Bulletin: Daniel Green: Massachussets; Judge mulls verdict in alleged shaken baby case; (Verdict expected tobe delivered Monday); Salem Daily News says the court has to decide whether the case is about "An angry father," or "a medical issue?"

"There are no witnesses to what happened to a 3-month-old baby that caused bleeding on his brain and both retinas; bruising on his armpits, one leg and the top of his spine; and an injury to his spleen. These injuries have left the boy with significant vision loss and developmental delays.  Was it a hereditary medical condition — excess fluid on the brain — that triggered a brain bleed and then a seizure, as the defense suggests? Or, as prosecutors argue, was it a case of an angry father, who had already complained about the baby’s crying, lashing out and either throwing or shaking the infant?  That’s the decision Lawrence Superior Court Judge Mary Ames will have to make by Monday, when she is expected to deliver her verdict in the trial of the baby’s father, Daniel Green.

“This is a circumstantial case,” acknowledged prosecutor Karen Hopwood in her closing argument to Ames on Thursday. She urged the judge, however, to “stitch together” all of that circumstantial evidence to see what happened. The defense reminded the judge there was no physical evidence showing what caused the injuries — or who. “Where is the evidence that the Commonwealth has shown that only Daniel Green could have shaken or thrown (the baby)?” Green’s attorney, Joseph Collins, argued.  “Whatever happened to (the baby) happened while he was in the care and custody of Beverly Hospital and not at the motel,” suggested Collins.........The prosecution’s expert, Dr. Alice Newton of Children’s Hospital, had testified that the injuries to the child occurred somewhere between a half hour and four hours before he showed symptoms. Collins suggested that could only mean the child was already in the hospital when the damage occurred, and not alone with Green.  Hopwood argued, however, that the child was brought in much later that night, pointing to Beverly Hospital emergency room records showing he was first seen after 11 p.m. She told the judge the earlier time written on the records actually referred to the time the doctor’s notes were transcribed, on the following day, Nov. 28."
http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/an-angry-father-or-a-medical-issue/article_6504489a-1c6f-510f-9dc4-4a64301b8696.html