Riker Danzig served as amici curiae counsel in today’s landmark New Jersey Supreme Court case on Shaken Baby Syndrome/ Abusive Head Trauma (“SBS/AHT”), decided on November 20, 2025. Led by Riker Danzig Co-Chair Kelly S. Crawford, Riker Danzig represented The Innocence Network and the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences in this controversial case, which questioned whether the science supporting SBS/AHT was sufficient to be presented to the jury in two separate criminal child abuse cases.
In a 109-page majority opinion written by Justice Pierre-Louis, with a 44-page dissent by Justice Wainer Apter, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the trial court and Appellate Division rulings that the State had failed to meet its burden under Frye v. United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923) that the proposed expert testimony is “generally accepted” in the relevant community to which the expertise belongs. New Jersey is the first Court in the U.S. to openly question the diagnosis of SBS/AHT, and to prevent this diagnosis from being presented to jurors without sign of other injury, such as bruising or neck damage.
The shaken baby syndrome diagnosis, which has led to numerous convictions of parents and caregivers following infant deaths in recent years, has come under intense scrutiny due to significant disagreement in the scientific and medical communities about whether shaking alone can produce the symptoms associated with the syndrome.
As quoted in a November 20, 2025 Bloomberg Law article on the ruling, Kelly said, “It’s a great ruling on the specific issue with this specific diagnosis, but it’s also a great ruling for us in enforcing the gatekeeper rule of the courts – that only good science is being allowed to be presented to juries.”
Riker Danzig associate Ryan M. Dunn worked on the matter with Kelly in achieving this groundbreaking result.
See the Bloomberg article here (subscription may be required.)
