Arguments were heard in court today on a motion to dismiss charges against Rene Bailey of Greece, sparing her a second trial in the death of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl at her home daycare. The judge will rule in May on whether the evidence should go to a new grand jury or the case should be dropped.
Bailey’s attorney argued the indictment is on the same evidence rejected by the judge who overturned her conviction 13 years after the fact.
Prosecutors argued that the toddler didn’t show external injuries consistent with a fall and a blow to the head, as Bailey claimed. ADA Sarah VanStrydonck says the original evidence is solid.
Bailey was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2001 for the death of Brittney Sheets. At the time, experts testified that only a violent shaking could have caused the injuries which led to the toddler’s death. But lawyers brought her case back to court in 2014, when then-County Court Judge James Piampiano found there had been a fundamental shift in scientific understanding of brain injury since then. New evidence suggested a fall suffered by the child could have caused the fatal injuries. The judge ruled Bailey would likely not have been found guilty given today’s science and overturned her conviction.
The Appellate Division of State Supreme Court unanimously upheld his ruling last fall, but the Monroe County District Attorney decided to retry Bailey.