SBS: Child abuse theory disputed in retrial

Christine Ferretti / The Detroit News

Mount Clemens - In a second trial for a Harrison Township woman previously convicted of violently shaking her infant nephew, defense attorneys presented an alternative theory that it was a childhood stroke that left the boy blind and brain-injured, not abuse.
Julie Baumer, 34, was convicted of first-degree child abuse in 2005 on claims she violently shook six-week-old Philipp Baumer in October 2003. Philipp, now 7, has since been adopted and renamed Ben Zentz.

Baumer served four years of a 10- to 15-year sentence, but was released in December after Macomb County Circuit Court Judge James M. Biernat granted her a new trial.

The November decision followed a series of evidentiary hearings in which her new attorney, former Macomb County prosecutor Carl Marlinga, presented experts who testified that the boy's injuries were consistent with venous sinus thrombosis or a "childhood stroke," rather than shaking.

Today, both sides reiterated their theories for a Macomb County jury during closing arguments in Baumer's second trial.
Assistant Prosecutor Richard Goodman told jurors Philipp had no history of illness and was thriving until he was admitted to a hospital with "severe dehydration" in October 2003.
"He was doing fine and meeting milestones," Goodman said in his closing arguments today.
Goodman argued the medical witnesses defense produced are attempting to "disprove" shaken baby syndrome. But the facts show, he says, the child's injuries weren't consistent with the stroke condition defense is contending.
Goodman said the injuries Philipp had only occur in certain cases; automobile accidents, high falls and abuse. The first two don't apply here, he said.
"Accept only what the facts show you," he said. "That's that the defendant is guilty of child abuse."
But Marlinga argued the prosecutions case is "highly circumstantial" and the timeline for when the abuse allegedly occurred doesn't add up.
Marlinga characterized Baumer as a "loving person," who had no motive to injure her nephew. Philipp had always been a sickly child, Marlinga said, and the boy had no visible injuries when he arrived at the hospital that October.
"Sometimes the evidence is just not there," Marlinga said.
Prosecutors called about 10 witnesses during the trial that's spanned more than two weeks. Among the witnesses were doctors and the child's birth and adoptive mothers. Defense has called six doctors, Baumer and about 10 character and fact witnesses.
Marlinga made a motion today asking the judge to render a directed verdict.
A directed verdict would bypass a jury verdict and instead let the judge decide.
Biernat took the request under advisement. If a guilty verdict is rendered by the jury Biernat can override their decision.
If Baumer is convicted, she will return to prison to finish out the rest of her term.
Closing statements are expected to resume tomorrow.
 http://www.detnews.com/article/20101013/METRO03/10130425/1361/Child-abuse-theory-disputed-in-retrial-for-Harrison-Township-woman#ixzz131ii5n4T

SBS: Julie Baumer

A jury this morning will begin deliberating the fate of a 34-year-old woman accused of severely abusing her baby nephew following a more than three-week trial loaded with conflicting medical testimony.
Julie Baumer is on trial for first-degree child abuse, accused of causing brain injury— skull fracture and brain and retinal bleeding — to infant Philippe Baumer, while under her care in October 2003.
The trial featured a battle of experts, as the prosecution presented three physicians, and the defense countered with six doctors.
Macomb prosecutors contend Baumer struck and violently shook the child, now named Benjamin, before taking him to Mount Clemens General Hospital, from where he was transferred to Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. Benjamin, 7, whose mother is in prison for selling drugs, is severely disabled, requiring around-the-clock care by his adopted parents.
Assistant Macomb prosecutor Richard Goodman told jurors in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens during closing arguments Wednesday that Baumer hit Benjamin and realized “something happened.”
“The defendant became upset,” he said. “She shook him hoping to revive him, hoping she can get him to wake up. … Whatever the reason, anger, the defendant caused further injury.”
Or, he suggested, Baumer “could’ve been hitting him at the same time.”
This is Baumer’s second trial on the allegations. The former Harrison Township resident was convicted of first-degree child abuse following a trial in 2005 and served four years of a 10-year prison sentence. But her conviction was reversed after three prominent doctors agreed that Benjamin’s injuries were caused naturally. They say he suffered venous sinus thrombosis, aka “infant stroke,” which can mimic shaken baby syndrome.
“There is no evidence whatsoever this person (Baumer) is responsible” for Benjamin’s injuries, defense attorney Carl Marlinga argued during his two hours of closing argument. “It’s a totally natural event that doesn’t come from abuse.”
Free on bond, her case has been taken on by the Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan.
Marlinga’s touted the expertise of his half-dozen doctor experts. “It wasn’t just their opinion; they backed it up,” said Marlinga, a former Macomb County prosecutor.
Goodman countered in his rebuttal that VST did not occur
“Nobody has reported this as happening this way; it’s never happened in 50 years,” he told jurors. “If you base your verdict on the evidence and not some theoretical possibility, you’ll find the defendant guilty.”
But Marling said VST is “becoming more diagnosed” and known in the medical industry.
Marlinga also touted Baumer’s character, as several witnesses testified that she was gentle in caring for other nieces and nephews, is “emotionally stable” and has no history of “uncontrollable behavior.” She “was excited” that she had agreed to adopt the boy since her sister could not care for him, he said.
But Goodman retorted: “Sure, she was a great aunt to (another nephew) and her other nieces and nephews, but that makes no prediction about her ability to care for an infant 24/7.”
http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/2010/10/14/news/doc4cb6707bb828f560721365.txt