Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: A California jury heard defendant Suzanne Johnson's accounts of how six-month-old Jasmine Miller died while in her care for the first time -- through an audiotape and videotape of her conflicting statements given to police. In her first interview given to police after Jasmine died at the hospital, Johnson first claimed that the baby had choked on baby food and stopped breathing. But then she changed her story during the second interview and told investigators that Jasmine had fallen out of the high chair and hit her head. Johnson also mentioned that the baby had been crying and had difficulty taking her formula. Tomorrow, jurors will hear another interview that police conducted with Johnson after Jasmine's death, where they confront her with the autopsy findings, and she changed her story. Johnson reportedly changes her story again telling police that she put Jasmine in her highchair but as she bent down to pick up an object off the floor, she accidentally hokked her arm in the chair. Jasmine, said Johnson, went flying out of the chair onto the floor. The prosecution hopes to use Johnson's various statements to show that she lied in an atempt to cover up her crime. Before jurors heard Johnson's statements, assistant medical examiner Terri Haddox, who performed the autopsy on Jasmine Miller, was brought to the stand. Haddox said that Jasmine suffered two head fractures that, in her opinion, were caused by a single action. The doctor said that based on the extent of the injuries, Jasmine's fractures were not caused by an accidental fall, but rather a willful strike to the head. Haddox also testified that she doubted that Jasmine fell out of a high chair because she suffered injuries mostly to the back of her skull. If Jasmine had fallen out of a high chair as Johnson claimed, Haddox said, the injuries would have occurred mostly to the front of her head. Haddox also disagreed with prior state witness Jan Leestma's opinion that Jasmine suffered from a pre-existing head fracture. The doctor believed that Jasmine's injuries were inflicted the day she died, sometime between 11:30 a.m. and 3:09 p.m. When confronted with her conflicts with Dr. Leestma by the defense during cross-examination, Haddox stood by her testimony, saying that doctors can have different opinions about injuries. She also pointed out that, unlike Dr. Leestma, she examined the baby's injuries when they were fresh. (Dr. Leestma based his opinions on photos of Jasmine's injuries.) Later during the trial, defendant Suzanne Johnson is expected to take the stand and explain the inconsistencies in her statement to police. -- Kathy E "I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow isn't looking too good for you either" http://members.delphi.com/kathylaw/ Law & Issues Mailing List http://pw1.netcom.com/~kathye/rodeo.html - Cowboy Histories http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2990/law.htm Crime photo's Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
