BANGOR, Maine — The medical examiner who performed an autopsy on a 3-month-old boy who died three years ago in his father’s care testified Wednesday that a traumatic brain injury caused the baby’s death.
Dr. Margaret Greenwald, who is now retired, took the stand on the second day of the jury-waived manslaughter trial of Dustin Brown, the infant’s father.
Xander C. Brown died Nov. 25, 2012, at Eastern Maine Medical Center. The baby was born prematurely Aug. 22, 2012, to Dustin Brown and Alaina Cain Stacy, now 19, of Bangor, who never married. Cain Stacy testified Tuesday that Brown told her he had been feeding Xander, and when he went to burp him, Xander’s head struck his chin.
Under cross-examination, Greenwald said Wednesday that such contact would not have been forceful enough to cause the blood clots and the tearing found in the baby’s brain. She also testified that there were no bruises on the infant’s body. Greenwald said she did not know what trauma might have caused the brain injury.
The jury-waived manslaughter trial of Brown, 21, of Bangor began Tuesday before Superior Court Justice William Anderson at the Penobscot Judicial Center. It is expected to end Thursday.
Defense attorney Hunter Tzovarras said outside the courthouse Wednesday after the trial recessed for the day that Dr. Donald Stanley, a pathologist from Nobleboro, would “disagree significantly with Dr. Greenwald’s findings” when he takes the stand Thursday afternoon.
Stanley will testify that the baby inhaled formula into his lungs and choked. The doctor is not expected to speculate on what caused the bleeding in the baby’s brain, Tzovarras said.
The defense attorney also said outside the courthouse that he did not expect Brown, who was alone with his child when the baby was stricken, to take the stand in his own defense.
On Wednesday, two audio interviews with Brown were played for the judge.
During the first, conducted at Eastern Maine Medical Center after efforts to resuscitate Xander failed, Brown told detectives that the baby suddenly went limp while he was burping him. In an interview the next day, police asked Brown to take a lie detector test and he refused, ended the interview and said he would be calling an attorney.
A police interview at the hospital with the baby’s maternal grandmother also was played for the judge. Janice Reardon, with whom Xander and his parents lived, testified Tuesday that while Brown was alone in the bedroom with the baby she heard a thud. A few moments later, Brown came out of the room with the unresponsive infant draped over his arm, she said.
Under cross-examination Tuesday, Reardon said she did not mention the thud in the first interview with police because she was “in shock” over the baby’s death and “was not thinking.” Reardon was not crying and was able to answer the detective’s questions.
Tzovarras said in his opening statement that Reardon did not mention hearing “the thud” until after she learned police considered her daughter a possible suspect in the baby’s death.
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 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.