In April 2014, Josh and Brenda Burns’ daughter, Naomi, was taken from their home by Child Protective Services (CPS) of Livingston County, Michigan. This is their story.

Josh and Brenda Burns experienced a battle that most Americans would never think possible. Their story began with the birth of their daughter, Naomi, in January 2014. Naomi’s birth was traumatic, beginning with four hours of pushing followed by several failed vacuum extraction attempts. It ended with an emergency C-section. Naomi was later discovered to have chronic bleeding in her brain, which all experts believed to have been caused by birth trauma.  Naomi had minor health issues to overcome, but began to thrive.

March 15, 2014, started as a normal day. Late that morning, Brenda left home for an appointment. Josh was off of work that day and able to stay home with Naomi. As Josh finished feeding and burping her, he got a call from Brenda. While hanging up the phone, Naomi started to slip from his lap. Instinctively, he reached out to prevent her from falling. Thankfully, Naomi seemed fine, other than a slight scratch on her face where he caught her. Shortly thereafter, Brenda returned home and Naomi appeared fine.

A Turn for the Worse

The next morning was Naomi’s baptism at church. It was also the day that Naomi became ill and began projectile vomiting. Over the next two days, multiple trips were made back and forth to the ER and doctor’s office. Many calls were made to the family’s on-call pediatric service. Naomi’s symptoms continued to worsen and eventually became so dire that her parents had to call 911. Naomi was transported via ambulance to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Naomi was hospitalized for two weeks, during which time numerous tests were performed to diagnose her illness. A serious gastrointestinal virus was suspected to be the cause of her symptoms.

Ten days into her hospitalization, Naomi’s medical nightmare took an earth-shattering turn when child abuse pediatrician Doctor Bethany Mohr informed Josh and Brenda that she suspected Naomi had been physically abused. This determination was made based on the presence of subdural and retinal hemorrhages – bleeding on the brain and in the backs of Naomi’s eyes, symptoms that are now known to be caused by many other natural conditions, including birth trauma. Nevertheless CPS and local law enforcement were contacted. A petition was filed with the court and Naomi was taken from her parents by CPS and placed in foster care with strangers.

Naomi remained in foster care for over seven months. Brenda was granted three one-hour visits per week with Naomi at the Livingston County Department of Human Services office. Josh was not allowed to see Naomi at all. A civil abuse and neglect case was opened by the Livingston County Prosecutor’s office with the ultimate goal of terminating both Josh and Brenda’s parental rights. The prosecutor’s office also had Josh arrested and charged with second degree felony child abuse.

Going to Trial

The civil case went to trial before a jury. The jury was tasked with deciding if the court should retain jurisdiction over Naomi. The jury determined that no statutory grounds in the petition had been met for the court to keep jurisdiction over Naomi through Brenda. The jury did, however, determine that at least one of the statutory grounds had been met for the court to keep jurisdiction over Naomi through Josh. They were instructed to base their verdict on a 51% preponderance of evidence. The prosecutor urged the jury to “err on the side of caution” since Naomi could not tell them what happened.

After the verdict, the judge ordered that Naomi be immediately returned to Brenda. Josh had one hour to pack a few belongings and move out of the family home. Since he had also been charged criminally, there was a no-contact order in place, which meant he still could not have contact with Naomi.

With the civil trial verdict, the prosecutor now had the momentum to move forward with their criminal case against Josh. The prosecutor’s case was based primarily on the testimony of Dr. Mohr, who diagnosed Naomi with Abusive Head Trauma (a.k.a Shaken Baby Syndrome) based on outdated research.

The criminal case went to jury trial. The prosecutor, with the approval of the judge, successfully blocked new scientific research and peer-reviewed medical journal articles from being brought into evidence or testimony. These current, peer-reviewed medical journal articles call into question the old “junk science.” This was a crucial blow to Josh’s case. At the end of the trial, the jury declared Josh guilty of second degree felony child abuse. The prosecutor and the doctor who accused the Burns family were ultimately allowed by the court to contradict themselves and provide two conflicting possibilities. They were allowed to argue that the fall from Josh’s knee could not cause Naomi’s health issues but then, in the same breath, they argued that the fall from the knee was a reckless act and enough to convict Josh of child abuse.

Seeking Justice

In 2015, Josh was sentenced to one year in jail and three years of probation. After his jail sentence was served, thankfully, the Burns family was able to reunite. Naomi continued to grow up happy and healthy. Josh however, was still a felon in the eyes of the law.

The Michigan Innocence Clinic took on Josh’s case, hoping to set new court precedents and prevent future shaken baby cases. In September 2015, they filed a motion for a new trial, on the basis that the prosecution had been arguing from junk science. They included a medical report from Dr. Khaled Tawansy, an expert in SBS retinal hemorrhages. Dr. Tawansy pointed out that Dr. Mohr’s claims were not based in scientific evidence. The Innocence Clinic’s motion also argued Josh Burns’s lawyer provided inadequate legal defense by failing to get an email exchange that occurred between Dr. Mohr and retinal hemorrhage expert Dr. Alex Levin into evidence. This exchange involved Dr. Levin making Dr. Mohr aware that Naomi’s retinal hemorrhages could have been from natural causes, and showed that Dr. Mohr did not have a strong basis for her claims. The Innocence Clinic’s motion also argued that Burns’s lawyer should have requested a pretrial hearing to challenge the scientific basis for Dr. Mohr’s arguments.

The Michigan Court of Appeals however, affirmed the Josh’s conviction in November of 2016. While the appeals court agreed there was a “lack of direct evidence linking” Josh to Naomi’s medical condition, they still maintained Josh had somehow committed a “reckless act that caused serious physical harm to the infant.”

While the appeals court did agree Dr. Mohr’s claim that Naomi’s symptoms were “close to 100 percent” proof of abuse was too broad. But they also believed that Josh Burns’s case was a “battle of the experts,” and that since Josh had gotten expert testimony, that he had received a fair trial.

Knowing scientific evidence was on their side, the Michigan Innocence Clinic was not deterred. They followed up with a federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Joshua for inadequate legal defense. Their petition was denied in 2019 by U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Michelson.

Then, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel created a Conviction Integrity Unit (CIU). The Innocence Clinic asked them to review Josh’s case. In November of  2024 Assistant Attorney General John Pallas, Jenna Cobb and Imran Syed, co-directors of the Innocence Clinic, filed to vacate Josh’s conviction. The motion was granted, and Judge Miriam Cavanaugh signed the order to dismiss the case.

Today, the Burns family is safely back together, living in Texas. Josh now works as a pilot instructor for a major airline. Naomi is a bright young girl with a passion for animals and gymnastics, and is growing up happy and healthy.

Josh is the 36^th exoneration in a long line of overturned SBS cases. However, for many victims of this unproven diagnosis, the nightmare is far from over. Despite the obvious failures to prove SBS as a real diagnosis, there are over a thousand cases claimed each year. Families continue to be torn apart, orphaning children who need real medical care for their actual conditions, and destroying the careers, freedom, and lives of innocent parents and caregivers. Some of the accused even find themselves on death row.

You can help by spreading the word about Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma, and raising awareness of the issue. Like us on Facebook to keep in touch, or consider donating to Torn Family in our efforts to seek justice for other victims.