The case appears to hinge on a number of factors: what position the baby was in and for how long, the amount and positioning of bedding, if there was sufficient air to breathe, whether that led to her suffocating and whether or not the pathologist’s ruling of positional asphyxia was correct.
The defense offered Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) as a possibility.
There was drama before closing arguments at the Greene County Common Pleas Court, including the prosecution’s calling of the defendant’s wife, Janea Carter, to the stand. Her testimony drew tears from Varnell Carter and the infant’s biological father, Robert Merriweather.
The judge, Stephen A. Wolaver, said the court should have informed Mrs. Carter that she had the right not to testify against her husband, but he denied a defense motion for a mistrial, saying Janea Carter’s testimony did not prejudice the process.
The couple has an 8-day-old daughter, who was with her mother in the gallery during closing arguments.
Janea Carter testified that her husband is a good father figure who was absolutely devastated after the infant’s death. Varnell Carter cried when he saw a picture of himself holding the smiling infant.
Wolaver also ruled against a defense motion for an acquittal, but said the decision was a close call. He ruled that the jury may see things differently.
The third day of the trial began with testimony from Montgomery County Coroner’s Office pathologist Bryan Casto, who said that his ruling of positional asphyxia hinged not on the autopsy or toxicology, but on the investigation.
In closing, prosecutor Alice DeWine said “as best we know” Varnell Carter recklessly disregarded the conditions that led to the infant’s death.
Carter’s attorney, Jay A. Adams, pounced on that statement, saying it leaves much room for doubt. He argued the state didn’t meet its burden of proving that Carter was reckless in showing “perverse disregard” of a known risk.
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