The Defense Present It's Case
The first expert witness to appear on behalf of Cam Brown was Dr. Janice Ophoven from Minnesota. Dr. Ophoven also appeared during the first trial at which time her testimony was limited by Judge Mark Arnold. The autopsy was not considered a full document in that trial, several sections having been redacted. Judge Arnold limited the testimony accordingly.
I have linked the biography from one of Dr. Ophoven's websites here, and have reproduced a portion of it for your convenience as follows:
"Dr. Janice Ophoven is a pediatric forensic pathologist with more than 30 years of clinical, administrative and quality improvement experience. She is board certified in Pathology, Forensic Pathology, Quality Assurance and Utilization Review. Dr. Ophoven has focused her clinical practice on understanding child abuse and injury to children."
A review of Dr. Ophoven's history reveals that she was the only witness to appear on behalf of the defense in the Dierks shaken baby trial. Amy Dierks, a Sioux Falls daycare provider, was held to account for injuries sustained by baby Henry while under her care in November, 2007. Six-month old baby Henry had become lethargic and was in a coma-like state when his father took him from the day-care center on that bleak November day. Now two years old, baby Henry is blind and can barely crawl. His parents are still seeking answers about what happened that day. They believe Amy Dierks shook their son and banged his head, causing the injuries, but the jury took only four hours to agree with Dr. Ophoven's assessment that the child showed signs of something else happening days before he was under Dierks' care. The defense contended that a brain infection was the source of his injury.
Dr. Ophoven is involved in 50 to 75 cases internationally each year. She testifies for the prosecution and the defense, and most often regarding injuries or deaths involving children. Prior to becoming a forensic pathologist, Dr. Ophoven practiced as a Pediatrician. She is also an assistant medical examiner for St. Louis County, Minnesota.
The book The Death of Innocents, highlights Dr. Ophoven's role as a prosecution witness in the case of serial killer Waneta Hoyt, convicted for the murder of five of her infant children over a seven year period. Hoyt's sixth child, an adopted boy, grew up normally which added further support to Waneta's claims that the earlier deaths were caused by a genetic abnormality. Those deaths had been used as a scientific model to support SIDS research, but when this theory was challenged by additional information years later, Waneta admitted that she had killed each of her biological children because she couldn't tolerate hearing them cry. Oddly, the crying of her adopted son never bothered her in the same way.
Once a strong proponent of shaken baby syndrome, more recent research, information and anaysis has caused Dr. Ophoven to rethink previous beliefs. She has taken an opposing view in more recent cases and stands firmly in defense of those charged under the old theories. She is quite use to being called a defense-whore as a result of this, but is undeterred by her attackers. The number of previous cases which might now be reconsidered due to the studies and biomechanical research of her colleague, Dr. John Plunkett, is mind-boggling, but his work, work they had accomplished together, and the work of others has convinced Dr. Ophoven the phenomena of shaken baby syndrome is not conclusive and needs to be challenged on a case-by-case basis. An article which gives a more in-depth understanding of the work of Dr. Plunkett is found here. The debate will certainly bring about a flurry of review which could reach the proportions of that seen by the work of Barry Scheck and "The Innocence Project" due to dna. Unfortunately, once medical examiners have identified the three most common signs being used to identify the syndrome, other very important data which would support other explanations may have been overlooked and lost. Crime buffs might want to keep an eye on these developments because they are certain to raise much more conflict as future prosecutions are challenged by the scientific community.
The Cameron Brown trial is more straight forward, however. Were Lauren's injuries the result of a single high-velocity impact, or could they have been sustained in an accidental fall? Based on the autopsy report, (which miraculously contains all of the sections in this trial) what conclusions would Dr. Ophoven have reached regarding cause and manner of death?
Today's testimony took direct aim at the testimony of Dr. Wilson Hayes. Dr. Ophoven questioned the conclusions of Dr. Hayes based on the fact that he had no absolutes to work with and there were numerous variables that had not been taken into consideration in Dr. Hayes's model. She actually stated that she was embarrassed by Dr. Hayes's conclusions and could not reconcile the fact that he drew such a narrow conclusion based on the fact that there were so many other possibilities that were not given any consideration.
Dr. Ophoven reviewed the autopsy report from Dr. Chinwah and was asked to compare her findings of injuries with those of Dr. Chinwah. Large pictures were used for her to demonstrate to the jury what conclusions she reached and why. She identified substantially more injuries which pointed to multiple impacts, particularly a large area of contusion to the right side of Lauren's back which Dr. Chinwah didn't bother with at all in the first trial and Hayes brushed off as lividity in this trial. This bruising, by the way, is on the same side as the injury to Lauren's wrist (the right side). There was also 250cc of blood in her right chest cavity, contusions to her liver which is on the right side of her body, contusions on the right side of her diaphram, and a tear where the pancreas is attached (which is also on the right side of her body). The head and upper chest injury which Hayes and Chinwah claim is the result of the only impact Lauren suffered, is on the left side of her head and upper chest.
Lividity is one of the changes which occur after death. It takes a number of hours to become "fixed". When the heart stops pumping, blood will begin to settle in those areas which are lowest, but not in the areas which are in direct contact with a hard surface. This is because the vessels become constricted in those areas. The only reason lividity would show up on one side is if the body was lying on that side, in which case it would run along the entire length of the body. The fact that the area of concern in the pictures was exclusively on one side of Lauren's body while she was positioned on her back, and did not run the entire length was the first clue that the discoloration was not lividity.
Dr. Ophoven also noted many bruises and contusions to Lauren's limbs that had not been noted in the autopsy report. In fact, Dr. Chinwah had stated (as had Craig Hum) that Lauren's limbs did not show injuries. Dr. Ophoven concluded from all of the injuries that Lauren had sustained, that she had suffered "numerous and many" impacts, although she was unable to say how many.
Craig Hum tried to discredit Dr. Ophoven during the cross examination. He did not attack her on the basis of her testimony about the injuries, but rather about her personally. For instance, Dr. Ophoven is considered to be a pioneer in the area of pediatric forensics. She was considered an expert in the area many years before it was recognized and offered as a board certified specialty. Although she has been clearly looked up to in the field for many years, he attacked her on the basis that she did not bother to test for the pediatric certification which she had actually pioneered. He then went over the qualifications of Wilson Hayes, including the fact that he held a prestigious position at Harvard. In re-direct by Pat Harris, Dr. Ophoven reluctantly stated that Dr. Hayes had in fact lost his position at Harvard because of academic fraud.
Dr. Bruce Beckwith is due to testify tomorrow, and it is also expected that Detective Leslie will retake the witness stand because he traveled to Montana to consult with Dr. Beckwith.
