Friday, January 10, 2014

Christina Cinelli-McFall: Family members of injured boy go to press to contradict her lawyer's account of the extent of the child's injuries. Shaken-baby syndrome case. Trial featuring expert evidence scheduled to start March 3.



"Christina Cinelli-McFall of Palm Coast was charged with aggravated child abuse after Flagler County sheriff's investigators said she abused a one-year-old boy in her day-care facility, "Chrissy's Cottage." The state Department of Children and Families closed the facility, which investigators said was unlicensed."

"Stephanie Dronski doesn’t want people to think her son spent a few weeks in the hospital and everything returned to normal. The attorney for the woman charged with aggravated child abuse in connection with the boy’s injuries said last week that the boy had recovered. The attorney said he intends to call a medical expert to the stand during the upcoming trial to show the boy didn’t suffer injuries consistent with the abuse described by the state’s doctors. The defendant, Christina Cinelli-McFall, 33, is scheduled to stand trial March 3 in Bunnell on a charge of aggravated child abuse.
Dronski tells a different story than Cinelli-McFall’s attorney, Mike Lambert. Dronski called her son’s injuries “horrific.” Dronski, who recently moved to Wisconsin but is expected to testify at Cinelli-McFall’s trial, fired off two emails to The News-Journal after an article was published last week that included Lambert’s statements about the boy’s health. The child’s grandmother did the same.
Dronski’s husband, Richard, who still lives in Flagler County, also spoke up. “This is coming up on four years,” he said of the case. “It’s a long time. We want justice for (our son) and we want it to be over so we can move on with our lives.” He also said his son is still recuperating from his injuries and that he requires special care and supervision. Dronski said he speaks to his son every day over the phone and in spite of the distance, he tries to see him once every six weeks.He recalled how “chaotic” it was on June 16, 2010, the day his son was admitted to the hospital..........The state’s medical expert said the child’s injuries were consistent with “shaken-baby syndrome,” blunt-force trauma or a combination of both.........Lambert has said the physician he plans to call to the stand will refute testimony given by the state’s medical expert.Cinelli-McFall owned Chrissy’s Cottage, a day-care facility operated out of her Palm Coast home.  Authorities said Cinelli-McFall wasn’t a licensed day-care provider and the state shut down her business. She remains free on bail. Lambert said his expert witness is a physician from the University of Pennsylvania who is associated with the Innocence Project, a national public policy and litigation organization."
 
The entire story can be found at:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140109/NEWS/140109461/1025?Title=Hospitalized-Palm-Coast-child-x2019-s-family-tires-of-wait-refutes-defense#gsc.tab=0

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

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The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
 
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
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