessary to effectively represent a client in a Michigan Shaken Baby Syndrome case.

Sexual Allegation Attorney

The Michigan child abuse defense lawyers at Kronzek & Cronkright are experienced in representing clients who are facing child sexual abuse and child molestation charges. Children’s Protective Services, a division of Michigan’s Department of Human Services, will likely become involved in a thorough and invasive investigation if you have been accused of child abuse. You need, and you deserve, to have a defense lawyer on your side who can aggressively assert your rights and fight for your freedom.

You may lose custody of your child or children if you are accused of child molestation. Once Children’s Protective Services (CPS) becomes involved, everything is at stake. In cases involving child sexual abuse, law enforcement and CPS agents will do whatever they can to safeguard the child or children involved and may therefore make an arrest, conduct an investigation and even file criminal charges against a parent or guardian who did not actually do anything wrong.

Contact a Michigan child abuse defense attorney at Kronzek & Cronkright to begin protecting your future immediately. Call us immediately 1-866-766-5245!

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Shaken Baby Syndrome Defense

Attorney Mark Freeman

For those falsely accused of Shaken Baby Syndrome

About Mark Freeman Esq.

My path to law is a bit different than most.  I graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. This degree is particularly helpful in understanding why injury bioengineers have consistently rejected the hypothesis of shaken baby syndrome on the basis of mechanical science.  I worked for the Department of Defense for five years before leaving the government to run a small business on the Main Line of Philadelphia.   While married with three young children, running a small business and working 60 or more hours per week, I entered the evening division of Temple University Law School and completed the trial advocacy program.  My law practice focused on estate planning, estate administration and elder law for many years.

• Mark Freeman is an attorney that got involved in defending those accused of shaking a child when a close friend was charged with child abuse for allegedly shaking his son.

My entry into the shaken baby world came when the baby of a close personal friend of mine went to the hospital with seizure activity and vomiting.  My friend was arrested and charged with assault and child endangerment.  Fortunately, his two month old son survived.  My friend had a very experienced criminal lawyer represent him and I offered to help.  It quickly became apparent that even an experienced criminal attorney had little idea how to defend an alleged shaken baby case.

• After spending hundreds of hours investigating, reading medical journal articles and speaking with doctors from around the country about shaken baby syndrome, Mark confirmed with science what he knew in his heart, that his friend was innocent and that the doctors were wrong.

So I spent hundreds of hours researching, reading medical journal articles, going to conferences and talking to doctors from around the country.  Within a few months we were able to figure out what really happened to his son and with co-counsel successfully defended the dependency proceeding where the county child protective services was trying to take his son away from both him and his wife.

Since that first case, Mark has vigorously defended innocent parents of false charges of child abuse, regained custody of children for innocent parents and has defended innocent parents of criminal charges.

After learning how our legal and child protective services agencies adopt the medical presumption of abuse when a child has a subdural hematoma as a result of the dogma of shaken baby syndrome, I began to represent those who were victimized by this false medical hypothesis.  It is tragic when these young children experience these symptoms that appear to have been caused by child abuse when the parents have done nothing to hurt their baby.  It is even more tragic when innocent parents and caregivers are charged criminally and/or have their children taken away from them.  As an attorney, I consider it the highest professional calling to represent those who have been falsely accused and I find deep satisfaction in returning children to innocent parents and successfully defending false charges of abuse.

If you are accused of child endangerment, child abuse, assault, aggravated assault, manslaughter, murder or if your child has been taken away from you, you should find an attorney who will gather expert doctor witnesses who will review the medical records and provide a reasonable medical explanation for the injuries if such an explanation in fact exists.  Without a reasonable medical explanation for the injuries found, the outcome of your legal proceedings will likely not be favorable for you.  Your attorney should also be familiar with the fallacies of the shaken baby syndrome and its variants, such as the shaken impact syndrome, abusive head trauma label and others.  Without familiarity of the fallacies of these “theories” your attorney will not be able to effectively cross examine the prosecutions expert witnesses.  Often it is helpful to have an attorney well versed in shaken baby defense team up with an experienced local criminal attorney who knows the judges and prosecutors in the county.

Mark is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and can be reached at: 1-800-580-0084

Source:

http://shakenbabydefense.com/about/

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Shaken Baby Syndrome Defense

Toni Blake, J.D., M.A.

-Juris Doctorate

-Masters in Cognitive Social Psychology

-Associate Professor of Psychology

-Extensive research background in jury decision-making and cognitive psychology    in the courtroom

-Published author of books and articles

-Selected juries in over 300 cases

-Guest lecturer for law schools, bar associations and medical conventions

-High-profile cases have appeared on Court TV, Dateline, 20/20, and other international media outlets and television shows.

-Has appeared on numerous Radio and TV talk shows.

-Served as a Legal Commentator for Westerfield Trial, and others

Extensive Trial Experience in:

-Over 18 Capital Cases

-Over 100 Murder Cases

-Over 400 “Shaken Baby Syndrome” Cases

-Over 50 Civil Cases, including but not limited to: Sexual Harassment and —Employment Cases, Personal Injury, Medical Malpractice and Insanity Defense Cases.

Contact:

Toni@2ndChairServices.com

2nd Chair Services
5638 Lake Murray Blvd #122
La Mesa CA, 91942

Phone (619) 469-5143
Fax (800)580-9068

Source:

http://www.sbsdefense.com/aboutus.htm

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Kim Hart

Trial consulting and support services for attorneys representing persons suspected of or accused with allegations of child abuse, sexual abuse of children, and other charges of a similar nature.

When you or someone you care for is accused, and or charged with allegations of child abuse, it can be devastating. While each case is unique, there is a growing body of knowledge that can help put together an effective defense and allow a person who is accused to prove their innocence.

Kim Hart has over 20 years of high profile experience providing consulting and support services to defense teams during the investigative, pre-trial, trial, and appeals stages of child abuse cases.

I work with your lawyer to plan and develop specialized defense strategies for those needing help defending their innocence including but not limited to allegations of:

• Child Abuse

• Molesting

• Sexual Abuse

• Child Neglect

• Shaken Baby

• Munchausen’s By Proxy

• Rape

• Wrongful Charges

• Wrongful Conviction

• Wrongful Imprisonment

Ms. Hart also has continuing communication with leading professionals and expert witnesses. Those professionals are located throughout the world and allow Ms. Hart to stay abreast of the most current developments in medicine, science, and psychology as relates to the defense of these types of cases.

For example, hearsay not allowed in virtually any other case, except possibly murder under the right circumstances, has been elevated to the form of credible testimony and exceptions have been made for its admission in child abuse related cases.

Compounding problems of defending child abuse allegations is the fact that the fields of psychology, psychiatry, medicine, social work, and criminal investigation and interrogation are intertwined with legal issues and all are rapidly changing. Often, when there is physical evidence, doctors and state “experts” will interpret the evidence as proof of an intentional injury caused by the defendant when the physical evidence may not really indicate intentional injury at all. The research and data, voluminous in nature, must be fully understood to be incorporated into a successful defense.

Unless an attorney devotes his or her practice extensively to defending child abuse related allegations, it is nearly impossible for him or her to review, analyze, and incorporate the data/research into a successful defense strategy and to keep abreast of new research. As experienced consultants in child abuse related cases, we will supplement and complement your attorney’s skills, will save countless time in research, and will offer unique strategy in defending each particular case.

Source:

http://www.kimhart.com/index.html

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Shaken Baby Syndrome

Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is a term used to describe a constellation of injuries and the mechanism of abuse that causes these injuries.

The Signs of Shaken Baby Syndrome

The major signs of SBS are subdural and/or subarachnoid hematomas (bleeding in the membranes that cover the brain), and retinal hemorrhages (bleeding in the back of the inner surface of the eyes) with little or no sign of external injury.  In some cases there are broken ribs and fractures of the skull.  The broken ribs are said to be caused by the manner in which the child is held around the rib cage during the shaking.  When a fractured skull is found, it is usually seen to be caused by the head striking an object during shaking.  Brain injury in these cases is usually caused by an individual who shakes an infant, usually under the age of two years, severely back and forth.

Infants who are less than two do not have fully developed neck muscles and so the head can be whip lashed back and forth.  Because these young infants’ brains do not yet fill the entire brain cavity or skull, the brain becomes bruised as it literally bounces back and forth and rotates inside the skull as the baby is shaken.  The rapid acceleration, deceleration and rotation of the brain also tears the bridging veins that cover its surface, which accounts for hematomas, or bleeding in the brain.

The combination of surface bruising and the hematomas ultimately lead to cerebral edema, or swelling of the brain.  Not all infants die from SBS, but if the swelling of the brain cannot be controlled, the brain tissue deteriorates due to compression within the skull.  It is usually the cerebral edema or brain swelling that leads to death.  If the child does not die, brain damage and mental retardation are common as a result of the edema.

Medical Research on SBS

The original medical research article on SBS was written by Dr. John Caffey and was entitled  “The Whiplash Shaken Infant Syndrome: Manual Shaking by the Extremities With Whiplash-Induced Intracranial and Intraocular Bleeding, Linked With Residual Permanent Brain Damage and Mental Retardation.”

There rarely are witnesses to abusive shaking; therefore, the case is usually a matter of attempting to re-create what occurred by using medical descriptions and analyses of the injuries.  As you can imagine, these cases turn into the Battle Of The Experts.

The opinions of these professionals, can be contradictory because no one has sufficient scientific data in this area: It is not possible or ethical to create a controlled study that measures the effects of shaking on a real infant’s brain. Unfortunately, opinions are sometimes based on personal biases when there is no scientific information available.  This is the case with many child advocacy experts.

Child Advocacy Experts and SBS

Child advocacy experts claim that SBS injuries can never be caused by a fall.  This is based on the idea that a short fall cannot create the necessary acceleration/ deceleration forces that bruise and tear brain tissue.  But this is not always the case.

Studies on artificial brains subjected to falls have shown that the acceleration/ deceleration forces are forty times greater when the head is suddenly stopped by an object than when the head is shaken in mid air.

Government statistical reviews of children who have suffered short distance falls show skull fractures, sub-dural hematomas, and sub-arachnoid hematomas. In addition, autopsies of automobile accident victims have described some of these same injuries. This empirical research demonstrates that it is possible, for the brain to be damaged by an accidental fall or sudden, accidental impact.  This is why, when a parent claims that an accident occurred, the defense attorney must place into evidence all the research data showing that the injuries that the child sustained could have been sustained in an accident.

One of the serious problems with SBS is that researchers have not actually seen a child being shaken and then done an autopsy to study or measure the injuries. Without scientific studies to guide child advocacy experts, SBS is open to exaggerated claims about how violent the shaking must be in order to cause the injuries in any given case.

Descriptions from the child advocacy experts, of a child having to fall from a third story window or having to be slammed against a wall while swung by its feet, to sustain the alleged injuries, have an enormous emotional effect on a jury.  Moreover, these unsubstantiated and unscientific stories interfere with the jury’s fair determination as to whether or not the injury was an accident, caused by another caretaker, and whether or not the defendant is guilty of manslaughter, second-degree murder or first-degree murder.

In Shaken Baby Syndrome cases, a mother or a female babysitter is just as likely to be charged with child physical abuse or murder as is a husband or male babysitter.  The person that is charged is normally the individual who was caring for the child when the symptoms first became evident.

Child advocacy experts believe that the SBS injuries are so severe that the symptoms of such trauma would be immediately apparent, making it impossible for anyone to claim that an injured child appeared normal when it came into his or her care.  In other words, there is no time delay between inflicting the trauma and observing it.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Our Findings in SBS Cases

In the cases that our office has handled, prosecution witnesses on cross examination have attempted to claim that their research supports their theory that there is no time delay between injury and symptoms.

When our researchers analyzed the studies that the child advocacy experts named, they did not find any evidence to support the non-time delay theory.

In fact, the main study that our team found stated that there could be a delay between the time of the injury and the time of the symptoms due to the fact that it takes time for a two-year old’s brain to swell and fill the cavity space.

Yet, a number of child advocacy experts continue to make these unsubstantiated claims in published papers, despite the lack of any scientific evidence to support their opinions.

Our researchers have found numerous studies that strongly support a delay between injury and symptom, and not minutes, but many hours.  And if there can be a delay of numerous hours between the time of injury and the time of the symptoms, then it is also possible that several people could have been involved in caring for the child.  Therefore, there are other people who should be investigated, not just the individual who was with the child at the time the symptoms first appeared, in order to determine how and when the child sustained such life-threatening physical trauma.

In conclusion, a Shaken Baby Syndrome case is extremely difficult to prepare and present to a jury. The cost for the necessary experts is staggering because most of the evidence relies on medical expert testimony and medical research papers.

The most serious problems, however, are 1) insufficient research; and 2) the inaccessibility of supporting research.

First of all, one simply cannot shake a baby in a lab with monitors on the baby to see what damage is done to the brain and body.  And secondly, supporting studies are not only difficult to find but sometimes written in other languages. These two factors enable the child advocacy expert to substitute his or her own personal or political beliefs for fact.

Even the educated public is not familiar with head trauma studies or the complexities of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Therefore, the role of the defense team is to teach the jury the difference between scientific research and the opinions of an advocate.

Finally, the defense must educate the jury members on the actual state of knowledge with regard to brain trauma so they can determine the truth of the child’s injuries and the innocence or guilt of the defendant.

You need to contact a specialist right away! Our trial team can help!
Fax 1-888-995-7868

Tel. (734) 327-5030
Fax 1-888-995-7868

Lorandos and Associates
214 North Fourth Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI  48104

Our chief litigator is a Ph.D. clinical psychologist and honors graduate of a private Jesuit law school.  He is a nationally-recognized expert with 40+ years of experience in defending those falsely accused of abuse.

EXPERT IN A WIDE VARIETY OF FALSE ACCUSATIONS

Almost 30 years ago, our trial team leader began his work in this area as an expert witness for Child Protective Services.  He eventually became so upset with the manner in which children and families were represented in court that he retired and went to law school.  He is now a noted expert in such areas as false allegations of child abuse, sexual abuse, sexual assault, child molestation, shaken baby syndrome, Munchhausen Syndrome by proxy, as well as junk science.

CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, PSYCHOLOGIST, AUTHOR

Besides his success as a criminal defense attorney, our chief litigator is a WEST Group Key Author and teaches lawyers and judges about the intersection of science and the law.  His published texts in this area are used to educate attorneys and mental health experts across the country.

NATIONAL PRESENCE

Besides being a member of the Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Federal Circuits as well as the Bar of the United States Supreme Court, our trial team leader maintains state bar memberships in Michigan, California, and New York.  In addition, he is a licensed psychologist in both Michigan and California.

To see more information on this advocate and to view links to his multiple resources for both parents and their defense attorneys click here:  http://www.falsely-accused.net/

Videos For Clients Falsley Acussed Of Abuse:

http://www.falsely-accused.net/falsely-accused-client-videos.php

Continuing Legal Education Videos For Family Law And Criminal Defense Attorneys:

http://www.falsely-accused.net/falsely-accused-defense-attorney.php

Watch Them Cross Examine Experts:

http://www.falsely-accused.net/cross-examine-expert-witnesses.php

Source:

http://www.falsely-accused.net/shaken-baby-syndrome.php