Testimony Concludes In Trial

Jan 31, 2008 | Circuit Court, Headline News

That is the question facing a jury of Grundy County residents who are hearing the case against 23-year-old Jeffrey Petrie this week at the Grundy County Courthouse.
Day One
The jury is composed of five men and seven women, began hearing testimony Wednesday afternoon. when Grundy County Prosecuting Attorney Jason Spillman gave his opening statement and began laying the foundation for a case that asserts that Petrie killed Kyleen Steinman on May 6, 2006 after becoming angry with her when she would not stop crying. He has been charged with abuse of a child, resulting in death by cruel and inhuman punishment.
The defense, led by public defender Kelly Miller, told jurors that Petrie was diagnosed as mentally retarded at the age of 12 and he had accidentally killed the baby when trying to soothe her and then resuscitate her when she stopped breathing. An autopsy showed that the infant died of homicidal asphyxiation and had sustained nine broken ribs and two dislocated ribs.
Spillman began presenting his case by calling to the stand Trenton Police Officer Cyle Fewins, who was first on the scene at the home at 802 E. 24th Street, shared by Petrie and the child’s mother, Emily Steinman, as well as her two sons, who were ages one and two at the time of the baby’s death. Petrie, who is not the father of any of the children, babysat them while their mother worked the 3 to 11 p.m. shift at a local nursing home. Fewins testified that in a statement taken early on the morning of May 7, 2006, Petrie admitted that he had squeezed the baby a little too hard when trying to get the child to stop crying and drink from a bottle. As for Petrie’s state of mind, Fewins asked if Petrie was upset with the baby and he said, that yes, he had been a little upset. Petrie told Fewins that after he squeezed Kyleen, she had spat up some bloody mucus and then he noticed she had stopped breathing. He tried to resuscitate her by breathing into her mouth, but she did not respond. He then paced around the house before deciding to go to a neighbor’s house to have them call 911 since the Petrie/Steinman home did not have a working phone.
Under cross-examination by Miller, Fewins admitted that asking Petrie if he was angry with Kyleen was a leading question. He also said that he had written Petrie’s statement for him as he sometimes does with other persons he is interviewing, in an effort to be sure that all of the important facts are included in the statement. He also indicated that Petrie had told him that the baby had bruises from another incident that had happened earlier that week and that the child’s mother had seen the bruises and instructed him to be more careful with the child.
Spillman then called Tawnya Farmer to the stand, who testified that Petrie had come to her home after 9:30 p.m. on the night Kyleen died, asking that her husband call 911 because his girlfriend’s baby was dead. She testified that Petrie told her that he had put the children to bed and when he went to check on Kyleen, she was not breathing. Mrs. Farmer called the nursing home to tell Ms. Steinman that something was wrong with her baby and that she needed to come home.
Brad Ewing, an EMT/Para-medic with the Grundy County Ambulance Service testified that when he and his partner, Cori McAtee Phipps, arrived on the scene they did not know what was wrong with the child because they had only been told that a child needed help at the address. They went into the house and asked Petrie and Officer Fewins where they child was, but received no immediate response. Fewins then led them to the child, who was in the crib, wearing only a diaper and socks, with blankets rolled up and scattered about the perimeter of the crib. The room was dark, he said, and he touched the child to see if she would respond to stimuli. She did not, and Ewing also noted that her pupils were dilated, which he said can indicate death. Ewing said he knew he did not want to work on the child in a dark environment. He carried the child to the waiting ambulance. Mrs. Phipps began using a bag valve mask to ventilate the baby, while he started chest compressions. He indicated there was a bloody mucus coming from both nostrils. There was bruising around the umbilical, almost like fingerprints, as well as the mandibles. A flat line on heart monitoring equipment indicated there was no heart activity. Grundy County Deputy Clint Griswold offered to drive the ambulance so that both Ewing and Mrs. Phipps could continue trying to revive the child. Ewing said they were on the scene for only about five minutes.
After arriving at Wright Memorial Hospital, where medical staff had been advised of the situation, Dr. Hasamodin Borhani and the WMH nurses, as well as Ewing and Mrs. Phipps continued attempting to revive Kyleen for about 20 to 30 minutes. With no success, Dr. Borhani asked if anyone had an objection to ceasing the efforts. No one did, and the child was pronounced dead.
Miller asked Ewing to describe the difference between how CPR is administered to a child as opposed to an adult. He indicated that it takes more pressure for an adult, but said that the bones of an infant are so flexible that it would be difficult to break them. He indicated that while he had applied chest compressions to Kyleen, he did not hear any sounds that would indicate a breaking rib. He also said that only two fingers or the thumbs are used on a child, while the palms are used on an adult. When asked if there was any possibility that ribs could be broken if someone applied adult CPR to an infant, Ewing indicated that yes, that could happen if enough force was applied.
Trenton Police Officer Larry Smith testified that Petrie told him he had fed Kyleen at approximately 7 p.m. and then checked on her at about 9:30 p.m. to find that she was not breathing. Smith took photos of the child at the hospital, showing bruising around the abdominal area, as well as the chin area. Miller entered into evidence photos taken by Smith showing the home and asked about his interview with Ms. Steinman at approximately 5 a.m. May 7. He said she acknowledged at that time that she had seen bruising on the child’s arm prior to her death, but not on the abdominal area.
Ms. Steinman was called to the stand by Spillman, who elicited testimony from her that she had earlier pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of second degree child endangerment in the case. She testified about her relationship with Petrie and said she had been working as a certified nurse assistant at the nursing home for about a week. She told Spillman that she had been concerned about Petrie’s ability to watch the children earlier in the week after waking up to hear him screaming at Kyleen because she was crying and wouldn’t stop. She said she took the child to bed with her at that time. She testified that she advised Petrie that if he got too frustrated with the children, he should just walk away. Ms. Steinman said that when she was called at work about Kyleen, she clocked out and ran home. She did not talk with Petrie at the home and did not know what had happened until she got to the hospital and was made aware of the situation by a male EMT. She indicated that someone at WMH told her that Kyleen had died and asked her to identify the body.
Under Miller’s cross-examination, Ms. Steinman indicated that Kyleen had been treated for “pre-pneumonia” for about three weeks, but had no other health problems. She discussed how she had met Petrie and said the two, along with her two sons, had lived with his mother, Wanda, for eight or nine months prior to moving into the residence on 24th Street. She said Mrs. Petrie had often watched the children. Miller again noted that Ms. Steinman had pleaded guilty to child endangerment and asked if that meant she bore some responsibility for the death of the child. She replied “Yes.” She told Miller that she had been confronted by police about the bruising and said she had noticed it on the forearm. She also said she had not seen her daughter unclothed for about two days and that while she had changed Kyleen’s diaper during that time, she had not seen her abdomen. Miller also questioned her about the babysitting arrangements, with Ms. Steinman saying she thought Mrs. Petrie would be helping. She admitted she had only seen Mrs. Petrie one or two times in the approximately one month that the couple had lived at the residence on 24th Street.
Spillman again questioned Ms. Steinman, asking if she knew that Petrie could not read or write. She said no and that while he had never held a job or contributed to the household besides watching the children, he had painted a house and was good with electronics, as well as being able to fix bicycles and lawn mowers. She had also seen him solve problems, such as when he was able to tie together a video cassette recorder, sound system and television. She said no one read the directions to him. She also said he had babysat his nieces and nephews. Again under questioning from Miller, she said he had watched those children alone. Miller then asked if the bikes and lawnmowers he had worked on wore diapers and cried. She answered with a “no.”
Perhaps the most compelling testimony on Wednesday came from a video-taped interview with Petrie conducted by Trenton Police Det. Jerry Smith. In the video, he attempts to get Petrie to explain exactly how Kyleen’s injuries occurred. Petrie seems to find it difficult to articulate what happened, but over the course of the interview tells Smith that the baby would not take her bottle, that he massaged her throat to get her to swallow the formula and that he had squeezed her a little bit. She was crying the whole time, he said, and he eventually picked her up and put her close to him. She cried louder and he put two thumbs on her, holding her up. He squeezed her pretty hard, he said, and while he didn’t hear any ribs pop, she stopped breathing. He put her on the floor and tried to breathe into her mouth, pushing on her chest. She didn’t respond and he began running around the house trying to figure out what to do. He saw that her nose was bleeding and he washed the blood off. He continued trying to figure out what to do, considering running to the nursing home to get Ms. Steinman. He went outside and then decided to ask the neighbors to call for help. When Smith said there had to be more to the story since there were so many bruises, Petrie said it was not the first time he had massaged her throat, as he had seen his mother do that with young children to get them to swallow medicine. Smith asked if he was getting aggravated at the baby and asked if he had shaken her. He said he shook her a little bit. He said he was saying “Kyleen, please stop crying, please.” Eventually, Petrie said he got mad and had squeezed the baby and shook her a little bit and she stopped crying. How long he squeezed was not really established in the testimony and Smith noted several times that Petrie was not very good with time. Petrie said he put her on the floor and showed Smith how he had administered CPR. There was no response, he said, and he put her back in the crib. He said she had stopped crying right after he squeezed her and shook her. He said his thumbs were on her belly. He first said that he shook her for three or four minutes, then said he shook her three or four times in a period of just a few seconds. Smith asked Petrie why he thought she died, to which he responded that she died probably because she couldn’t breathe. Later, Petrie told Smith that he had also squeezed her two days before her death on Thursday, May 4. Blood had come out of her nose that time, too, and she seemed to cry more often after that day. She had taken a bottle, however, after he had squeezed her on Thursday.
After watching the tape, Spillman asked Smith if indeed, Petrie had said that the baby crying made him mad. Smith said yes and in response to another questions, also said that Petrie had made the statement that Kyleen had died because he had squeezed and shaken her too hard.
Miller’s cross-examination of Det. Smith centered on whether or not Smith had asked leading questions of Petrie and how those questions may have led Petrie to make statements that were not accurate. Miller asked if Smith realized that he sometimes asked questions and then gave Petrie options for how to answer. Smith said he was just trying to get clear answers from the defendant. Smith said he wrote out Petrie’s statement because he knew from prior dealings with the defendant that he could write a little bit, but could not read. Miller asked Smith if he realized that when Petrie first demonstrated how Kyleen had stopped breathing that he only showed that he had squeezed the infant, not shaken her. Miller said that after he demonstrated that he had squeezed the baby, Smith asked if the head was bouncing back and forth. He also asked Smith if he realized that when he asked Petrie if he was aggravated with the baby and that maybe he had shaken her, that it was a leading question. Miller also asked Smith if he realized that it was him (Det. Smith) who had first said Petrie was mad at Kyleen and that when Smith imitated how hard Petrie had shaken the baby, that he had shaken harder than Petrie’s demonstration. He also asked Smith if he realized that when Petrie said he thought the child had died because he had squeezed too hard, it was Smith who suggested that the shaking might have had something to do with it, too. Smith agreed with Miller that it was how it might appear.
After Smith left the stand, Spillman entered into the evidence the autopsy results, as well as short definitions to explain what the results mean. Spillman explained that the cause of death, according to Dr. Thomas Gill (who did not testify) was homicidal asphyxiation and that the autopsy found that the cause of death was not vigorous shaking or what is known as “Shaken Baby Syndrome.” Spillman also said that the autopsy found no bruising on the baby’s arms.
Day Two
Miller began presenting his case by re-calling Emily Steinman to the stand. Mrs. Steinman said she had pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and received a suspended sentence. She was placed on probation for two years and did not serve any time in jail. Under questioning by Spillman, Ms. Steinman said that as part of her probation, she is required to attend parenting classes. She also indicated she has had no discussion with Spillman’s office that would require her to testify.
Miller then called Petrie’s mother, Wanda Petrie, to the stand. She discussed her son’s upbringing, noting that he had been in special education classes throughout his academic career. She discussed the living arrangements at her home while Petrie, Ms. Steinman and Ms. Steinman’s children were living with her, her daughter, Crystal, and Crystal’s son, J.J. They all lived together in a two-bedroom house and when they all decided to find separate dwellings, Petrie and Ms. Steinman stayed another week or two in the house, which had no electricity or working furnace.
In discussing child care, she said that she, her daughter or her son did a lot of the childcare, although Petrie was not often allowed to watch the children by himself. She indicated that only happened if she had to run errands and might be gone for an hour or two. She demonstrated how she would massage her grandson’s throat in order to make him swallow medicine, something she said Petrie had seen her do. Mrs. Petrie also testified that her son had come to her about a week before Kyleen’s death to ask for help in watching the children. She was unable to help due to illness, the lack of transportation and the fact that she was already watching her grandson. Mrs. Petrie said it appeared to her that Ms. Steinman always wanted someone else to watch her children, especially so that she could sleep.
Under questioning from Spillman, Mrs. Petrie admitted that no one in the household was employed and that Ms. Steinman was the only one at the time that they all lived together who was actively seeking employment. Spillman also elicited testimony from Mrs. Petrie that she had never seen her son try to hurt someone, that his frustration and anger was usually demonstrated by slamming a door or something of that nature. She also said she had talked with Petrie about the fragility of babies. She said he knew how to change diapers, knew that holding a baby might soothe it and how to make a bottle with formula.
Petrie’s sister, Crystal Grimes, also took the stand, discussing how Ms. Steinman came to live in the house and indicating that she had only once left her son with Petrie.
Dr. Bruce Harry, a psychiatrist with the University of Missouri School of Medicine and the Fulton State Hospital, testified as an expert witness. He admitted that he was being paid his testimony. He presented information from various tests performed on Petrie from the time he was 12 years old until 10 months after the death of Kyleen. The IQ tests indicated that he is mildly mentally retarded and perhaps has another cognitive impairment.
On one test, he scored lower than 99 percent of all others taking the test in the United States. His strengths were shown to be in the visual, spatial and construction areas, which would explain his competence in mechanical activities such as fixing a bicycle. Among his weaknesses were adaptive functioning, which would include impairments in sequencing information as it comes it and prioritizing. Dr. Harry said that Petrie has trouble adapting to change as it comes.
He indicated that Petrie, who said he graduated from Trenton High School in 2003 with a special education diploma, can write three-letter words, read three-letter words and can do math such as “take-away.” Dr. Harry also said that Petrie has sustained two head injuries in his life that required medical attention.
When questioned by Miller about Petrie’s videotaped interview with Det. Smith, Dr. Harry said that many mentally retarded people want to please others and be accepted, so they will agree to things that may not be true.
Dr. Harry shared with the jury what Petrie had told him happened on the night of Kyleen’s death. He said he could not get the baby to take her pacifier or a bottle, that he attempted to massage her throat to get her to swallow the formula. She kept crying and, in an effort to stop the crying, he put both hands around her stomach and squeezed. He kept doing it and took his eyes off of her. When he looked back, she was not breathing. He then attempted CPR and then put her back in the crib. He ran around the house, trying to figure out what to do. He thought about running to the nursing home to get the mother, but decided he shouldn’t leave the two boys alone. He then went to the neighbors’ house, asked them to call 911 and stayed in the driveway until law enforcement and emergency personnel arrived on the scene.
Petrie told Dr. Harry that he and Ms. Steinman had sometimes argued about how much he had to watch the children and had, in fact, broke up a couple of times. He said he told her he needed some help with the kids and that he “couldn’t do it alone.” He told Dr. Harry that he didn’t have much trouble with the older children because they were bigger and would listen and do what they were told. Kyleen, however, was smaller, more fragile and “never did what he told her.”
Dr. Harry told the jury that Petrie said that he could not find anything to keep the baby quiet and after trying to rub her throat as he had seen his mother do, he came up with the idea of massaging her abdomen, noting that it “just came to me.” When she stopped breathing, he did not know what to do because his mother had always been there before and always knew what to do. He told Dr. Harry he was not angry with Kyleen and was not trying to hurt her, but he was frustrated with her. While the child’s mother sometimes gave the baby some medicine for her stomach, Petrie told Dr. Harry he didn’t want to give it to her because he didn’t know the dosage and was afraid he would give her too much. He said that after she quit breathing he attempted to perform CPR as he had seen on television. Dr. Harry said that as a medical doctor, he knows there is a difference between how CPR is given to an infant and how it is given to an adult. He said that “certainly” applying too much pressure could break the ribs of an infant.
In providing the conclusions of his examination of Petrie, Dr. Harry said that while Petrie is mildly mentally retarded, he does understand the charges against him and is able to assist with his defense. While he found that Petrie did appreciate the nature, quality and wrongfulness of his actions, he did not knowingly inflict cruel and inhuman punishment on the child.
Spillman cross-examined Dr. Harry, discussing his fees for testifying and the number of times he has testified as an expert witness. Dr. Harry said that he charges $300 per hour and had a total of 45 hours invested in the case. Some of those testimonies came as part of his private practice, while some were as a psychiatrist at the state hospital. Dr. Harry said that Petrie, when asked by Dr. Harry, had told him he had been thinking about hurting Kyleen. Spillman pointed out that while Dr. Harry had not been asked by the defense to give a conclusion as to whether or not Petrie had been able to form an intent to hurt Kyleen, he had given a conclusion. Spillman asked Dr. Harry if he was saying that Petrie didn’t know it was dangerous to forcefully squeeze the child’s belly. Dr. Harry replied, “no, that’s not what I said.”
Under more questioning from Spillman Dr. Harry admitted that since he had squeezed the baby before and it had resulted in a minor injury, he knew it would cause some injury. Spillman noted that Petrie had refrained from giving the child medicine for her stomach because he knew it was dangerous, to which Dr. Harry commented again that Petrie did not know the correct dosage. Spillman replied that Petrie then knew that could be dangerous, to which Dr. Harry agreed. Spillman also reminded Dr. Harry that Petrie knew it was dangerous to go to the nursing home and leave the two older children alone, that he knew to have someone call 911. Spillman discussed Dr. Harry’s opinion that performing CPR the wrong way could result in broken ribs and asked if squeezing a child forcefully in a fit of anger could also result in broken ribs. Dr. Harry said that yes, that could happen in you squeezed the chest, but he didn’t know about the abdomen.
When Miller resumed his questioning of Dr. Harry, he asked him to explain the mental illness, schizophrenia. Dr. Harry gave some of the symptoms of the illness and agreed that when it comes to responsibility, a vast majority of people who are found not responsible for their actions have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Dr. Harry also agreed that a finding of responsibility and a finding of intent are separate issues. He also told Miller learning that Petrie had previously squeezed the child with a different outcome did influence his ultimate conclusion.
“He had tried it earlier and it has not appeared to cause any serious injuries. She appeared fine, so he thought perhaps he would try it again,” Dr. Harry said.
The trial was scheduled to resume again at 1 p.m. with Judge Peace indicating the end of the proceeding was near.