Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Suzanne Johnson, the defendant in the death of Jasmine Miller, took the stand and while she admitted she lied to police during her interviews with them, she denied purposely killing the six-month-old baby. During her direct-examination by her attorney Marc Carlos, Johnson talked about starting her daycare business with the goal of creating an at-home environment for children where their needs could be independently met more than at other centers which adhered to standardized schedules of activities. Johnson said she loved children, that it was a natural instinct for her to care for them. She thought Jasmine was beautiful and alert, though a little slow in development some ways for her age. Johnson told the court that she noticed Jasmine did not eat as much baby formula as she thought she should have. According to Johnson, during the last week she had her, Jasmine seemed less interested in playing than previously. Johnson testified that Jasmine cried a lot and did not sleep or eat enough during the weeks she cared for her. She would hold the baby a lot because that would sometimes help ease the crying. But sometimes when Johnson did not think she could do anything to help Jasmine, so she would leave her on the floor on a blanket under a gym in hopes she would calm down. Contrary to what Crystal Miller said, Johnson claimed she did not tell Crystal everything was fine with Jasmine. Instead, Johnson said, she told her about Jasmine's trouble with eating and her concerns she was not getting enough nutrition. Johnson, though admitting she found Jasmine to be a fussy baby, adamantly denied ever hitting, shaking, or throwing Jasmine in any way. "I loved her...she was a baby," Johnson said tearfully. "I was never frustrated with her...I don't lose control with children." Johnson stuck to her story about accidentally knocking Jasmine out of the highchair, and demonstrated it in court. She said she felt guilty about not strapping Jasmine in the chair and felt that child was hurt because of her carelessness. Defense lawyer Carlos had Johnson admit that she lied to police and changed her story several times. Johnson explained that she lied because she was afraid and intimidated; she felt the police were being accusatory even if they did not directly accuse her. "I had never had a child rushed to the hospital while in my care," Johnson said tearfully. "There were police all over, inside my house, outside the house, asking me if I was angry...even if they weren't accusing me [of harming Jasmine], they were." And during the police interviews, the defendant said, she was confused and deprived of sleep and food. During cross-examination, prosecutor Eugenia Eyherabide tried to confront Johnson about the contradictions in her stories to police, pointing out inconsistencies such as what times things happened and whether Caitlin, the other child present at the time of Jasmine's alleged accident, was eating lunch or a snack when Jasmine fell. But Johnson claimed she was confused about times and had responded to the officers' throwing out theories to her about what happened and when. Eyherabide kept pointing out how Johnson lied over and over to police, as if she was trying to get Johnson to admit that. The prosecutor also kept focusing on the fact that Johnson lied about Jasmine's accident (if there was an accident) and wondered aloud why Johnson would not have told authorities about the accident if she knew Jasmine was being hospitalized. Eyherabide seemed to be trying to get Johnson to admit that her story about Jasmine's falling out of the high chair was also a lie. Nonetheless, Johnson insisted she did not kill Jasmine, even admitting that she initially lied to police out of fear for herself. Before Johnson took the stand, forensic pathologist Dr. Gregory Reiber testified for the defense and contradicted some of the prosecution's previous medical testimony. He said Jasmine would not necessarily have become unconscious immediately after the impact of falling from the high chair. In fact, he claimed, she might have cried in pain and then seemed okay for awhile before her condition deteriorated. Dr. Reiber also said that Dr. Terri Haddix's theory about the baby's head being cradled on the right side and hit on the left was only conjecture. It could not be stated to a reasonable medical certainty. Dr. Reiber also decreased the magnitude of force necessary for the injuries as compared to the previous experts, saying some things were overstated by them. However, the doctor also said Jasmine's injuries were most likely a case of child abuse and not an accidental death, and admitted it would be very unusual -- though he would not concede impossible -- for a baby to die from a rebleed of an old subdural hemorrhage caused by a highchair fall. Suzanne Johnson will return to the stand to finish her cross-examination when testimony resumes tomorrow. The defense told the judge that after watching Court TV, some new witnesses have come forward, and they will allegedly testify that Crystal Miller was not very upset after Jasmine died, that Jasmine was always crying, and that the pregnancy was unwanted and resented. There is some speculation that these witness could testify as well tomorrow. -- 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
