MONROE - A Green County judge granted a six-month extension Thursday in the appeal of a Brodhead man's conviction of shaking his infant son to death.
Casey J. Shelton, 39, was found guilty of first-degree reckless homicide at a jury trial in January 2009 and sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 2007 death of his 2-month-old son, Christopher. He's incarcerated in Waupun.
This is the fourth time Shelton has sought an appeal of his conviction, with and without representation. He's been denied twice in the District IV Court of Appeals and once by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Now, armed with a claim of newly discovered medical evidence, he is returning with the legal backing of the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Founded in 1998, the program seeks to exonerate the innocent, educate law students and reform the criminal justice system "by identifying and remedying the causes of wrongful convictions."
The Innocence Project's motion for appeal was filed in May in Green County Circuit Court. Cristina Borde, the clinical law professor representing Shelton, successfully argued Thursday for more time to gather medical records to supplement the motion, which is already 90-plus pages.
Borde said two medical specialists have agreed to give expert testimony in the appeal.
Judge James Beer granted her request for an extension until March 11 to file the supplementary information.
"It's a complex case," Borde said after the short hearing. She has the assistance of two second-year law students, Matt Moertel and Devlan Sheahan. The students are assigned at random to an appeals case as part of their education.
Shelton's appeal, if accepted, would join a mounting number of challenges to "shaken baby" cases across the country, based on a claim that new medical evidence discredits the Shaken Baby Syndrome diagnosis. The Wisconsin Innocence Project and similar programs nationwide have successfully freed defendants convicted in shaken baby cases.
Shelton was also charged after Christopher's death with two felony counts of child abuse, based on evidence presented in court that Shelton was physically abusive of Christopher and his twin brother Charles. Shelton reportedly stuffed rags in the infants' mouths to stop their crying and threw Charles on the floor "just like a football."
The child abuse charges were later dismissed as part of a pre-trial agreement. Shelton's appeal maintains there was no evidence at trial that alleged any abuse consistent with how Christopher died.
Christopher's brother Charles is now 8 and lives with his mother. She attended Thursday's hearing. She said she follows the case closely and attends all Shelton's hearings because she never wants to see him get out of prison.
Casey J. Shelton, 39, was found guilty of first-degree reckless homicide at a jury trial in January 2009 and sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 2007 death of his 2-month-old son, Christopher. He's incarcerated in Waupun.
This is the fourth time Shelton has sought an appeal of his conviction, with and without representation. He's been denied twice in the District IV Court of Appeals and once by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Now, armed with a claim of newly discovered medical evidence, he is returning with the legal backing of the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Founded in 1998, the program seeks to exonerate the innocent, educate law students and reform the criminal justice system "by identifying and remedying the causes of wrongful convictions."
The Innocence Project's motion for appeal was filed in May in Green County Circuit Court. Cristina Borde, the clinical law professor representing Shelton, successfully argued Thursday for more time to gather medical records to supplement the motion, which is already 90-plus pages.
Borde said two medical specialists have agreed to give expert testimony in the appeal.
Judge James Beer granted her request for an extension until March 11 to file the supplementary information.
"It's a complex case," Borde said after the short hearing. She has the assistance of two second-year law students, Matt Moertel and Devlan Sheahan. The students are assigned at random to an appeals case as part of their education.
Shelton's appeal, if accepted, would join a mounting number of challenges to "shaken baby" cases across the country, based on a claim that new medical evidence discredits the Shaken Baby Syndrome diagnosis. The Wisconsin Innocence Project and similar programs nationwide have successfully freed defendants convicted in shaken baby cases.
Shelton was also charged after Christopher's death with two felony counts of child abuse, based on evidence presented in court that Shelton was physically abusive of Christopher and his twin brother Charles. Shelton reportedly stuffed rags in the infants' mouths to stop their crying and threw Charles on the floor "just like a football."
The child abuse charges were later dismissed as part of a pre-trial agreement. Shelton's appeal maintains there was no evidence at trial that alleged any abuse consistent with how Christopher died.
Christopher's brother Charles is now 8 and lives with his mother. She attended Thursday's hearing. She said she follows the case closely and attends all Shelton's hearings because she never wants to see him get out of prison.