Doctors Give Testimonies In Shaken Baby Trial

Doctors give testimonies in shaken baby trial By Tracy M. Neal Staff Writer // [email protected] Posted on Thursday, June 15, 2006 URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/36125/ BENTONVILLE — Medical testimony claimed that the injuries to a 2-month-old girl were symptoms of shakenbaby syndrome or severe trauma. Four doctors testified Wednesday during the trial of the girl’s mother, who is accused of injuring the infant. Darra Barritt, 36, is charged with battery in the first degree, a class B felony punishable with a prison sentence ranging from five to 20 years. Dr. Daniel Weeden, who examined the child first, was the first witness to testify. He is a physician at Garrett Goss Clinic. He examined Kira Barritt on March 18, 2005, at his office after the girl’s grandfather called and asked him to see her because she twitching on the left side of her body. The infant had a seizure that lasted five or six minutes and ultimately stopped on its own, but Weeden had the child taken by ambulance to St. Mary’s Hospital. A CAT scan was performed on the child at the hospital and revealed there was not only bleeding inside the infant’s brain, but blood was also outside the brain, Weeden said. Weeden also examined the child and found that she had severe retinal hemorrhaging in both eyes. The most common cause of retinal hemorrhage in children that age is shaken-baby syndrome, Weeden testified. Barritt’s mother, Janice Dickinson, came to the doctor’s office with her daughter and grandchild. Weeden said he later talked with the grandmother, and she asked if the child could have been shaken. Weeden said he had not yet mentioned the possibility that the child’s injuries were the result of shaken-baby syndrome. Dickinson’s question raised the doctor’s suspicions that the child’s injuries were the result of child abuse. "It was the classic case of shaken-baby syndrome," Weeden said as he answered questions from Deputy Prosecutor Chad Atwell. When questioned by Barritt’s attorney, Brian Burke, Weeden said he did not see any bruises on the child’s body. The infant was having a seizure on the left side of her body when Dr. Scott Lafferty first saw her in the emergency room at St. Mary’s Hospital. Blood was in the white area in one of her eyes, and she had retinal hemorrhages in both eyes, Lafferty said. Based on the injuries, Lafferty diagnosed the infant as having shaken-baby syndrome. After being asked by Burke, Lafferty said he did not see any bruises, marks or contusions on the child’s body.

According to Lafferty, Darra Barritt told him she did not harm her baby and only shook her when they were playing, but not too hard. Lafferty only put the portion of the statement concerning Barritt’s playing with her child. Lafferty said space was limited on the form, so he did not include Barritt’s statement that she did not harm her child. Burke questioned Lafferty about leaving a portion of Barritt’s quote out of the report. Lafferty responded that he only put pertinent information in the report, and he was not trying to set up Darra Barritt. Dr. Karen Farst treated the infant at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. Farst also believes the infant’s injuries are the result of shakenbaby syndrome or a severe trauma. Farst said there was bleeding on the surface and within the brain. There was also swelling in the brain, she said. The injuries were not caused by a routine household accident. "It was unknown for several days of hospitalization if she would survive," Farst said as she answered questions from Deputy Prosecutor Clay Fowlkes. The child, who is now 17 months old, will have difficulty developing because of her severe brain injury. She also may have a shorter life span as a result of other complications, Farst said. Farst also said medical personnel at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock found that the infant had a fracture to one of her thumbs. Farst described the injury as an uncommon crushing injury similar to ones from hands being slammed in car doors or stomped on. Farst said an abusive head injury is the only thing that can account for the injuries to the child. Farst also testified that in 30 percent of shaken-baby cases, children do not have any bruising to their bodies, and in 30 to 50 percent of cases, there are no fractures involved. According to Farst, Barritt said she was frustrated and may have did something out of frustration to her daughter. Barritt also wanted to know if medication she was taking could possibly prevent her from remembering what happened to her daughter, Farst testified. Farst said Barritt never admitted to her that she harmed her daughter. Dr. Charles Glasier, also with Children’s Hospital, testified that the infant’s injuries were consistent with a severe trauma. During his opening statements, Burke told jurors the infant’s condition was not the result of physical injuries but of thrombosis of the cerebral veins, aggravated by the medication the child was given several weeks before when she was hospitalized for respiratory syncytial virus. Both Farst and Glasier said there was not any evidence that the child had thrombosis of the cerebral veins. Burke is expected to call his own expert witness to testify that the child had the condition.

Prosecutors will continue to present their case when the trial resumes Thursday morning.