The medical evidence in this case simply does not support prior abuse. The pysicians that testified for the State overrated the medical evidence. The State primarily relied upon two injuires - the broken collarbone and the two leg fractures. Dr. Carl Griffen testified that the collarbone is the ost commonly broken bone in the human body. The Meeker Police Department investigated Kelsey's broken collarbone and did not file charges against Raye Dawn, ruling out abuse. DHS also ruled out abuse to the collarbone. Without more, a collarbone break is not concerning at all. Such an injury is common to a child Kelsey's age. Further, Raye Dawn's older sister, Janet Gragg, tesitified that her child had suffered not one, but two broken collarbones. There is no evidence that Ms. Gragg abuses her children.
Then there are the two leg fractures. It was established by evidence at trial that Kelsey was not with Raye Dawn when she sprained her ankle at the zoo. Rather, Kelsey was with her aunt. Therefore, one cannot blame this injury---which was not abuse---on Raye Dawn. She was not even around. Second, there is the issue whether the leg fractures, or one of them, were sustained while Kelsey was in the custody of Raye Dawn or in the custody of her paternal grandmother, Kathie Briggs.
What is disconcerting about these facts is that whenever Kelsey suffered any small bump or bruise before or after this, Kathie would make a DHS referral and take Kelsey to the emergency room. Yet, Kathie claims she does nothing in these four days where Kelsey refused to walk. This lack of action is very suspicious. On April 25, 2005, Kelsey is diagnosed with bilateral tibia fractures.
The defense, after trial, sent the X-rays of Kelsey's right and left shins and feet to a former Chief Pediatric Radiologist at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California for her review. She is Board Certified in Diagnostic Radiology and has trained and worked in pediatrics, general radiology and pediatric radiology for 15 years. She is not an advocate for either side, has not interest in the outcome of the litigation and is unrelated personally or professionally to any party. She is what Dr. Sullivan and Dr. Barrett are not: a witness who testifies as to what the medical evidence is to a degree of reasonable certainty. It is clear that Dr. Sullivan overstated the evidence. She asserts that the X-rays show "bilateral oblique fractures of the infant's right and left tibial shafts." "These are more commonly referred to as 'toddler's fractures.'" She further asserts that peak occurrence of these fractures is between nine months and three years af age and taht such fractures are "usually associated with falls from swings, slides, trees, etc." Kelsey was less than 2 1/2 years old when she sustained these fractures. This places her directly within the peak occurrence age for normal toddler fractures sustained through accidental causes. She also indicates that while fractures of this nature are common in child abuse, they have a "low specifity because of their common occurrence in accidental injury." As evidenced, the fractures to Kelsey's legs are non-specific at her age for abuse, i.e., not suggestive of abuse, much less evidence of abuse within a reasonable medical certainty.
Contrary to Dr. Sullivan's assertions, these leg fractures were not spiral fractures. Rather, they were oblique, slanted or tilted in layman's terms. No one grabbed this child in anger and twisted her legs. The leg fractures were not the result of abuse, either from the Briggs or the Smith families. Kelsey could have sustained these fractures through an accidental injury.
On cross-examination, Dr. Sullivan addressed the formation of callous, i.e., the healing of the bone. He testified that callous will form and become visible in an X-ray within a week to 10 days. He further testified that there was callous on both of Kelsey's legs and emphasized that callous does not form overnight. This testimony placed the date of Kelsey's fractures occurring at a time when Kathie Briggs had exclusive custody and control.
Dr. Sullivan admitted at trial that his facts as to what happened came solely from Kathie Briggs, who is hardly an objective source. He contacted no one---including the treating physician, the mother or the child's regular physician---to substantiate those facts. Dr. Sullivan took a story---a story invented by Kathie Briggs---and manipulated the medical evidence to fit that story.
Dr. Barrett testified at some length about the so-called bruises to Kelsey's backside that are visible in pictures taken by the paternal family on January 14, 2005. He testified that abrasions to this area are suspicious because they are in a place where they usually are not seen. He also indicated that a child's backside is padded and that these bruises pointed to a patterned injury. Independent medical review of the pictures of these so-called bruises indicates that these "bruises" are most likely not bruises or abusive wounds but rather the result of a child being kept in a soiled diaper too long. The evidence produced at trial supports this conclusion.
Ashley Gober, the stepmother, testified that she took these pictures of Kelsey on January 14, 2005 while Kelsey was in the bathtub. Ashley said Kelsey had been in Kathie Briggs' care that night at a birthday party and that the birthday party started at 6:00 p.m. Ashley said Kelsey had not been given a bath until stometime after 8:00 p.m. [Known timelines show it was around 10:00 p.m. when Kelsey was bathed.]
Kathie Briggs testified she was taking care fo the birthday party, so she did not change Kelsey's diaper during that time. She also testified that no one else did either. Teri Sigman, Ashley's mother, testified also that no one changed Kelsey's diaper until Ashley gave her a bath that night. Therefore, the evidence at trial shows that Kelsey could have sat---while with the Briggs family---in a dirty diaper for at least two hours that night, if not longer.
In summary, there is no medical evidence to support abuse by the hand of Raye Dawn. Both the Meeker Police Department and DHS ruled out abuse as the cause of the collarbone break, and Dr. Griffen testified taht it is the most commonly broken bone in the body. Second, Kelsey sprained her right ankle under the exclusive control and custody of her aunt. Raye Dawn was at work. Third, the leg fractures date back to a time whenKelsey was under Kathie Briggs' absolute control and custody. Moreover, the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center doctor has reviewed the films and has found that these injuries are not indicative of abuse in a child of Kelsey's age at the time. Finally, the so-called bruises to Kelsey's backside in January, 2005 are most likely the result of her lying in her own feces for more than two hours because none of the paternal family members would change her diaper because they were too busy at a birthday party. For months, Raye Dawn was under the careful eye and watch of numerous individuals, state agencies and her all-intrusive ex-in-laws, the Briggs family. Raye Dawn did not abuse Kelsey.
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