TORONTO, Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Two people convicted in shaken baby cases in Ontario have been granted appeals following reviews of all such cases in the province, officials said.
An Ontario Court of Appeal judge ruled Thursday to allow Jennifer Gaskin and Bernard Doyle to appeal their manslaughter convictions in unrelated shaken baby cases, the Toronto Star reported.
A total of 129 shaken baby cases were reviewed following revelations that Charles Smith, the head pediatric forensic pathologist at the Hospital for Sick Children, made errors in hundreds of autopsies. The review began in 2008.
A panel of international doctors went over medical evidence in the cases and singled out four that were "of concern," including Gaskin and Doyle's cases.
Gaskin, who was convicted of manslaughter in the shaken baby death of her infant son, Joeseph, in 2002, and Doyle were both granted appeals after the review. Information on when Doyle was convicted was not reported.
Both defendants have maintained their innocence since their convictions, CBC News reported.
"There's no question that today, the whole SBS hypothesis is being questioned on its scientific foundation," said James Lockyer, a lawyer representing Gaskin and Doyle. "I'm of the opinion that both of them may well have been convicted of crimes they did not commit."
