Shaken baby case in Battle Creek won't get second trial

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. - A prosecutor will not seek a second trial against a Battle Creek man who successfully challenged his manslaughter conviction in the death of his 5-month-old son.

Shawn Brown's shaken-baby conviction was thrown out by the Michigan Court of Appeals in 2019 after he had served nine years in prison and was released on parole. The Michigan Supreme Court subsequently declined a prosecutor's appeal.

The appeals court found that Brown’s trial lawyer was ineffective for failing to present an expert to question the Calhoun County prosecutor’s theory of the boy's death.

Shawn Brown Jr. died in 2010. Brown told police that his son stopped breathing after he struck him in the back to relieve choking. A forensic pathologist said the boy’s death was caused by traumatic brain injury.

But doctors consulted by Brown’s new legal team at University of Michigan law school said any injury was present days before Shawn’s death.

The school's Innocence Clinic has challenged many so-called shaken baby convictions.

The prosecutor's office recently filed a document dismissing the case against Brown, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported.