Olivares was arrested in 2011 following the tragic death of his girlfriend’s almost four-year-old son from an accidental short fall.

Despite witness after witness who described Olivares as a loving, kind and nurturing father figure to the decedent, the jury relied on now-debunked medical testimony that the fatal injuries could “only” have been caused by what was then commonly referred to as shaken baby syndrome or abusive head trauma (SBS/AHT). They alleged Olivares must have intentionally inflicted the decedent’s injuries. Olivares was acquitted of murder and convicted of child abuse causing death, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Since then, medical advances have shown that the same injuries once believed to be reliable indicators of SBS/AHT do occur as a result of accidental falls of short distances —such as the fall that caused the decedent’s death. Witnessed and videotaped short falls resulting in the same injuries as the decedent have now been documented in peer-reviewed medical literature.

The request for the reversal of Jose Olivares’ wrongful conviction was filed jointly by the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP) of Santa Clara University School of Law; the Loyola Project for the Innocent (LPI), part of Loyola Law School; and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Habeas Litigation Unit. In Olivares’ case, Dr. Judy Melinek, a renowned forensic pathologist, authored a report in 2023 after a thorough review at NCIP’s request, and stated that an accidental short fall was the “reasonable and likely explanation” for the decedent’s injuries.

Importantly, too, one of the primary prosecution experts who alleged abuse in Olivares’ 2014 trial, Dr. Donald Minckler, reviewed the case at the request of the Habeas Litigation Unit of the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office (HABLIT) and has since reversed his finding. He noted in a 2024 report that “as of this point of time, there are no specific indicators of SBS from a pathology point of view” and he “would now revise [his 2014] conclusion to an accidental fall” as the most consistent conclusion for the injuries in this case. Minckler’s report added that “there were no significant bruises or other fractures or skin marks consistent with physical abuse by another person. Also, the family members were adamant that the accused was not an abuser.”

NCIP and LPI filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in June 2023 to secure Olivares’ release. On August 16, 2024, the HABLIT filed a letter with the Court conceding that evidence now known to be false was used to convict Olivares at his 2014 trial. Olivares’ conviction was vacated on September 19, 2024. Another division of the DA’s office has indicated they might re-try Olivares, and he was held in custody until October 2, when he was released on bail.

Olivares’ case came to the attention of NCIP through a large-scale project – which began in 2019 – to identify and litigate wrongful convictions in California that were the product of unreliable medical evidence surrounding SBS/AHT. NCIP identified hundreds of convictions and found that many of them bear the hallmarks of a wrongful conviction based on new scientific evidence.

Funding for NCIP’s extensive work in SBS/AHT research and litigation was provided as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Upholding Rule of Law and Preventing Wrongful Convictions Program, in addition to funding from an Equal Justice Works Fellowship sponsored by Fenwick & West, LLP.