(Woman speaking)
(Collin speaking)
- (Woman speaking) - (Collin speaking)
(Man speaking)
Collin: What they're accusing me of,
I can absolutely deny.
Lindsey: We were already being questioned
that this wasn't something natural or organic.
The doctor took her hands
and said, "you had to have done this to your child".
Collin: Obviously, I didn't do anything to Connor.
Being a father is the best thing that ever happened to me.
My name is Arthur garton.
I'm a criminal defense attorney.
I represent Collin quint.
He's currently charged with child abuse in the first degree.
Collin is facing life imprisonment over these charges.
The alleged victim is his son Connor.
Who was nine weeks old at the time.
The state's position is that Collin
either shook or slammed or whatever, Connor,
causing shaken baby syndrome/ abusive head trauma.
Collin was home with Connor, um,
at the time that there first
seemed to be some signs.
Something was going on with Connor.
Collin immediately called his wife, Lindsey.
They went to hospital, had Connor completely evaluated,
and the hospital said he's fine.
Sent him home,
and the next day, Connor got worse.
And unfortunately, at that point, Connor
was having major seizures and ended up in icu.
The doctors found subdural hematoma, which is a brain bleed.
Because of that, there was pressure
on the back of the eyes, which led to retinal hemorrhage,
and they found increased swelling to the brain.
In their opinion, Connor was shaken.
The main question that was asked
of these parents was...
What happened?
Their response was, "honestly, I have no idea, I don't know".
And the medical professionals' position was,
well, if you can't tell us what happened,
then you must have abused your child.
Art and I believe this is a birth trauma case.
Because there are studies that show that there's a large percentage of children
that are born vaginally with subdural hematomas.
What happened is terrifying to me because it could happen to anyone.
This is a loving family who have done nothing wrong,
but be falsely accused by the system of harming their child.
Collin: So this is the apartment that we got for Connor to grow up in.
This is our son's room.
This is where he should be sleeping.
I'm not allowed to live with my son.
So, currently the family is separated.
Lindsey, my wife, is living with her mother and Connor.
I had a really bad brain injury.
Communicating becomes difficult where I get foggy
or my brain just decides we're done.
It just shuts off.
It is very difficult to have a brain injury
going through what we're going through
in the court process and the proceedings.
Being accused of first degree child abuse against your own son,
it's horrific.
What they're accusing me of,
I can absolutely deny.
Denise: I think the prosecutor
is playing on the fact that
infants take a lot of work.
They cry, they don't sleep, they get up in the middle of the night,
and I think they're taking the position that,
Collin is a man who could just snap.
And that's why the shaken baby happened.
In my opinion, they don't have any smoking gun to offer.
They have to defer completely to the medical experts.
Arthur: Doctors are trained to presume child abuse.
My opinion of that is that they owed an obligation to anybody
to see if there's some other reason
to have these symptoms.
They chose not to.
The state's position is simply, it's shaken baby,
and they're not going to change that.
Can we try to do two more?
Can we? Here, sit down, it's all right.
Put the purple on top of the green.
Pick it up and put it on top. Thank you.
Lindsey: Connor is a very happy and healthy little boy.
He's in speech and language therapy.
He does communicate more so with sign language
until he's able in time to communicate with us verbally.
He'll say dada and then sign for help.
That like dada to get his attention
and letting him know that he needs help with something.
We know it works for him.
He wants to do more of it, and then he'll just keep growing
and getting better every single day.
Lindsey: Collin is under very strict rules of visiting.
He comes over to spend time with his son when the court allows.
- You're it. - Lindsey: Oh, he got you!
-He got you -Collin: You're it. Oh, no.
What are you doing?
What are you, ugh. I meant no, you're it.
All right.
Yeah, there's my head.
I see happiness in that little boy's eyes
to be with his dad since the time is so limited
that he gets to see his dad.
Um, I just see the joy laid up on my grandson's face,
and it means everything to all of us.
- Oh! - (Connor chuckles)
Huh? Ha!
I think we work well as a family.
If not, we wouldn't have made it this far together.
We would, we would have crumbled.
Thumbs up.
Connor is our route to our happiness.
If Collin ended up going to prison,
it would break this family, very deeply.
And it would break my heart for Connor,
because Connor loves him so much.
Arthur: We're bringing our client Collin quint in today.
Make sure he understands the charges, the severity of them
and the potential consequences.
Denise: We initially were retained,
but very quickly our clients ran out of money
because they're not millionaires.
But until we reach the finality and hopefully get justice,
we can't let it go.
Would I be working for free if I thought he was guilty?
Not on your life.
Okay, Collin,
you're currently charged with child abuse in the first degree.
If you were convicted of child abuse one,
you could do up to life in prison.
Arthur: Your case falls into what's generically
called shaken baby syndrome/ abusive head trauma case.
This was an area of the law that's got a great amount of controversy.
Between whether this is diagnosis or whether
the shaken baby syndrome is a real thing.
But you've got a set of doctors
who are bought into it,
and they've been trained to presume child abuse.
Denise: It's hard to really fault doctors
if that's what they're trained to know.
But as far as they're concerned,
there can be no other explanation,
and the prosecutor is probably going to do
everything they can to put you in prison.
Arthur: Collin, you're currently charged with child abuse in the first degree.
The doctor who made the determination
that this was child abuse
never bothered getting the wellness records or the birth records of Connor.
And now the prosecutor's charging you with a crime.
You have any questions?
Not that I can think of.
I'm just absorbing all of it.
- Denise: It's a lot. - Yeah.
I just, I don't understand.
We did everything right. We took care of him.
Arthur: Well, a jury is in all likelihood
going to want to hold somebody responsible.
And it's our job to get them to understand
that this was probably related to birth trauma,
because these injuries can happen naturally.
As you know, your wife was in extended labor
and you saw the accelerated head growth.
You have the 35 percentile at birth
and then 83 percentile nine weeks later.
Something was going on in your child's head.
We're here for you, and we're going to,
fight like our life depended on it to get you through this to the end.
- Collin: Okay. - Okay?
Okay.
Denise: It's all right.
I can't imagine the pain.
Today, I'm going to Collin and Lindsey's apartment.
To have a better understanding of our client's story.
The prosecution would tell you that the apartment is the scene of the crime.
It's where Collin did something to Connor.
Collin's got a target on his back,
and unfortunately though you're innocent until proven guilty,
you're really guilty until proven innocent.
Collin, I came over today because I kind of want to understand
what happened back on August 1st and August 2nd.
We'll start with August 1st.
Where were you and Connor
when you first noticed something was off?
In the room, watching TV.
And then I looked over at him,
and his eyes were just...
Fixated, like looking straight without moving.
Within seconds, he was okay.
But I instantly called Lindsey.
And then did you guys go to the hospital together?
Yeah.
So, what did the doctors conclude, if anything?
They did a chest X-ray,
and he was perfectly fine.
Okay. And they said he could go home?
- Yes. - Is that what they told you?
- Yes. - And they discharged him?
Yep.
So when did Lindsey come home?
I want to say at 11 a. M. Something.
Prior information you guys had given us was that...
You and sue were downstairs, Lindsey's mom,
and Lindsey was with Connor, and she noticed something.
Lindsey, like she screamed for me.
- Okay. - (Collin speaking)
Denise: I know it's the really difficult part.
(Collin speaking)
She said, "I believe something's wrong."
And she was very concerned.
What was Connor doing?
Um, at the time, his leg was twitching
- he was having seizures? - Yes.
- But you didn't know that at the time. - No.
Right. At the time, all you thought was something was really wrong.
Collin: Yes.
The prosecutor, they're speculating that
because you were alone with him, that you violently shook your son,
which led to the injuries.
The only thing I touched Connor with was loving arms.
I, I love him, and I
deny ever hurting him.
Denise: But how do we prove you didn't do anything?
Lindsey: Purple, orange or red?
You know red. Can you color?
Good job, Connor.
Beau-ti-ful.
Lindsey: The ambulance took Connor to the hospital.
He was having seizures.
They, er, put him into an induced coma to
stop the seizures, and they did an mri.
After the mri was done, they said that it looks like signs of shaken baby syndrome.
- (Connor crying) - And, we needed to leave immediately.
Collin was my rock.
I was a mess.
Looking back at it, Collin and I were very naive.
If our eyes were open a little bit more,
we probably could have seen it coming.
The first night, I mean, we were already being questioned,
um, that this wasn't something natural or organic,
this is something done by us, is what they were implying.
The doctor's took her hands and said,
"you had to have done this to your child."
"Or done this," pretending to hit his head on the wall, um,
and that's kind of...
That's not at all what you expect when you go to a hospital. Um...
(Connor cooing)
Denise: We're going out to see doctor Smith,
a retired pathologist who specializes in medical research,
and we're hoping he can explain, from start to finish
what happened with Connor quint.
We just really wanted your perspective as we try
and figure out exactly what happened.
Doctor Smith: In the case of Connor quint, they saw,
a subdural hematoma and retinal hemorrhages,
and that became proof, that this child was shaken.
In my opinion, the retinal hemorrhages,
and the subdural hematoma are related to trauma that Connor suffered at birth.
These are images of Connor's eyes,
after he was admitted to the hospital.
And you can see that one eye has relatively severe retinal hemorrhages,
and the other eye has almost no hemorrhages.
So we often ask the experts, "how do you shake a baby and only shake one eye?"
And the response is?
We don't know how, but we just know from our experience, that we see this.
Okay.
Arthur: What I find amazing in this,
the child abuse pediatricians just look at everything as confirming child abuse
and don't look at anything that would negate child abuse.
Doctor Smith: Because they've become so invested
in the shaken baby theory.
Careers have been built around publishing articles
that prove that these are evidence of shaking.
They've created a pseudoscience, and taught it in medical school.
Unbelievable.
I have some of the, of the scans on my computer,
and, uh, I think it would be a good idea to show them to you.
This is Connor's cat scan of his head,
and you can see the brain here,
and you can see this is spinal fluid inside the brain.
And then you can see all of this fluid here,
that it varies in color, from relatively white,
similar to the skull.
We have gray, similar to the brain,
and we have black, similar to the spinal fluid.
And so, in general, um,
blood as it ages, will go from white
to gray, to black.
This makes it clear that the bleeding
has been going on for some time.
So this is consistent
with our explanation, as to what happened to Connor.
Yes, that it started at birth, and only became apparent when he had seizures.
Denise: That's tremendously significant.
That makes it clear it's a birth trauma.
Yes.
- Hi guys, how you doing? - Lindsey: Good.
Arthur: All right. We brought you into the office today
to discuss some movement that's been in the case.
Yesterday, a prosecutor made a plea offer to us.
They're, uh, willing to plead this, this issue down
from child abuse, first degree, which is a potential
life imprisonment, to child abuse in the second degree.
It carries a ten year penalty.
But, it is probationable.
No guarantee of that, but you won't be facing prison
in all probability.
Okay.
Denise: There is no way our system could handle trying every single case.
The majority end up entering into a plea of some sort.
Arthur: The judge wants this case off his docket.
It's the oldest case on his docket.
So, the prosecution are under pressure to get it over with.
If you plead on this charge,
the chance of ever undoing that,
in the future,
is basically out the window.
You'll never get the opportunity to vindicate yourself.
It's not great,
but it's something that you've gotta consider.
Lindsey: I mean, ultimately, it is up to him.
But I know that we can both agree that we've come so far,
and we don't want Connor known as a shaken baby.
Denise: We are more than willing
and able to attack this,
but there are pros and cons on every side,
and that's why it has to be your decision.
It's a chance you take that you win, and he's exonerated,
but you take a chance that you're convicted, and you go to prison.
Would you need his answer by like tomorrow?
You've gotta decide it by tomorrow.
Denise: All right, we'll talk to you guys later. Lindsey: Okay.
Arthur: Be nice to have a good option out there, but he doesn't.
If he goes to trial, he bets the farm on that.
I did not expect what is coming.
I had no clue that
it would be this difficult of a process.
I mean, this is your life on the line right here.
Obviously, it will affect the entire family,
but if you still want to just fight.
Like what we've been doing the past 2.5 years.
- I want my son to know who his father is, basically. - Hmm-mmm.
Arthur: On our way to court now.
I can't say for certain how Collin
is gonna be feeling,
but I think apprehensive is probably an understatement.
A person who's never seen the inside of a courtroom before, is now fighting for his life.
Lindsey: You good?
Collin: Yeah, i'm good. I'm ready.
(Exhales) Okay.
Arthur: If Collin declines the plea offer,
I want to try and negotiate a bench trial.
A bench trial is by the judge. No jury.
There's such a great sympathy factor in these cases.
Juries want to find somebody responsible.
I think the judge can divorce himself from that,
and just look at the facts.
Collin: I am not making this decision based on my feelings.
It would be a decision what is best for my son.
They want me to pick a plea deal
or they want me to go all in on a jury trial.
They basically want a plea deal out of this situation.
Arthur: It'll be a jury trial most definitely, er,
I tried for a bench trial,
but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
Collin: This is kind of unfair.
If you're guilty, you should be guilty.
If you're not, then you should plead your case.
And right now, that is not being presented to me, basically.
Denise: Today we have doctor fenton coming in.
Dr. Fenton's testimony is vital to us.
It's the one person who can present an accurate psychological profile
of who Collin is, and why the judge should trust that he wouldn't harm Connor.
Doctor fenton: I met with him just last week
and his mental status was fine. He had good judgment.
On the personality assessment, you know, he comes out normal
there's no signs of any serious pathology.
He's a mild mannered, reserved individual.
I don't see him doing anything, but being kind and gentle with his son.
I'm certain the prosecutor is going to pound on you with,
"well, what about these horrendous injuries?"
- And Collin did this. - Doctor fenton: I think he's...
Not an aggressive or violent guy.
- Denise: Did you see any sign of psychosis? - No, no, no, nothing like that.
My opinion still remains that he would not harm his son.
I don't think he's a threat. I don't think he's a danger.
He's a good dad to his son.
Denise: All right. Well, thank you so much for coming. Doctor fenton: You're welcome.
- Nice to see you guys. - Thank you.
Denise: We feel really confident that the information is going to be compelling to the judge
and is going to support our position.
However, we are well aware that this is not gonna go down without a fight.
Lindsey: Collin has to decide whether or not to attend
trial, or accept a plea deal.
The judge gave him more time to think about his decision.
Lindsey: I can see that it's weighing on him.
He's trying to be strong and be okay,
but you can just tell, the energy isn't the same, and uh,
it's definitely, he's processing it all,
and what he thinks the best decision will be.
Lindsey: Where's your head at? Like, where's it lying, right now?
Um, it's kind of difficult to...
Take a plea deal...
Because I would be a registered child abuser for the rest of my life.
They just want our case off of their docket
and they're trying to figure out the fastest way to do that.
And that's why you know what the judge wants you to choose.
It's no longer the fact that you deserve
a fair trial and you deserve for innocence to prevail,
but it's about how do you get through the game to get your family back?
It really does seem like it's not even a choice.
I think the best option to get our family back together
would be accepting the plea.
Okay. All right.
- Hey, art. - Hey.
- Plea has been withdrawn. - What?
Yes.
- Who did you talk to? - Talked to the prosecutor.
- They played hardball? - Yep.
Just when you think you've seen it all,
there comes another twist in the road that you didn't expect.
So they want a trial, they get a trial.
Denise: Collin will be here to sit down with us
and talk about whether he should take that plea.
He comes in to make this big decision
and it's not even one to be made.
It's going to be a shock to them
because it was a shock to us.
Okay, Collin, the last time we spoke last week,
uh, I presented to you a potential plea from the prosecutor's office.
And, uh, unfortunately today, at 2:00, I spoke with the prosecutor
and all pleas are off the table.
We've been preparing to go to trial this whole 2.5 years,
and that's where we're gonna go.
I don't, I don't understand.
(Denise breathes deeply)
And trust me, we...
We didn't see this coming.
I didn't see this coming.
I've never had a plea deal taken off the table
on any case, and I've been practicing 27 years
oh, another thing I was told today, they are looking at jail time.
Whereas we were entertaining a plea with no jail.
Now they want jail.
Denise: But you know, this ain't over.
What are you thinking, Collin?
(Breathes deeply)
Denise: It's a lot to have somebody playing with your life.
Lindsey: It's been weighing on him a lot this past week.
It's just a complete like,
messes with your mind.
Arthur: I don't know why they're going after you the way that they are,
but they're trying to crucify you.
Lindsey: I don't know what to say right now.
This feels like a game.
And it makes me really sick to my stomach.
Because this isn't a game. This is our life.
With our son, with our marriage.
Arthur: I don't believe that you ever get a fair jury trial
in a shaken baby syndrome case.
So the next thing I would try and do is see if there's any possibility
um, to resurrect that plea arrangement.
I'll probably reach out to the prosecutor tomorrow and see if uh,
if there is any movement on her part.
If not, we'll discuss it with the judge.
So, there's quite a bit at stake here.
He'll most certainly be facing serious prison time, if convicted.
Which one more?
Ah, thank you.
Collin: Don't do it. Don't touch me!
- Ow, you touched me. - (Lindsey laughs)
Collin: If I do go to prison,
this could be the last time that my son will know his father for a very long time.
This is for Connor.
I love you, Connor.
- (Beeps) - Recording: I love you, Connor.
I know in time that I've been with my son,
I've shown him true love.
Lindsey: If Collin ended up going to prison,
I'll understand, the family will understand,
but Connor won't understand.
You know, it's... And that's what scares me the most.
I don't want Connor to forget him.
- Oh. - Recording: I love you, Connor.
So today we're going to see where the prosecutor is at.
They had taken the plea off the table,
there had been some more discussion with the judge last week.
Art made some calls yesterday
to follow up on what was really going on with the prosecutor's office.
So today we find out whether they're coming back with a plea or not.
Denise: The maximum amount of time
he could do on a child abuse second is ten years.
These are the most difficult decisions you make
when your client is confident in their innocence,
but the case itself is one that carries a lot of risk.
So he has to ultimately make the decision, because it's his life.
I took a deal to get me and Connor back together,
but it's difficult.
It's a lot for him to accept this
when he didn't do anything.
And it's a big step for him
because all he cares about is his family and he's doing what he's got to do,
even though it's not at all what he wants to do.
I feel like I let
my family down in a sense
because I am now known as a child abuser.
Even though I didn't do anything,
the plea that was on the table today,
was pretty much the plea that was on the table originally.
But unfortunately, there was no agreement
as to whether or not there would be jail time.
We're hoping because he took this plea
that he will not do any jail time,
but until we appear before the judge at sentencing, we're not gonna know.
We don't have that guarantee.
I could face prison today
for something I didn't do.
Doesn't make any logical common sense.
Denise: Big day.
It's always difficult when you know what the right thing is,
but you don't uh, you don't have the control to make the right decision.
Today's goal is to keep Collin out of prison.
So gotta have faith.
Collin: Being Connor's father is one of the best things
that has ever happened to me, and when I think there is possibly prison time,
I cannot imagine a day being away from my son.
I have always been a loving, caring father.
And I cannot imagine a day without him.
He's not going to be behind bars for the rest of his life.
There's a chance to reunify this family
and there can be a possible outcome
for us to heal and live our lives freely
and be happy and get this weight off of our chest
and breathe again.
And I'm willing to take a little time and I get my family back.
Denise: I think there's some degree of relief.
I mean, we would have liked to have walked out of there with just probation, clearly.
I'm sure it's gonna be a very emotional next 48 hours as the reality sets in
and Collin's absent from the family for a period of time.
Arthur: There would be nothing worse than to be accused
of harming your child when you didn't do it.
Everybody in this world's life is one millisecond away
from being turned upside down.
And this can happen to anybody.
It's scary.