STORY: "Defence rests in Adrian Thomas re-trial," by WNYT staff, published on June 10, 2014.
GIST: "The defense rested Tuesday in the Adrian Thomas retrial. Thomas is accused of killing his infant son. A doctor with expertise in pediatric neurology testified for the defense Tuesday via video from California. He tried to prove to the jury that Adrian Thomas' son died from sepsis and infection and not from child abuse. Thomas is accused of killing his four-month-old son Matthew by throwing and/or bouncing the baby on the bed, then harder, off the bed onto the floor. Dr. Barnes, a defense expert in pediatric neuro-radiology, said that from reviewing medical records and the autopsy report, he would have reported the potential for child abuse or non-accidental trauma, but that it is more probable than not that this is not trauma or head injury. This is the second trial for Adrian Thomas. He was convicted in 2009, but the New York State Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial without Thomas' video-taped confession to police.........The defense rested around 2 p.m. Closing arguments are expected to begin on Wednesday morning."
http://wnyt.com/article/stories/s3469339.shtmlGIST: "The defense rested Tuesday in the Adrian Thomas retrial. Thomas is accused of killing his infant son. A doctor with expertise in pediatric neurology testified for the defense Tuesday via video from California. He tried to prove to the jury that Adrian Thomas' son died from sepsis and infection and not from child abuse. Thomas is accused of killing his four-month-old son Matthew by throwing and/or bouncing the baby on the bed, then harder, off the bed onto the floor. Dr. Barnes, a defense expert in pediatric neuro-radiology, said that from reviewing medical records and the autopsy report, he would have reported the potential for child abuse or non-accidental trauma, but that it is more probable than not that this is not trauma or head injury. This is the second trial for Adrian Thomas. He was convicted in 2009, but the New York State Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial without Thomas' video-taped confession to police.........The defense rested around 2 p.m. Closing arguments are expected to begin on Wednesday morning."
See related Times Union account of Barnes' testimony: "Despite an energetic cross-examination on the merits of his findings, the pediatric neuroradiologist from Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., insisted medical records he reviewed show 4-month-old Matthew Thomas died of an aggressive bacterial infection and not at the hands of his father. Barnes told jurors under questioning by defense attorney Stephen Coffey that medical scans he saw showed swelling and blood on the child's brain, some of which he said was old and could have occurred as early as the baby's birth. "He was both a preemie and a twin, which presents risk factors for bleeding of the brain," Barnes said. "There were no injuries to the scalp and no skull fractures." Barnes admitted that some of the scarring on the baby's brain could have been from trauma, but that there was no way of telling whether it was intentional or accidental. A severe infection and meningitis caused the death, Barnes told the jurors, and trauma would be further down on the list of possibilities, he said. "We have to include possible trauma on the list in such cases because it is mandatory," said Barnes, whose image appeared on a large screen television in the courtroom. "But the elephant in the room in this case we cannot ignore was infection." Barnes did admit that emergency room personnel only gave the child CT scans of his brain, which he relied on in part for his diagnosis. The more revealing MRI scans were apparently not approved. "I would have ordered an MRI," Barnes said. "We'd have a much better picture of what was going on had they done an MRI scan."
Prosecutors claim Adrian Thomas, frustrated with his son's crying, caused the injuries by throwing the crying infant down on a bed. He faces a count of second-degree murder."
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Jury-to-weigh-in-on-Adrian-Thomas-infanticide-5542556.php
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.