LANSING (WKZO) — The State Supreme Court has ruled that Leo Ackley should get a new trial.
He is serving life after he was convicted of the death of 3-year-old Bailey Stenman in Calhoun County in 2011.
His new defense attorney, who works for the Michigan Innocence Clinic, argued before the Justices that his original lawyer should have called an expert to testify that a diagnosis of “Shaken Baby Syndrome” is being called into question more and more, as proof of abuse.
Ackley’s first attorney was even given the name of an expert but did not call him.
The Justices unanimously ruled that Ackley was denied an effective defense.
The case no goes back to the local court and for now the ball is in the Proscutor’s hands. He could refile charges and retry the case, or drop the charges or possibly strike a deal with Ackley.
