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The Case of Josh Burns
📻 Episode #566
🎙️ Hosted by Maggie Freleng
📅 Mar 19, 2026
About This Episode
On January 7, 2014, 37-year-old Brenda Burns gave birth to a baby girl, Naomi. Two months later, on March 15, 2014, Brenda was running errands, and Naomi was home with her father, Brenda’s husband, 37-year-old Joshua Burns. They had talked on the phone while Brenda was out, and all was well. When Brenda returned, she…
Case Record — verified as of November 6, 2026
Joshua Quincy Burns — Livingston Circuit Court, MI. Charged: 2nd-degree child abuse (2014). Convicted Jan 26, 2015; 3 yrs probation, first year in county jail. EXONERATED Nov 2024 — vacated + dismissed on joint AG Conviction Integrity Unit / Michigan Innocence Clinic motion. NRE Case 13852.
The Case
On January 7, 2014, 37-year-old Brenda Burns gave birth to a baby girl, Naomi. Two months later, on March 15, 2014, Brenda was running errands, and Naomi was home with her father, Brenda’s husband, 37-year-old Joshua Burns. They had talked on the phone while Brenda was out, and all was well. When Brenda returned, she found Joshua tending to a cut on Naomi’s face. Naomi fell forward while on Joshua’s lap. He caught her, but she consequently cut her face on his hand. Naomi fell ill in the subsequent weeks. Her parents took her to doctors and emergency care multiple times, and the doctors sent her home with medicine each time. The final time, doctors declared that Naomi had retinal hemorrhaging. The doctor determined it was a result of child abuse and Shaken Baby Syndrome. Joshua was charged with second-degree child abuse. After a trial without updated scientific evidence, but with conflicting medical testimony, a jury found Joshua guilty, and sentenced him to one year in prison.
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:04:45“Speaker 1: They fell in love, got married, and settled down in Michigan. Eventually, Speaker 1: Brenda became pregnant with their daughter, Naomi. Speaker 2: I remember her taking the test and we were just Speaker 2: so excited, and then we went in for that ultrasound. Speaker 2: Remember in the ultrasound, she did like a summersault, She”
00:18:33“Speaker 1: the state had by awarding the jurisdiction over Naomi to Brenda, and. Speaker 2: In the day she got her back. I had to Speaker 2: move out of the family home because I was still Speaker 2: facing the criminal trial. Speaker 1: Why are they so determined to get this child away”
00:31:50“Speaker 2: for him to be declared innocent. Speaker 1: And there's another Texas man named Andrew Rourke whose case Speaker 1: is also significant. He too had been convicted under an Speaker 1: SBS prosecution in a case where the child did not die. Speaker 1: He did thirteen years of a thirty five year sentence,”
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Also on the podcast: #142 Josh Dubin on James Dailey · #272 Alisha Burns