Marion County jurors hearing the first-degree murder trial of a man charged with killing his three-month-old son had a short day Tuesday. But they can expect a full day Wednesday, Circuit Judge Thomas Graham promised, before recessing the court late Tuesday morning.
He said the delay was necessitated by the fact that prosecution witnesses so far have not remained on the stand as long as originally anticipated, and the next witness – who is from out of state – will not be available until Wednesday morning.
However, the judge said, the end is in sight.
Testimony in the case against Christopher Russell should be finished by Thursday, he said, and possibly by late Wednesday.
“You won’t be here Friday, I promise you that,” he told jurors.
The infant’s injuries are expected to come under intense scrutiny as the trial continues, with dueling pathologists taking the stand to explain their respective theories on what caused the child’s death.
Dr. Bridget Eutenier, the pathologist who autopsied the infant following his death and subsequently wrote a 12-page report detailing her findings, is expected to be a prosecution witness but has yet to testify.
Further, during opening arguments defense attorney William Bullock – whose specialties include child death cases – told jurors he had a pathologist who has done some 5,000 autopsies review the dead infant’s medical records, autopsy reports and other relevant information to determine the cause of death.
That doctor’s findings did not agree with prosecutors’ theory of the case, he said then.
The Russell trial was recessed late Tuesday morning after jurors heard the testimony of two witnesses.
They included Vanderbilt physician Dr. Deborah Lowen, who treated tiny Colin Eugene Russell after his arrival on June 17, 2012 – six days before he was taken off life support – and said the child’s injuries were consistent with being shaken or thrown.
Former fellow inmate Jerry Lane said defendant Christopher Russell told him while they shared quarters in jail that he had thrown the infant but did not intend to kill him.
Lane’s testimony was challenged by defense attorney Judith St. Clair of Coffee County, who pointed out during cross-examination that his testimony concerning Russell has been inconsistent. Isn’t it true, she wanted to know, that the inmate is hoping to receive consideration from the judicial and correctional systems in return for his testimony?
That’s not true, Lane insisted, saying he agreed to testify because “I don’t want to see a person get away with killing a baby."
Should attorney Bullock call that pathologist who has done 5,000 autopsies to the stand, it would not be the first time he has taken such action.
According to the long-time attorney’s website, “the current focus of his practice (includes) criminal defense involving child deaths (and) shaken baby syndrome” and refers to a variety of such cases in which he has represented such clients.
“In Knoxville in 2002, in a shaken baby syndrome case, he used a consulting radiologist whose opinion concerning the age of the subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages was inconsistent with the assistant attorney general’s time line of events,” according to attorney Bullock’s website.
“In 2007, in an innocence project murder case in Nashville, he called Dr. Pat Barnes, pediatric neuroradiologist from Stanford University Medical School to testify concerning new evidence inconsistent with shaken baby syndrome.”