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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Child Abuse resulting in death |
Sentence: |
20 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
9 |
Year Crime: |
2003 |
Year Convicted: |
2004 |
Year Cleared: |
2017 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Colorado |
County or Region of Crime: |
Alamosa |
City of Crime: |
Alamosa |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Krystal Voss, aka Krystal Lee Voss, was wrongly convicted in 2004 of child abuse resulting in death related to the death of her 17-month-old son Kyran Gaston-Voss in Alamosa, Colorado. On January 31, 2003 Voss took her son to an Alamosa hospital emergency, accompanied by a friend, Patrick Ramirez, who had been babysitting Kyran. Kyran had suffered a traumatic brain injury, and Ramirez admitted repeatedly during his interview with the police that while Voss was at work, he was alone with Kyran playing when he fell from his shoulders. Ramirez said that while Kyran was on his shoulders, he stumbled and Kyran fell, with Ramirez falling on top of him. Ramirez said that Kyran started hollering, then seemed dizzy and was unable to stand. He then called Voss at her work and she came home, and they took him to the hospital. Voss, 28, was interviewed when she was extremely tired, and she told the police that she might have briefly shaken Kyran when frustrated the night before she went to work and left him with Ramirez. Her statement was later described as a "confession." Voss was charged on February 5, 2003 with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. After Kyran died on March 24, 2003 an amended complaint was filed charging her with one count of child abuse resulting in death. Police investigators discounted Ramirez' story, and thought he was trying to protect Voss, with whom he was having a sexual relationship. Voss' prosecution was based on the prosecution's narrative, supported by expert medical evidence, that Kyran's fatal injuries were consistent with a violent shaking. Voss testified in her defense that she did not inflict any injury on Kyran from shaking him. After her conviction Voss was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Voss appeal raised two issues: 1) The jury instructions were plainly erroneous; and 2) Tthe trial court erroneously overruled her objection to the prosecutor's rebuttal closing argument. Her appeal was denied by the Colorado Court of Appeals in 2007. Voss was denied parole five times because she refused to admit guilt. However, she was a model prisoner, and in 2013 she was moved to a halfway house, with a mandatory release date of July 14, 2020 from DOC custody. Post-conviction investigation of Voss' case resulted in new expert medical evidence that Kyran's injuries were consistent with the fall described by Ramirez to the police. On August 7, 2017 Alamosa District Court Judge Pattie Swift granted Voss' post-conviction petition based on ineffective assistance of counsel by her trial lawyers, and ordered a new trial. She ruled that her trial attorneys failed to investigate and present any medical evidence to challenge the prosecution's medical evidence and narrative that her son's death was the result of a violent shaking. On September 8, 2017 a different judge granted the motion to dismiss the charges submitted by 12th Judicial District Attorney Crista Newmyer-Olsen. DA Newmyer-Olsen told reporters she didn't believe Voss was innocent, but she didn't pursue a new trial because of a lack of prosecutor resourcesm and that Voss had already served most of her sentence." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On August 7, 2017 Alamosa District Court Judge Pattie Swift granted Voss' post-conviction petition based on ineffective assistance of counsel by her trial lawyers and ordered a new trial. She ruled that her trial attorneys failed to present any medical evidence to challenge the prosecution's evidence and narrative that her son's death was the result of a violent shaking. On September 8, 2017 a different judge granted the motion to dismiss the charges submitted by 12th Judicial District Attorney Crista Newmyer-Olsen." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
29 |
Age When Released: |
38 |
Sex: |
Female |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"Fatal Child-Abuse Charges Dismissed in "Shaken Baby" Case, By Alan Prendergast, Westword, September 11, 2017" |
Information Location 1: |
http://www.westword.com/news/krystal-voss-released-from-prison-after-shaken-baby-syndrome-case-dismissed-9465318 |
Information Source 2: |
"Krystal Voss's "Shaken Baby" Conviction Finally Tossed, By Alan Prendergast, Westword, August 9, 2017" |
Information Location 2: |
http://www.westword.com/news/shaken-baby-conviction-tossed-in-colorado-after-thirteen-years-9346481 |
Information Source 3: |
"Shades of Guilt, By Alan Prendergast, Westword, November 25, 2004" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.westword.com/news/denver-baby-animal-save-takes-chickens-from-berthoud-farm-9497513 |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org