Dr. Melissa Egge took the stand for the state – amongst other positions she worked as a Forensic Pediatrician for 5.5 years at Loma Linda University Hospital. She says she’s consulted on hundreds of cases that involve the suspicion of child abuse, with the majority being infants and toddlers . Such was the case when 17 month old Parker Lee Schumacher — arrived at Loma Linda on Feb 11. 2015 with severe head trauma and retinal hemorrhaging.
Dr. Egge focused on the severity of these injuries – and discussed the forces it would take to create the type of injuries she saw in Parker’s eye. The Prosecution presented interior images of Parker’s right eye, showing severe hemorrhaging of the blood vessels, along with an injury called retinoschisis where the retina begins to detach from the eye. Dr. Egge says that out of the many hundreds of cases she has consulted on, that Parker’s case was the most severe and that most cases she is involved with don’t involve the toddler’s death.
She stated that in cases where a child has accidentally fallen and landed on their head – for instance from a second story window – most of these patients leave the hospital within 24 hours with minor injuries and don’t typically involve the severity of injuries that Parker sustained.
Prosecuting Attorney Charles Tseui rested the state’s case after the doctor concluded that Parker suffered at least one episode of abusive head trauma – typically seen in a violent shaking event – and at least one severe impact to the back of the head inflicted by someone else – resulting in the complex fractures on the back of Parker’s head and bleeding on his brain.
On cross examination – Davies’ defense lawyer Zulu Ali asked the Dr. about specifics – like if she could cite any cases where a child fell out of a 6 foot 4 inch tall man’s arms backwards onto linoleum. Ali also pushed back on the Dr’s use of the word “typical” – which she used when describing the other cases she has worked on and injuries she’s witnessed by toddlers in accidental falls.
When Ali pushed the witness on her conclusions – asking her if there was any physical evidence of Parker sustaining his skull fracture from being “slammed against a surface” – her answer was quote “the evidence is on Parker’s skull.” – she also reiterated that the forces it would take to create the type of retinoschisis injuries on Parker are akin to an infant dying in a car crash involving a rollover, or a fall from a 3rd story window.
Ali asked Dr. Egge if there were any bruising or broken ribs found on Parker’s torso – injuries that are consistent with toddlers who have been violently shaken. The doctor confirmed that those injuries were not found on the toddler.
When the Doctor was asked by Ali if a child could have sustained the injuries she saw on Parker through the circumstances given by Davies, she simply stated “it’s impossible.”
On a brief recross by Prosecution – Attorney Tseui asked if the totality of Parker’s injuries could be supported by the story that Arthur Davies gave police, to which Dr. Egge replied “that explanation does not support the totality of findings” in the case.
The Prosecution rested and Defense brought up their first witness – an ex-girlfriend of Arthur Davies. The witness says she and Davies were in a relationship for over 5 years, and Davies was frequently around her two children, aged around 2 and 5 at the beginning of the relationship in 2013.
She stated that Davies “had a good relationship with my children” and “he was pretty much a father to both of them.”
The defense is expected to bring up an expert witness in today’s testimony – scheduled to start at 1:30.
