PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Before Maya took the stand during the plaintiff's rebuttal, the case nearly came to a standstill as Maya’s attorneys questioned a witness on the hospital’s Joint Commission review. They pointed out the hospital had an immediate jeopardy citation, which they believe was during the time Maya was hospitalized. "I do believe that this failure on the part of the governing body contributed to why we are here," said Dr. Joseph Corcoran, a plaintiff witness. Days prior, the hospital presented a witness who told the jury they met accreditation standards in 2016. The Kowalski family’s attorneys said that could have misrepresented the St. Petersburg hospital’s image to the jury. While the defense team for the hospital said it was only for the hospital’s heart institute, the Kowalski’s attorneys want a closer look and so does Judge Hunter Carroll. "This thing kind of exploding on the last day of testimony, the last thing I want to do is make a wrong call on this issue because this issue has the perspective of causing this whole thing to be done over again," said Judge Carroll. "
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STORY: "‘Take Care of Maya’ trial: Judge, lawyers discuss jury instructions in $220M case," By FOX 13 News Staff, published on November 2, 2023.
GIST: VENICE, Fla. - Jurors listening to a $220 million case against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital that was at the heart of the Netflix documentary ‘Take Care of Maya’ have the day off on Thursday as lawyers and the judge discuss jury instructions.
Maya Kowalski's family is suing Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for $220 million, claiming its actions led family matriarch Beata Kowalski to take her own life.
A judge ordered Maya to be sheltered at the medical facility under state custody while allegations of child abuse were investigated.
The judge said Maya was not allowed to have physical contact with her mother. After 87 days without seeing her daughter, Beata Kowalski died by suicide.
For nearly six weeks, jurors heard from the Kowalski's, doctors, nurses and experts. Jurors will ultimately have to decide whether what happened to the Kowalski family could have been prevented and if the hospital’s actions pushed Beata Kowalski to take her own life.
The Kowalski family says the hospital medically kidnapped Maya and battered her while in its care.
"We ask in this case for you to consider not only compensatory damages to try to make them whole for these terrible things, but also punitive damages to deter them to punish them and to deter this type of behavior in the future," said Greg Anderson, Maya Kowalski’s lawyer.
The defense rested its case on Wednesday by showing jurors video depositions from Maya, her father, Jack Kowalski and her uncle, Scott Kowalski.
In her deposition, Maya said she enjoys physical activity such as running, swimming and ice skating and added that the only medication she takes is Claritin for allergies and a sleeping pill.
Her father testified in his deposition that he does not see any signs of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome in Maya now.
However, when Maya took the stand during the plaintiff’s rebuttal, she told the jury despite the defense trying to make it look like she’s pain free by showing photos of her at a recent school dance and at a Halloween party with her friends, her pain continues to have flare up and at times she masks her pain.
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan;
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-1234880143/
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