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Ruby Schwartz

Ruby Schwartz

Ruby Schwartz is the Head of Investigative Podcasts for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Diagnosing Murder

Listen to Diagnosing Murder podcast Episode 4

Officials say they’re not keeping track of how many shaken baby syndrome cases there are in Australia, but an unlikely duo is working night and day to find out.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz

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Bernard Collaery, who represented the accused in the Witness K case, and who successfully defended an early shaken baby case.

‘One miscarriage of justice is too many’: Top lawyer builds case for baby shaking rethink

One of the nation’s leading lawyers has joined top scientists to say the controversy over abuse diagnosis shows the need for a rethink on science and the courts.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
Jesse Harvey, who was 21 when he was jailed for “violently shaking” his seven-week-old son Casey in 2017.

This man spent six years in jail, but experts say his case has question marks all over it

Jesse’s baby boy was very sick and then, according to him, the child had a seizure. A medical team disagreed and within days he was on the path to a prison cell.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
Diagnosing Murder

Listen to Diagnosing Murder podcast Episode 3

One doctor’s word was all it took for a Melbourne father’s life to turn upside down. But after seven years of suffering, he still describes himself as one of the lucky ones.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
David, who was acquitted of baby shaking in a Supreme Court trial last year.

18 days in court, seven years of suffering: Experts take aim at failed shaken baby case

David’s four-week-old died in his arms, but a swift diagnosis of child abuse by hospital specialists did not stand up in court.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
Diagnosing Murder

Listen to Diagnosing Murder podcast Episode 2

One sentence posing a theory has turned into a call to arms that, 50 years later, doctors and lawyers still can’t agree on. But children in Australia and beyond are being taken from their parents because of it.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
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Anders Eriksson, a retired professor of forensic medicine at the university of Umea in Sweden. He gave evidence in a landmark appeal court hearing in Victoria.

Australian court ruling in shaken baby case was ‘ignorant and embarrassing’

A precedent-setting legal judgment in Australia was based on scientific evidence that was “very weak”, says an international expert who gave evidence.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
Diagnosing Murder

Listen to Diagnosing Murder – Episode 1

On the opinion of a few influential child abuse specialists, Australians are being found guilty of serious charges and sent to prison. But are people being locked up for a crime they never committed?

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
Robert Roberson before his scheduled execution in 2024. His death was postponed until October 2025.

This man just had his baby-shaking execution halted because his conviction might be based on ‘junk science’

A controversial medical diagnosis is behind the jailing of Australians in cases of shaken baby syndrome. That scenario is changing in jurisdictions overseas.

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz
Diagnosing Murder

Diagnosing murder: Is a medical theory ruining lives?

For decades, “shaken baby” theory has put parents in jail all over the world. But has it been destroying the lives of innocent people?

  • Michael Bachelard and Ruby Schwartz