Lacey Spears: New York; Jury begins deliberations after the prosecution and defense make their final pitches in the case. Defence says no witnesses to the alleged crime and no forensic evidence taken from Nyack Hospital - and that prosecutors had presented no motive why Spears would harm her son while under the observation of the video EEG and hospital staff. Defence also charges that it was Nyack Hospital's negligence that caused Garnett's condition to "become hypernatremic." Defence lawyer said the boy had diarrhea but the hospital did not give him "any fluids to combat his loss of water." Reporter Lee Higgins. Lohud.

STORY: "Lacey Spears trial:  Jury begins deliberations," by reporter Lee Higgins, published by Lohud on February 26, 2015.

SUB-HEADING:  "Jurors began deliberating Thursday in the Lacey Spears murder case after the prosecution and defense made their final pitches in the case."

GIST: "Jurors began deliberating Thursday in the Lacey Spears murder case after the prosecution and defense made their final pitches in the case. The 27-year-old former Chestnut Ridge mother accused of killing her son, Garnett, by poisoning him with salt poured through the 5-year-old's feeding tube. "I'm going to ask you to do justice for a 5-year-old boy who should not be dead," Prosecutor Patricia Murphy told jurors. "I'm going to ask you to do justice for Garnett." Poisoning the boy with salt, she said later, was "nothing short of torture." But defense attorney Stephen Riebling insisted the jury must acquit Spears. "The case presented to you is riddled with reasonable doubt," Riebling said. "The fact of the matter is the people have failed to present any direct evidence against Lacey Spears." Almost immediately after beginning deliberations, jurors sent a note to the judge asking to see Garnett's Nyack Hospital lab results, a chart by a toxicologist of salinity levels, and video of Spears at Nyack Hospital. They also asked for an explainer of the elements of the crimes with which Spears is charged: second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter......... "See if she's ever, ever hugged her son," Murphy said. "See if she's ever, ever kissed her son." Riebling, however, told the jury that Spears was a doting mother. "Whatever Garnett needed, Lacey did for him," Riebling said. He said there were no witnesses to the alleged crime and no forensic evidence taken from Nyack Hospital. He said prosecutors had presented no motive why Spears would harm her son while under the observation of the video EEG and hospital staff. The lack of a motive, he said, "can be the basis alone to acquit (her)." Riebling further charged that it was Nyack Hospital's negligence that caused Garnett's condition to "become hypernatremic." Riebling said the boy had diarrhea but the hospital did not give him "any fluids to combat his loss of water." "He was hypernatremic because they allowed him to become dehydrated," he said. Spears started crying as Riebling read the jury her texts to friends after Garnett died. He also defended a computer search she did for information on hypernatremia, pointing out that Garnett had suffered from the condition when he was younger. And he noted she researched suicide after losing her son, calling it an "awful thing" for a child to die before a parent.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.mozaaf.com/post/438622

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/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
 
I look forward to hearing from readers at:

hlevy15@gmail.com.
 
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;