NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Nashville man who has spent the past 25 years in prison for a crime he maintains he didn’t commit could soon be released after the Davidson County District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU) said new medical evidence proves he is innocent.
During a hearing Tuesday, the CRU asked the court to vacate Russell Maze’s murder conviction he received in connection to the death of 19-month-old son, Alex, in October 2000.
On May 3, 1999, Maze found six-week-old Alex unresponsive in his crib. When Alex was rushed to the hospital, doctors launched a child abuse investigation, citing bruising and hemorrhaging in Alex’s brain “seen in abusive head trauma” or shaken baby syndrome, according to court documents.
Russell and his wife, Kaye, were charged with child abuse and lost custody of Alex.
Alex died more than a year later while in foster care. As a result, Russell was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
However, Russell has always maintained his innocence, and the CRU called in several medical experts to testify Tuesday, March 26, attempting to prove it.
“Every single medical expert using current science confirms Russell and Kaye Maze are actually innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted,” District Attorney Glenn Funk told the judge.
Doctors testified there were no signs of shaking or trauma on Alex’s brain due to the size of the lesions, the amount of blood, the fact that his brain bleed grew worse overtime, and other factors. They added other symptoms of shaken baby syndrome, including a neck injury and broken ribs weren’t present.
Medical experts believe Alex died from brain damage caused by a stroke likely triggered by one of his many health issues, which included a heart condition, problems with his red blood cells, and his six-week premature birth.
Pediatric neurologist, Dr. Joseph Scheller, called Alex’s child abuse diagnosis “a rush to judgement.”
“[Alex’s doctor] herself recommended a whole bunch of tests. Let’s wait until all the tests are done and then we can perhaps make a judgement, but to say on the first day that this is inflicted trauma and that the mechanism is from a rotation? That’s just incredible to me,” Scheller said.
Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, chief medical examiner for Knox and Anderson counties and a forensic pathologist, agreed Alex’s lesions on his brain were likely indicative of a stroke and not abuse. She also expressed concerns about the health of his other organs, including his liver, which she believes could have been signs of an underlying disease.
“It was telling me that this child suffered from some sort of systemic disorder that was never really addressed or diagnosed or treated for that matter,” Mileusnic-Polchan said.
In addition, Dr. Michael Laposata, professor and chairman of the department of pathology at the University of Texas Medical Branch, testified about problems with Alex’s red blood cells and severe anemia, which could have indicated he had a bleeding disorder.
“You can have mistakes that are made because there are underlying diseases that mimic child abuse, and now this is a very well known thing that emerged over the past 20 years or so because of the false imprisonment of innocent people,” Laposata said.
“Would it be fair to say that looking at Alex’s pattern of the red blood cells, their size and their shape in context with his documented severe anemia, that these point away from a diagnosis of abuse?” a prosecutor asked Laposata.
“Yes, I would not be here if I was not firmly convinced that that was true,” Laposata responded.
The hearing will conclude Wednesday before a judge makes his ruling. The CRU has also asked the court to vacate Kaye’s 1999 child abuse conviction.
