STORY:"No testimony Monday in Adrian Thomas trial, by reporter Bob Gardinier, published by the Times Union on June 9, 2014.
GIST: "The jury in the Adrian Thomas murder retrial had the day off Monday after the defense on Friday informed the court that a West Coast pediatric neuroradiologist, their final witness, would not be able to testify via Skype until Tuesday. The specialist, Dr. Patrick Barnes, a member of the child-abuse-protection team at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., is often asked by defense attorneys to review medical scans in child-abuse cases. .........A Chicago specialist, Dr. Jan Leestma, testified Friday and insisted that Thomas' 4-month-old son, Matthew Thomas, had sepsis and was in septic shock from a bacterial infection that caused his death on Sept. 23, 2008. Under cross-examination, the neuropathologist, who has testified for the defense in several cases across the country, admitted the child could have had trauma to the brain. Prosecutors claim Adrian Thomas, frustrated with his son's crying, caused the injuries. Called by the District Attorney's office last week, forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Sikirica testified the baby had bleeding on the brain or subdural hematomas, most often caused by head injury in infants. The condition is referred to as "shaken baby syndrome." For years, the topic has generated legal controversy. Leestma attained some notoriety after he testified at the highly publicized case of Louise Woodward in 1997. The 19-year-old English au pair was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen in Newton, Mass. The first defense witness, Boston University specialist Dr. Jerome Klein, testified the baby's massive infection could have caused the same symptoms as brain trauma and caused his death. Thomas was convicted in 2009 of second-degree murder after jurors decided he threw his son on a bed on three separate days. A midlevel appellate court upheld Thomas' conviction but the state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, citing heavy-handed tactics used by investigators."
The entire story can be found at:
GIST: "The jury in the Adrian Thomas murder retrial had the day off Monday after the defense on Friday informed the court that a West Coast pediatric neuroradiologist, their final witness, would not be able to testify via Skype until Tuesday. The specialist, Dr. Patrick Barnes, a member of the child-abuse-protection team at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., is often asked by defense attorneys to review medical scans in child-abuse cases. .........A Chicago specialist, Dr. Jan Leestma, testified Friday and insisted that Thomas' 4-month-old son, Matthew Thomas, had sepsis and was in septic shock from a bacterial infection that caused his death on Sept. 23, 2008. Under cross-examination, the neuropathologist, who has testified for the defense in several cases across the country, admitted the child could have had trauma to the brain. Prosecutors claim Adrian Thomas, frustrated with his son's crying, caused the injuries. Called by the District Attorney's office last week, forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Sikirica testified the baby had bleeding on the brain or subdural hematomas, most often caused by head injury in infants. The condition is referred to as "shaken baby syndrome." For years, the topic has generated legal controversy. Leestma attained some notoriety after he testified at the highly publicized case of Louise Woodward in 1997. The 19-year-old English au pair was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 8-month-old Matthew Eappen in Newton, Mass. The first defense witness, Boston University specialist Dr. Jerome Klein, testified the baby's massive infection could have caused the same symptoms as brain trauma and caused his death. Thomas was convicted in 2009 of second-degree murder after jurors decided he threw his son on a bed on three separate days. A midlevel appellate court upheld Thomas' conviction but the state Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, citing heavy-handed tactics used by investigators."
The entire story can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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/
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
I look forward to hearing from readers at: hlevy15@gmail.com;
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
