"The
second trial of a Battle Creek man once convicted of child abuse and
felony murder in the death of a 3-year-old girl has begun. Leo
Ackley, 30, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2011
death of Baylee Stenman, his girlfriend's daughter; he was granted a new
trial by the Michigan Supreme Court after it was determined his
previous attorney didn't adequately represent him, failing to
call expert witnesses for the defense. In the original trial,
there were no defense experts to respond to prosecutors' witnesses,
who testified the child died from head trauma which was intentional and
from violent acts and not from accidental injuries like falls or traffic
crashes. The new trial started Tuesday in Calhoun County Circuit
Judge John Hallacy's courtroom with the testimony of several witnesses
for the prosecution. In her opening statement, Calhoun
County Assistant Prosecutor Karen Pawloski described the July 28, 2011,
events that led to the girl's death Aug. 1 that year. Pawloski described
how Stenman was left in Ackley's care and was later found unresponsive
and with bruises on her body. Pawloski said Ackley drove Stenman
and another child to his mom's house instead of calling 911 or seeking
help from other people in the townhouse complex where they lived. "These were intentional acts," Pawloski said. Defense
attorney Andrew Rodenhouse told the jury that nobody actually knows how
Stenman died, and that the girl had other health issues as well. "You're going to hear how the people's experts manufactured this into a murder; it's not," Rodenhouse said......... Ackley
said he found the child on the floor of her bedroom, and that she
could've hit her head while falling out of bed. Prosecutors say Ackley
injured Stenman's head, causing her brain to swell. Wilson testified
that bruises along Stenman's jaw line, photographs of which were shown
in court, looked like thumb prints. The defense has argued that
newer medical science disputes testimony from medical experts about
shaken-baby syndrome and abusive head trauma. Rodenhouse plans to
call Dr. Ljabisa Dragovic, chief forensic pathologist in Oakland County."
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/local/2016/10/11/retrial-begins-death-3-year-old-baylee-stenman/91895330/