Amicus Brief: Darryl Nieves
State of New Jersey v. Darryl Nieves
Filing Date
November 25, 2022
Charge
Aggravated assault and child endangerment
Jurisdiction
Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division
Partners
Innocence Project
Summary
CIFS and the Innocence Project filed this brief in the Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division in Darryl Nieves’ case to ask the court to affirm the trial court order excluding expert evidence concerning the AHT diagnosis, and affirm the dismissal of the indictment.
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
This case presents the important question of whether the State’s proposed expert testimony concerning Acute Head Trauma (“AHT”) – also known as shaken baby syndrome – is sufficiently reliable to be admitted as expert proofs under the Frye standard. In a thorough and thoughtful decision, the trial court determined that the State’s expert’s AHT diagnosis lacked sufficient reliability to be admitted under Frye. As this was the only evidence implicating the accused, the trial court then properly dismissed the indictment. Amici respectfully submit that this Court should affirm the lower court’s ruling. The trial court correctly recognized that the State’s expert failed to present medical or scientific evidence that validated, through clinical or experimental means, an AHT diagnosis based on the presence of the “triad” symptoms. The trial court further found that the State failed to prove that the science underpinning the State’s AHT diagnosis is sufficiently reliable to be admissible.