Columbus man released on bond after new trial granted in 2002 'shaken baby' case
Alan J. Butts was released from the jail Thursday night for the first time in 19 years and 7 months after a Franklin County judge granted him bond and a new trial in the "'shaken baby" death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old son in 2002.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Brown set bond for Butts on Thursday after he issued an order in November granting Butts a new trial.
On Feb. 14, 2002, Butts was caring for 2-year-old Jaydyn R. Unger when the toddler died.
Butts' murder conviction by jury hinged on the science involving abusive head trauma, also referred to as shaken baby syndrome. His defense counsel argues the science presented at Butts' trial does not hold up today.
"We know today the jury was told things (at Butts' trial) in 2003 that just were not true," said Donald Caster, an attorney with the Ohio Innocence Project at the University of Cincinnati. "Unfortunately, this was a sick child who died of being sick."
Caster said Butts is "very excited about getting the opportunity to rebuild his life."
Denise Horn, Butts' mother, told The Dispatch she cannot describe how she felt seeing her son walk out of jail.
"It was just an indescribable feeling of just relief that it's finally, really here," she said. "He’s finally home, finally getting justice."
For decades, infants and toddlers who died with internal bleeding in the head and little evidence of external injury were assumed to have been shaken violently, but doctors now know that bleeding can be caused by genetic conditions, infections, accidents and more, according to the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences.
In May, Judge Brown heard six days of testimony on Butts' motion for a new trial, including from experts in pediatric radiology, pathology and neuropathology.
More:Shaken baby syndrome: Was Columbus woman in prison for 18 years because of bad science?
Brown wrote in his decision that the "shift in understanding by the medical community raises a strong probability of a different result on retrial.”
Franklin County Prosecutor Gary Tyack's office maintains the jury got it right two decades ago and Butts should not get another trial, said First Assistant Prosecutor Janet Grubb.
"We believe the evidence was and is sufficient to sustain the charge," Grubb told The Dispatch.
Grubb said the prosecutor's office will either appeal Brown's decision to grant a retrial or retry the case.
Butts was imprisoned at the Marion Correctional Institution after his conviction in 2003. After he is released on bond, Butts will be on electronic GPS monitoring. He will be able to move around Franklin and Delaware Counties.
His next court date is in February.
"While this is an important step in the right direction, and, of course, life-changing for Alan and his family, far too many people remain behind bars because of this flawed and outdated hypothesis,” said Katherine Judson, one of Alan's attorneys and executive director of the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences.
More court news:Franklin County court roundup: three plead in unrelated homicide cases; murder case dismissed
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man out on bond after being granted new trial in shaken baby case
