PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Lawyers for Albert and Ashley are making distinct arguments in each appeal, but broadly, attorneys argue that neither person got effective assistance from lawyers in 2009 and that the state has failed to prove how either Debelbot was a party to a murder. Ashley’s lawyers also say the state refused to disclose a key CT scan. The state contends that its lawyers acted properly and that the prosecution did not withhold evidence."
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STORY: "Defense attorneys tell Georgia’s high court that Columbus couple didn’t get a fair trial," by reporter Maggie Lee, published by Macon.com (The Telegraph) on August 7, 2018.
GIST: "McKenzy Debelbot would have been 10 years old in May, if she had lived that long. Instead, the newborn died hours after coming home from Martin Army Community Hospital in 2008. Her parents are appealing to Georgia’s highest court, saying they were unfairly sent to prison for life for her death. In 2009, a jury in Muscogee County found Albert and Ashley Debelbot guilty on charges including malice murder and felony murder. A big part of the 2009 case was a GBI autopsy that ruled the baby’s death a homicide, reporting that it was an act attributable to blunt-force head trauma. But that trial wasn’t fair, said attorneys for the Debelbots, arguing in front of the justices in Atlanta Tuesday morning. Among the attorneys’ main arguments is that the jury who met nearly a decade ago ago might have seen things differently if medical evidence had been presented by the couples’ trial counsel. A “war of the experts — our claim is the Debelbots were entitled to that in front of the jury,” said Carrie Sperling, from the University of Wisconsin Law School, representing Albert and as part of a team splitting defense of the couple. As the defense constructs it, Albert and Ashley were an Army couple prepared to welcome their fist baby home. But the defense says the couple’s baby wasn’t eating as well as expected in the hospital, and that injuries and internal bleeding implicated in McKenzy’s death aren’t convincingly explained by the prosecutors’ timeline or blunt-force trauma scenario. Defense attorneys said medical evidence wrongfully left out of the first trial or expert testimony that lawyers then didn’t collect shows a possibility that McKenzy was injured during or shortly after birth. But prosecutors trace McKenzy’s death to the roughly 13 hours after she left the hospital and was at home in the care of her parents. The baby was considered healthy by doctors and nurses before first leaving the hospital around 12:30 p.m. on May 31, 2008, according to Assistant District Attorney Sadhana Dailey. “McKenzy is driven back to Martin Army Hospital that night and now her skull is fractured on both sides,” Dailey said. The trauma was caused by a “crushing-“ or “stomping-“ type blow or blows, she said. Lawyers for Albert and Ashley are making distinct arguments in each appeal, but broadly, attorneys argue that neither person got effective assistance from lawyers in 2009 and that the state has failed to prove how either Debelbot was a party to a murder. Ashley’s lawyers also say the state refused to disclose a key CT scan. The state contends that its lawyers acted properly and that the prosecution did not withhold evidence. The state Supreme Court won’t be the first review for this case. Last year, a Muscogee Superior Court denied the Debelbots’ motion for a new trial, finding that the couples’ witnesses were not credible. Now the question of a trial is with the highest court in the state. During the timed 40-minute court session, several justices asked attorneys from both sides questions about the arguments. Asked about the lower court’s finding that the Debelbots’ witnesses were not credible, one attorney countered that the lower court’s conclusion there was unreasonable. Asked about a state medical witness who testified to the presence of blood in McKenzy’s brain that could have dated from her first time in the hospital, Dailey countered that the totality of medical evidence backs up the state’s case. The Georgia Supreme Court decides on most cases within six months of oral argument."
The entire story can be read at the link below:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
