BANGOR, Maine — A Superior Court justice will have to decide whether Dustin Brown caused the death of his 3-month-old son three years ago or whether the boy’s death always will be “a medical mystery.”
The jury-waived manslaughter trial of Brown, 21, of Bangor began Tuesday before Superior Court Justice William Anderson at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
Xander C. Brown died Nov. 25, 2012, at Eastern Maine Medical Center. The baby was born prematurely Aug. 22, 2012, to Dustin Brown and Alania Cain Stacy, now 19, of Bangor, Assistant Attorney General Deb Cashman, who is prosecuting the case, said in her opening statement. The prosecutor said that Brown told the baby’s mother that he had been feeding Xander, and when he went to burp him, Xander’s head struck his chin.
“The evidence will show that Mr. Brown told her that he ‘jerked’ Xander and he went limp,” Cashman told Anderson.
The baby died of a traumatic brain injury caused by Brown, the prosecutor said.
Defense attorney Hunter Tzovarras of Bangor said in his opening statement that the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Brown caused his son’s sudden death.
“It is a medical mystery exactly why this child has passed away,” Tzovarras said.
“Our expert witness will say this does not look like a typical shaken baby case,” he said. “This baby had no external injuries, no bruises, no red marks.”
Brown and Cain Stacy never married but lived together at her parents’ home on Thatcher Street in Bangor until Brown was arrested in January 2013, according to testimony.
Cain Stacy, who now has a 9-month-old son with her husband, testified that even though Xander was born prematurely by Caesarian section and stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit at Eastern Maine Medical Center for five weeks, he was a normal, healthy baby. She told the judge that he slept through the night at eight weeks.
“He was a happy, very cooperative baby,” she said.
Cain Stacy told the judge under direct examination that she gave the baby to Brown to feed and burp while she went to the bathroom. When she came out of the bathroom, Xander was limp and her mother was performing CPR on him while Brown was on the phone with a dispatcher at the Penobscot Regional Communication Center.
The mother wept on the stand as she described being told her son had died.
Under cross-examination, Cain Stacy testified that Brown was never violent toward his son and occasionally changed and fed him.
Dr. Daniel Britton, the emergency medical physician, and Dr. George Payne, the pediatric intensive care specialist, who attended to Xander when he was brought to EMMC, both testified that they saw bruises or other signs of trauma on the infant.
Cain Stacy’s mother, Janice Reardon, told the judge that her daughter was the primary caregiver for the baby, in part, because Brown worked nights at Wal-Mart in Brewer and slept days. Reardon testified that she often gave the baby his bottle at midnight and the child, who had his own room, slept until 6 a.m. at the age of 8 weeks.
Reardon said she told detectives when they came to her house the day after Xander’s death what happened on Nov. 25, 2012.
“I was in the living room and my daughter came out of her bedroom and made a bottle,” Reardon testified. “She went back into the bedroom, but came out again and went into the bathroom.
“I heard Xander fuss a bit, but didn’t think anything of it because he fussed like that when you went to burp him,” she continued. “Then, I heard a thud like I’d never heard before. Dustin came out of the bedroom with Xander draped over his arm.”
Reardon told Anderson that she put the baby on her kitchen table and began performing CPR on him while Brown called 911. Once the ambulance arrived and the boy was taken to the hospital, she drove to EMMC.
Under cross-examination, Tzovarras pressed Reardon about why she had not told the police at the hospital about the thud she had heard. He asked why she waited until police suggested either Brown or her daughter was responsible for the child’s injuries.
“I was not thinking,” she said. “I was distraught. My grandson was fighting for his life.”
Brown pleaded not guilty to manslaughter Jan. 3, 2013, after being indicted by the Penobscot County grand jury the day before. He has been free on bail since Jan. 18, 2013.
The trial is scheduled to resume Wednesday with testimony from retired medical examiner Dr. Margaret Greenwald, who performed the autopsy on Xander.
The trial before Anderson is expected to last three to four days.
The judge most likely will take the matter under advisement and issue a verdict at a later date.
If convicted, Brown faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.