This photo provided by the Northern California Innocence Project shows Zavion Johnson, right, with members of his legal team in court in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, Dec. 8, 2017. Fifteen years after Johnson received a life sentence for the shaking death of his 4-month-old daughter, he鈥檚 set to walk out of prison amid controversy over the medical experts鈥� testimony that convicted him. (Lori Reinauer/Northern California Innocence Project via AP)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. 鈥� A California man who spent 15 years in prison for shaking his baby to death was freed Saturday, one day after a judge set aside his conviction.
Zavion Johnson, 34, walked out of the Sacramento County jail, where he was being held while his court case was heard. He had been serving a sentence of 25 years to life at a state prison in Vacaville.
Johnson was 鈥渂oth loving and trying to adjust to freedom,鈥� said his attorney, Paige Kaneb with the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Clara University School of Law.
Johnson was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2001 death of his daughter, Nadia.
At trial, more than a dozen witnesses described him as a gentle and caring father.
Johnson testified that he accidentally dropped the 4-month-old in the bathtub while rinsing her off in the shower. She hit her head and later stopped breathing, he said.
Medical experts testified that the girl had a fractured skull and said her injuries were evidence of abuse.
However, two prosecution experts later repudiated some of their testimony and said that based on new scientific views, the evidence didn鈥檛 clearly rule out an accident.
On Friday, a state judge set aside Johnson鈥檚 conviction.
鈥淚鈥檓 hoping for a positive future 鈥� for my life to begin,鈥� Johnson said in a statement released by his attorneys after that ruling.
Johnson will remain free while prosecutors decide whether to seek a new trial.
His is among a nationwide series of recent legal challenges to what used to be accepted evidence of 鈥渟haken baby syndrome.鈥�
At least 14 people nationwide had already been exonerated since 2011 in shaken baby cases, attorneys said, citing the National Registry of Exonerations. Northwestern University鈥檚 Medill Justice Project said in 2015 that there were more than 3,000 shaken baby syndrome cases nationwide, though attorneys said it鈥檚 not clear how many might have resulted in wrongful convictions.
鈥淩esearch and scientific studies conducted after the date of Zavion Johnson鈥檚 trial have altered the opinions of the prosecution experts,鈥� Sacramento County Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Grippi said in a statement Friday. 鈥淎 prosecutor鈥檚 duty is not simply to win cases but to ensure that each defendant is accorded procedural justice and guilt is decided upon the basis of sufficient evidence.鈥�
Johnson鈥檚 attorneys have already filed a motion seeking to have any new charges dismissed at his next hearing on Jan. 19, based on a lack of evidence beyond the experts鈥� medical testimony.