From the July 2004 Idaho Observer:

Yurko Project Update:

Evidentiary hearing a go -- international who's who of experts, Yurko supporters to witness event

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The long-awaited evidentiary hearing in the SBS case of the State of Florida v. Alan R. Yurko will be held beginning August 23, 2004. Yurko supporters are travelling from all over the world, many at their own expense, to testify on Yurko's behalf or simply be there to stand with this incredible man when he finally returns to the courtroom.

Alan's story, My Rude Awakening to Medical Armageddon, first appeared in the February, 2001 edition of The Idaho Observer. These four pages of the July, 2004 edition of The Idaho Observer are dedicated to the perseverance of Alan Yurko in exposing the travesty of many initial diagnoses of SBS that are simply false allegations. The following is an attempt to recapture the essence of his story:

Alan Yurko was convicted of murdering his premature infant son in 1999 and was sentenced to life plus 10 years for shaking his baby to death. While Yurko has been in prison, many experts from around the world have examined the medical records upon which Yurko's conviction was based.

From these analyses, it has been determined that Alan Yurko is clearly innocent of the charges of shaking Baby Alan to death.

One report shows that Baby Alan was administered a toxic dose of heparin, an amount that can cause retinal hemorrhages and brain bleeds. An emergency room doctor even forged the signature of Yurko's wife Francine in order to harvest Baby Alan's heart.

Another anomaly is how Medical Examiner Sashi Gore's autopsy indicates a microscopic inspection of Baby Alan's heart after his organs had been “harvested.”

Further investigation revealed that Gore's autopsy report contained so many mistakes that the prosecution's evidence against Yurko, Gore's autopsy report, has been totally discredited.

A formal complaint to the Florida Dept. of Health was filed May 2, 2003 that cites 24 itemized discrepancies in Gore's autopsy proving that the body Gore performed an autopsy on could not have been Baby Alan.

Gore even listed Baby Alan as being a 2 month-old black male, when he was a 10 week-old white male.

Due to this formal complaint being filed with exhibits showing that Gore's professional history is punctuated with incidents of medical incompetence, Gore was ordered to abstain from performing autopsies in Florida. It was also reported that Gore would have been fired had he not been scheduled to retire in June, 2004.

The evidentiary hearing will be held before Judge Alan Lawson, and not a jury. The objective of this hearing is to vacate the conviction and schedule a new trial.

The scope of an evidentiary hearing is much more narrow than a trial and limits the number of issues that can be argued. The following experts will be appearing on Alan's behalf at this hearing:

* Prof. Joe W. DuRocher, JD (Professor of law, former chief Public Defender, Orange/Osceola Cty. Fl)

* Harold E. Buttram, MD, FAAEM (Environmental Medicine)

* F. Edward Yazbak, MD, FAAP (Pediatrician)

* Horace B. Gardner, MD, JD (Forensic Ophthalmologist)

* Stephen J. Nelson, MD (Chairman, Florida Medical Examiners Commission-FLMEC)

* Jon Throgmartin, MD (FLMEC)

* Mohammed A. Al-Bayati, PhD, DABT, DABVT (Toxicologist, Pathologist)

* Prof. Jane M. Orient, MD, FACP (Internal Medicine, Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons)

* Mark Strong, RN (Translife Organ Harvesting Coordinator)

* Archie Kalokerinos, MD (Family Physician and author)

* Thomas Miller (Juror)

Thomas Miller was a juror at Yurko's 1999 trial. He has recently asserted publicly that, in light of the new evidence, he believes the verdict should have been Not Guilty. His testimony will not be part of the evidence to be considered by Judge Lawson, but will only be proffered to preserve the issue should an appeal be necessary.

The Yurko Project has assisted hundreds of shaken baby cases around the world as a result of Alan Yurko's extensive research and the information on their website www.freeyurko.bizland.com

The Yurko Project is currently in desperate need of funding with over $50,000 incurred in legal fees and expert testimony. We estimate that if all of the people reading this note were to send $20 to The Yurko Project today, these bills would be paid. Consider the $20 you send today a small price for the incredible awareness raised worldwide by The Yurko Project. Send your donation to:

The Yurko Project
c/o Francine Yurko
P.O. Box 585965
Orlando, Florida 32858-5965