Cambridge - One of the first witnesses for the defence in the trial of a British au pair accused of murdering a baby boy testified yesterday he had hard evidence that the infant's lethal injuries occurred weeks earlier.
Dr Jan Leestma, a forensic neuropathologist, who said he had examined more than 20,000 brains in the course of his medical career, told the jury of evidence showing the baby had suffered an earlier skull fracture and blood clot weeks before his death.
For three hours, the doctor took jurors through the evidence: microscopic slides of various tissues, including the dura - or brain covering - that, he said, showed signs of a skull fracture and blood clot that were "several weeks old".
Prosecutors have charged Ms Louise Woodward (19), from Chester, England, with first-degree murder in Matthew Eappen's February death.