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"The jury heard testimony from police officers, and doctors from Children’s Hospital Boston, who concluded Littlefield’s injuries were so severe they had to have been caused by abuse.
But Christie argued there was no evidence or eyewitness that showed Torrey did anything to Littlefield.
“She is a wonderful person and a good mother,” Christie said after the verdict. “This has been a difficult road for her.”"
UNION LEADER: FROM STORY ON THE BABYSITTER'S ACQUITTAL;
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"Christie argued that Littlefield fell in his crib just before being brought to Torrey’s home, and bumped his head weeks earlier during a swimming lesson with his mother.
Docko asked jurors to tap into their own experience of raising children to evaluate whether a bump on the head or common fall would cause such serious injuries on a baby.
“Children don’t fall and bump their head and wind up like Grady Littlefield,” Docko said.
Questions that jurors have about Littlefield’s diagnosis may come down to which experts they believe.
Doctors who examined Littlefield were contradicted by one hired by Torrey’s defense, who said the baby could have been suffering from seizures or other disorders.
Docko said the defense expert, Dr. Janice Ophoven, should not be trusted because she once mixed up blood samples of a baby she was hired to examine with a man dying of lung cancer. That led to the parents being suspected by police of killing their infant daughter, she said.
Christie defended the science and doctors who contradicted the findings made at Children’s Hospital, saying their research was just as legitimate.
“They provide their expertise when people need it and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it,” Christie said."
UNION LEADER: FROM EARLIER STORY ON THE CLOSING ARGUMENTS;
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PUBLISHER'S VIEW: I always feel a stab of horror when I see a babysitter charged with serious crimes relating to the sudden injury or death of a child they are caring for purely on the basis of a team of medical experts who claim that the physical evidence shows unequivocally that the child was shaken to death- or that small falls don't kill. I am therefore always am gratified when, in these cases (as I am seeing more and more) a jury shows a willingness to consider non-criminal explanations for the child's death. In the Elizabeth Torrey case - the subject of this post - the jurors were not impressed either by the number of well-credentialled expert witnesses called by the prosecution or by the rhetoric used by prosecutors to secure a verdict - the suggestion that the babysitter had inflicted injuries on the child akin to those which would be inflicted in a horrific car crash. Instead, it would appear that the jurors did what jurors are supposed to do by reaching their own judgments - instead of abdicating the decision to the prosecution's experts - and by considering whether the prosecution had adduced any evidence tying her to a crime.
HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;
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"The verdict for Elizabeth Torrey came within two hours of a juror being replaced on Wednesday for disobeying a judge’s order not to search on the Internet for information related to the case," the story continues.
"Torrey was acquitted of first- and second-degree assault charges, which could have landed her in state prison for years if a jury had found her guilty. “It was a very emotional case,” defense lawyer William Christie said in an interview. “We are very grateful for the jury’s verdict.” Torrey was accused of injuring Grady Littlefield. Now 23 months old, he is legally blind and has lost much of his hearing and ability to walk, according to court testimony. Torrey took the stand in her own defense at the close of the week-long trial in Rockingham County Superior Court. Jurors began deliberating Tuesday morning. The jury heard testimony from police officers, and doctors from Children’s Hospital Boston, who concluded Littlefield’s injuries were so severe they had to have been caused by abuse. But Christie argued there was no evidence or eyewitness that showed Torrey did anything to Littlefield. “She is a wonderful person and a good mother,” Christie said after the verdict. “This has been a difficult road for her.” The jury listened to hours of live and recorded testimony from medical professionals, including a defense-hired doctor who dismissed the assessment that Littlefield was abused. They also heard Torrey’s recorded interview with Candia police. Police arrested Torrey days after a 911 call was made by her neighbor, saying that Littlefield had suddenly become unresponsive. Dr. Alice Newton, head of the Child Protection Team at Children’s Hospital, testified for the state about how doctors concluded the injuries were the result of severe trauma. In their closing arguments on Tuesday, prosecutors said Littlefield’s injuries were so severe that they were comparable to ones seen in a car accident or a second-story fall. “It was a real disappointment given the state of the evidence,” Rockingham County Attorney James Reams said. “We literally had the finest doctors on these issues come and testify.” The juror who was dismissed had searched on the Internet for a medical article that was mentioned during the trial, according to Reams. He shared what he was doing with fellow members of the jury, who in turn reported it to Judge Kenneth McHugh, Reams said. McHugh explicitly warned jurors each day not to search online for information or news accounts of the trial. The judge questioned other members of the jury about the infraction and then replaced the man with one of the two alternates selected before deliberations began."
The story can be found at:
http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110929/NEWS03/709299969
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"BRENTWOOD — The bodily trauma suffered by 8-month-old Grady Littlefield was so great that doctors could only compare him to a baby who endured a horrific accident, prosecutors said on Tuesday," the Union Leader story published on September 28, 2011 under the heading, "Prosecutor: Child's injuries like those in car crash," begins.
"“This is what we see in a crash of a motor vehicle, or falling from a second story balcony — not a 7½-month old falling in a crib,” Assistant County Attorney Jacqueline Docko said during closing arguments in the trial of Littlefield’s former babysitter," the story continues.
"A jury is now deciding whether Elizabeth Torrey, 27, of Candia assaulted Littlefield, causing him to suffer serious injuries to his brain, ears and eyes — or was simply a woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Jurors began deliberating Tuesday morning after a seven-day trial in Rockingham County Superior Court, where Torrey is charged with first- and second-degree assault. Littlefield, of Deerfield, was left legally blind, unable to walk and suffering from major hearing loss from severe trauma, which could have been inflicted from shaking, prosecutors said. But despite those injuries, defense lawyer William Christie maintained that prosecutors and the doctors who examined Littlefield did not have the evidence or the science to back up their claims about Torrey’s abuse. Littlefield was at Torrey’s home in Candia on the afternoon of June 9, 2010 when he suddenly became unresponsive, prompting a neighbor to call 911. A team of doctors at Children’s Hospital in Boston did not name Torrey specifically as the culprit of the injuries, but gave Candia police a window of time when Littlefield was injured, Christie argued. That conclusion, made on June 17, made police focus solely on Torrey, he said. Christie argued that Littlefield fell in his crib just before being brought to Torrey’s home, and bumped his head weeks earlier during a swimming lesson with his mother. Docko asked jurors to tap into their own experience of raising children to evaluate whether a bump on the head or common fall would cause such serious injuries on a baby. “Children don’t fall and bump their head and wind up like Grady Littlefield,” Docko said. Questions that jurors have about Littlefield’s diagnosis may come down to which experts they believe. Doctors who examined Littlefield were contradicted by one hired by Torrey’s defense, who said the baby could have been suffering from seizures or other disorders. Docko said the defense expert, Dr. Janice Ophoven, should not be trusted because she once mixed up blood samples of a baby she was hired to examine with a man dying of lung cancer. That led to the parents being suspected by police of killing their infant daughter, she said. Christie defended the science and doctors who contradicted the findings made at Children’s Hospital, saying their research was just as legitimate. “They provide their expertise when people need it and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it,” Christie said. Littlefield’s parents, Jeffrey and Nina, sat in the front row of the courtroom, where they have spent every day of trial listening to hours of testimony by police, doctors and Torrey, who finished testifying on Monday. Supporters for Torrey have also been coming to court, especially during the last two days of trial."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: 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.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
