Nashville judge issues ruling, won't overturn dad's murder conviction in baby son's death
A man convicted on a questionable diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome will remain behind bars after his post-conviction relief petition was denied by a Nashville judge.
The ruling, issued Thursday by Judge Steve Dozier, comes a month after Russell Maze appeared in court for a two-day hearing, where medical experts testified that Alex Maze's diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome was highly unlikely.
The hearing was held after the Davidson County District Attorney's Conviction Review Unit asked the court to throw out Russell Maze's conviction.
"The court has endeavored to reconsider this matter with respect and gravity," Dozier wrote in the order. "As set out in this order previously, the Court does not find an injustice nor that Petitioner is actually innocent based on new scientific evidence."
Maze has 30 days to appeal the ruling.
“The Tennessee Innocence Project fully believes that Russell Maze is innocent and we will keep fighting on his behalf," attorney Jason Gichner said Friday.
How baby Alex died
In May of 1999, five-week-old Alex Maze stopped breathing while Russell Maze was home alone with him. Medics revived the infant, and he was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where Dr. Suzanne Starling concluded the child was a victim of abusive head trauma.
Police questioned Russell and Kaye Maze, the child's mother. Russell Maze denied shaking their son, but later said it was possible he may have jostled the infant when trying to revive the boy.
Medical records showed Alex had bleeding around the eyes and brain, head and abdominal bruising and a fractured collarbone.
Alex Maze was remanded into the care of a foster home upon his discharge from the hospital. Russell and Kaye Maze were both charged with aggravated child abuse.
Kaye Maze ultimately pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in May of 2000 in an effort to regain custody of her child upon release from prison and served two years. She, too, filed a post-conviction relief petition, which seeks to have her conviction overturned.
Alex was rushed to the hospital on Oct. 19, 2000 and died six days later from complications of shaken baby syndrome, doctors said.
Russell Maze was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2004. It was a trial Judge Dozier presided over.
Doctors testify there's no evidence of trauma
Seven doctors and the detective who worked the case testified at the hearing last month.
The doctors pointed not to shaken baby syndrome as the likely cause of death, but rather a stoke.
The typical evidence of shaken baby syndrome — damage to the neck or ribs — was not present in Alex’s body, the doctors said. Blood clots in the brain worsened days after Alex was admitted, which indicates they were caused by a buildup of blood from blockage, not trauma.
Alex’s complex history of life-threatening medical issues was largely ignored, including a premature birth and being born to a mother with several health issues, doctors said.
"The 'devastating injuries' suffered by Alex have been chronicled at length," Dozier wrote in the order. "While the present witnesses have added their opinions to the lengthy evidentiary history, this additional information is not considered as standalone proof."
Dozier acknowledged that all the doctors who testified did not believe the injuries were trauma-inflicted.
"In its present role, the Court is unconvinced the 'new scientific evidence' presents substantially more than different opinion on extant proof," Dozier wrote. "The Court cannot conclude that Petitioner has established by clear and convincing evidence that 'no jury would have convicted him in light of the new evidence' presented at this post-conviction hearing."
Dozier, for those reasons, denied Maze his post-conviction relief. He also denied relief to Kaye Maze.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville judge won't overturn man's conviction in baby son's death
