Comments for sursumcorda.salemsattic.com/post/the-trial

Comment #1382

2008-09-29T18:12:30Z

He was trained as an obstetrician in Africa, and came to the States at some point. I think he only does autopsies and things now, and he certainly does like doing them - he is quite interested in the details of size of molecules, and tracking down clues to figure out what happened when the person was living.

So, I think he is well-suited to that job. I am not sure as to why he thinks midwives shouldn't be allowed to help moms. He made a few references to Africa in his testimony this time, and when he said it, I started wondering if there was something that happened with a midwife over while he was growing up. But, who knows.

I am not clear on the reasons, but the defense has mostly avoided the medical arguments - Lee said something about they could get their own experts, and testify back and forth, but it probably wouldn't amount to much.

I suspect the lack of arguments has something to do with arguing that yes, Judy doesn't follow the medical model of care, and so all testimony that says she doesn't is irrelevant, and effectively trying to throw out all witnesses that don't know anything other than the medical model of care.

I think that now that he has written that the cause of death was due to a midwife delivering the baby, his reputation is at stake, since he now has to prove that the midwife really did cause the death. Or perhaps his reputation isn't at stake, since folks in Pittsburgh know how he likes to stretch the truth, and folks in California haven't found out yet, and didn't ask anyone in Pittsburgh, so he goes happily on his way.

Comment #1381

2008-09-27T21:16:56Z

This is one of two US court cases I've personally known people to be involved in, and in both cases the case drags on and on and on. You'd think it'd be easy to incentivize speedy and fair trial, but apparently nobody in a position to do that has any incentive to change things. Sad.

I read these reports with some disbelief - not because I don't trust the writers or those reporting events, but because I have such a hard time fathoming why a real-life doctor (not a James Bond villain doctor) would either outright lie in court or be completely uninterested in additional evidence. Does he hate midwives? Does his reputation ride on blaming the midwife? Is he afraid of losing patients if the midwife is acquitted? Or is he truly convinced of an almost holy purpose in bringing pregnant mothers to hospital births, thinking of himself as the lone crusader for good, blinding himself to alternate views that might send this vision crumbling down? Does anyone know what motivates this man? I am deeply curious - and at the same time hope the defense attorney picked him apart. Justice obviously trumps my curiosity!

Comment #1380

2008-09-27T16:32:14Z

Mike: there is a web site and a mailing list, primarily directed at folks in the Pittsburgh area.

There has been some talk about whether we should have a large contingent show up at the courthouse in October or not.

IrishOboe: I guess I have gotten used to Omalu's attitude and obvious lies, so it wasn't that hard, though I did lean over to Charlie (Judy's husband) a couple times to show the direct contradictions from my earlier testimony.

The Post-Gazette article was written by the same reporter who wrote the articles years ago, and unfortunately, I didn't notice him there, because I would have made a point to talk to him to make sure that he corrected the date of Isaac's birth, as the PG was the primary source of that inaccuracy, most other sources corrected it by the second printing.

As for the "religious beliefs" comment, I wonder if they are referring to Judy's religious beliefs, instead of Heather's. We have said statements along the lines of being more comfortable with Judy. On the other hand, I made a similar statement to what you said about religious beliefs affecting all of life in 2003, so someone might be partially quoting me.

Comment #1379

2008-09-26T07:15:46Z

Oh man, does that make your blood boil! My heart and respect goes out to Jon for keeping silence in court. Not sure I could have done the same.

Comment #1378

2008-09-26T00:20:14Z

If the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had the worst coverage of the first day of the trial, it's the only paper so far to cover the second, albeit only half the day and with worse accuracy, reporting on only one of the witnesses, and getting both Isaac's date of birth and his mother's name wrong. How they did with Dr. Omalu's testimony I don't know, as Jon reported that he contradicted himself several times, changing his story whenever what he said was interpreted positively in Judy's defense.

Since the rest of us were not at the courthouse, Jon being the only one called for that day, he attended the proceedings, even though Omalu was showing autopsy pictures that were hard to watch. It was also frustrating, because Jon could have superimposed his own pictures and shown that several of the injuries the doctor insisted were caused by Judy were actually inflicted at the hospital—unless it's a complete coincidence that there were injuries exactly where they struggled for so long to insert an IV line, and that the abrasions said to be caused during his birth were exactly where various lines and wires were taped to his skin.

The next witness, if I recall correctly, was a doctor from one of the local hospitals, and although it was obvious he has no love for midwives, his testimony seemed fair.

The biggest surprise was the final witness—or rather the lack thereof. After keeping Jon in the courthouse for another full day, the prosecution decided not to call for his testimony! No explanation was given.

The trial is scheduled to resume October 29, which is when one of the defense witnesses, who has had health problems, is expected to be able to attend. If we'd known that in advance, Heather might have been spared her ordeal so soon postpartum. I believe there are rules about how soon a new mother can be subpoenaed. But she and Jon did not want to be the cause of yet another delay. Ah, well, at least Heather's part is over (probably).

Comment #1377

2008-09-25T22:01:39Z

Mike - if you're asking about financial help, there was a fund set up for Judy four years ago, which I assume is still there. You can email us personally if you're interested.

Other than financial, prayers are always welcome.

Comment #1376

2008-09-25T17:43:03Z

Is there anything people can do to help Judy or J&H?

Comment #1375

2008-09-25T08:14:33Z

Go sis! I'm proud of you. May it be over soon!

Comment #1374

2008-09-24T17:09:35Z

At this moment the court is on lunch break, and Jon expects to testify when it resumes.