By Adriana Christianson

Jason Will trial: Forensic expert says baby was smothered

Jun 20, 2012 | 3:42 PM

Intentional smothering left 18-month-old Raime Myers brain dead according to a forensic expert in the trial of Jason Wills.

He is accused of manslaughter in the baby's death and he will take the stand in his own defense Tuesday afternoon. He was taking care of Raime and other children in the house when he called 911 to report that the baby had stopped breathing.

The Crown lawyers wrapped up their case Wednesday morning with the testimony of Dr. Shaun Ladham who did the autopsy on Myers.

His conclusion of intentional smothering as the cause of brain death was not easy to determine. In fact, Ladham said that cases of smothering especially in infants are the most difficult to see. This is because the victims often don't show any outward physical signs of smothering.

Ladham had been told that a witness, in this case Jason's brother came into the baby's room to see the accused holding his hand over Myer's mouth for about 30 seconds. He says it would have taken longer than that – a few minutes to smother a baby depending on the pressure applied. When asked whether or not the nose had to be covered to cut off oxygen, Ladham said no.

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So far in the trial, the Crown has paid a lot of attention to the evidence of bruising around the baby's head. Family members have said that he was prone to falling down a lot and looked very dazed on the day he was discovered not breathing.

The forensic pathologist said those bruises all appeared to have happened at the same time within four hours of the time the baby was taken to the hospital.

While those bruises could have been evidence of a very mild concussion that might have made the baby more dazed or too weak to struggle, Ladham says he cannot medically link them to his death. Without oxygen, Myer's brain swelled which may have hidden the evidence of any mild concussion.

The defense questioned Ladham about whether or not Raime could have smothered himself by rolling over. He said this is highly unlikely because if a baby can roll one way he can roll back and will do this by reflex.

The lawyer also asked him about brought up the possibility of small seizures, but he said he has never heard of small seizures causing death. He also said conditions like epilepsy can't be diagnosed after death.

Ladham explained that he could only go by the previous medical records and those all showed that the little boy was healthy without underlying diseases that could have caused him to stop breathing before that day. Without any medical evidence pointing to other causes, intentional smothering was the cause of death he listed in his report.

The defense lawyer is also planning to call another medical expert as a witness later this week.

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