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Northwestern's Medill Innocence Project Turns Attention To Shaken Baby Cases

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern, which looks into prisoners' cases, has helped free several wrongfully convicted inmates over the years.

Now the project has broadened its focus.

The Medill Innocence Project has begun looking into homicide convictions for shaken-baby syndrome.

Project director Professor Alec Klein says this marks a shift for the project, which has not looked into shaken-baby convictions before.

"Science and medicine has changed over the past several years, and there's now a growing belief among some experts that there could be other explanations for those injuries," Klein said

Klein says a baby could have a pre-existing condition, for example.

"Another possibility is that an infant might have had a bad fall, hours or even days before they begin to show signs of shaken-baby syndrome," Klein said

Klein says the Medill Innocence Project is looking at two cases in particular right now--one in Will County and one in DuPage.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller Reports

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