(WXYZ) — He was accused by a pediatrician of abusing his daughter, but always maintained his innocence.
After years of the Michigan Innocence Clinic fighting for justice for Josh Burns, his conviction has now been vacated.
Back in 2015, the 7 Investigators led the way exposing what many in our community called a serious injustice that threatened to tear one family apart. Now the Burns family finally has an ending to their story.
Extended interview: 'It's changed us forever.' Josh and Brenda Burns speak about their family's journey
Josh and his wife Brenda say they had their world turned upside down back in 2014 when they say they were falsely accused of abusing their infant daughter Naomi at their home in Brighton.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve been through in my life,” Burns told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo.
“Devastating, humiliating, terrifying,” said Brenda.
Josh said when Naomi was two months old, she slipped off his lap and he caught her by the face to keep her from hitting the floor. Both Josh and Brenda say it was an accident, and Naomi had no obvious injuries other than a small bruise. Later, doctors discovered bleeding between the baby's skull and brain, and they found retinal hemorrhages. Both parents and some medical experts said that Naomi's injuries were largely caused by birth trauma and illness. But a Child Abuse Pediatrician and Livingston County prosecutors said it was abuse.
“Did you abuse your daughter?” asked Catallo.
“Never. I would never hurt my daughter,” said Burns.
While Brenda was later cleared of all charges, a jury convicted Josh of 2nd degree child abuse, which is a 10-year felony.
But the community rallied around Josh, signing petitions and holding protests.
“It’s hard to describe the feelings of going into prison an innocent man. But the blood of my innocence is on their hands,” said Burns in 2015.
Citing all the community support, the judge sentenced Josh Burns to a year in the county jail.
“I know the media coverage, especially from Channel 7 was huge,” said Burns. “I know that it had a direct impact on the judge and sentencing. I was facing 10 years in prison. She took a downward departure in my sentence and gave me the minimum sentence possible.”
Lawyers from the Michigan Innocence Clinic saw that coverage of Josh’s case and wanted to help.
Extended interview: David Moran speaks about shaken baby syndrome cases
“Of all of the ‘shaken baby’ cases we've had, the testimony that was given against Josh Burns may have been the most egregious. So we took this case on direct appeal, which means, unlike the vast majority of our cases where we're revisiting the case years, maybe decades, after the conviction, we decided to take his case right after he was convicted and do the appeal,” said David Moran, the former co-director and co-founder of the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic.
Moran recently retired from the UM Innocence Clinic, but he’s championed the Burns case for years.
When the appeals did not work, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s Conviction Integrity Unit took the case and got prosecutors to agree to vacate Josh’s conviction and dismiss the child abuse charge. The judge signed the order November 21, 2024.
“It's really the greatest feeling in the world professionally I think that a lawyer can have, is winning a case on behalf of a very, very nice, solid person who is so grateful for the help and who deserves to have this outcome,” said Moran.
Josh Burns is the 45th person the clinic’s students and lawyers have helped exonerate, and he’s the 6th person accused of something called “shaken baby syndrome” that they’ve helped get cleared.
Moran says studies have shown that the symptoms once labeled “shaken baby syndrome” can be caused by many things other than abuse – including accidentally dropping a child, or illness.
“The basic idea came from a few papers that were published in the early 1970s, one by an American physician and one by a British physician, that if you see a baby in the emergency room who has three symptoms: subdural hematoma -- that's bleeding on the outer layer of the brain, retinal hemorrhages, which is bleeding behind the eyes and cerebral edema, which is generalized brain swelling… Then the only thing that could cause that was violent and abusive shaking by a parent or caregiver. So that was the hypothesis. The problem is that the hypothesis has never been proven. And we now know that there are lots of other causes that cause those three symptoms,” said Moran.
Once Josh was released from jail, the Burns family left Michigan. And after nearly 10 years of work by the U of M lawyers and students, the judge recently signed this order vacating Josh’s sentence:
“We are so grateful,” said Burns.
After the order was signed in late November, Josh and Brenda spoke to 7 Investigator Heather Catallo from their home in Texas where Naomi is now a happy and healthy 10-year-old.
“She has a rosy view of the world and is fun and creative,” said Brenda Burns.
“Just being able to look at my daughter now and someday say, I have a story to tell you, justice was served finally-- it’s an amazing thing,” said Josh Burns.
Both Josh and Brenda say the false conviction had massive consequences in their life.
“It’s changed us forever,” said Brenda.
The conviction cost Josh his job as a Delta Airlines pilot, and Brenda was too terrified to have another baby.
“I just could not have another child,” said Brenda Burns. “I was too traumatized.”
“Always having to look over your shoulder thinking like, okay, we have to take Naomi to the doctor’s office today… What do we have to share about our past? How is this pediatrician going to perceive our family?” said Josh Burns.
Now both Brenda and Josh are grateful for the work of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, the Attorney General, and everyone who supported them.
“What this really showed is this can happen to anyone. And it’s frightening, it’s a frightening thing for parents to realize you can have an accident or you can have a medical issue going on with your child. And if it presents the wrong way to a Child Abuse Pediatrician or an ER pediatrician, you could quickly find yourself in the crosshairs of a system that is just a wrecking ball for families,” said Burns.
The 7 Investigators contacted the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Child Protective Services, which pursued the abuse allegations against the Burns family back in 2014 and 2015. A spokesperson provided this statement:
“While we can’t discuss specific cases due to state and federal laws, MDHHS remains deeply committed to ensuring the health and safety of all children.”
If you have a story for Heather Catallo please email her at hcatallo@wxyz.com
