I am currently the associate Medical Examiner at the Arkansas Crime
Laboratory. I perform autopsies there. I have been employed there for 17 years.
(BMHR 2583). I was employed at the Lab in May of 1993. I conducted the
autopsies on Michael Moore, Steven Branch, and Christopher Byers. I testified in
two trials pertinent to the case and then a Rule 37 hearing. I graduated from
medical school in 1984, did training at Brown University in anatomical pathology.
I then spent some time in Florida and returned to Rhode Island for additional
training. I did some specialty training in forensic pathology in the Office of the
Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore, Maryland. I then moved to Arkansas in
1992. While in Rhode Island I had first done training in hospital pathology and
then did some training in forensics. I was a part-time Medical Examiner for the
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State of Rhode Island. Rhode Island had few homicides, but Baltimore had
considerably more. (BMHR 2584-86) In Arkansas I worked under the supervision
of Dr. Sturner.
I do about 250 autopsies a year. I have seen bodies in a number of
conditions, including a few bodies subject to animal predation. I have qualified to
testify as an expert about 25 to 30 times a year in Arkansas. (BMHR 2587) [Dr.
Peretti was qualified as an expert at BMHR 2588]
I am an animal lover who has bred turtles and tortoises. This is a kind of
avocation for me. (BMHR 2589) I have consulted with various personnel involved
in wild life in Arkansas, and have consulted with Arkansas Fish and Game about
turtles. I have been involved in efforts to protect certain endangered species of
turtles in Arkansas.
We had a general protocol that was used in the Arkansas Crime Lab during a
post mortem examination process, including the taking of measurements, of initial
photographs, taking specimens, the processing of evidence depending on the type
of cases, the cleaning of the body, the external then internal examinations. (BMHR
2594) In this case, the autopsy reports are in a notebook that I have brought to
court.
I have with me the autopsy reports that I produced. I recently watched for
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the first time in the case the crime scene video - prior to my testimony at the instant
hearing. The scene and the presence of flies in the video explains the fly larvae I
found during the first autopsy. The first autopsy I reviewed was that of James
Michael Moore I noted abrasions to the lips; swelling of the lips There were
various injuries to the scalp. There were injuries to the ears that were consistent
with what I had heard about at a lecture by Dr. Joseph Rupp many years ago on sex
crimes. He said these are common in cases of sexual assault. (BMHR 2604). The
bruising was similar to that found on the two other victims.
I was of the opinion that some of the injuries to the scalp and to the head
were prior to death. (BMHR 2605) My view was that they were caused by blunt
force trauma and showed some bleeding into the tissues. I noted skull fractures in
the base of the skull. (BMHR 2608-09) There were linear abrasions on the right
shoulder area. (BMHR 2611)
I also noted contusions associated with bindings. I found some signs of
hemorrhage where the bindings had been placed, indicating that the child was alive
at the time. (BMHR 2616) There was some superficial lacerations on the hands
which I believed were defensive wounds. (BMHR 2618) There were bite marks on
the tongue.There were findings characteristic of drowning. (BMHR 2620)
My view was that there was some degree of pallor caused by blood loss.
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(BMHR 2621) The victim in his view may or may not have been conscious though
he was alive when placed in the water. (BMHR 2622) There was also anal dilation
which may be due to post mortem changes. (BMHR 2624)
Steven Branch, ME number 330-93, was also tied with ligatures and had a
number of injuries, including a black eye, and a large abrasion over the right
mandible. The abrasion was bell shaped. My view was that his was an injury
inflicted prior to death by some implement. (BMHR 2628) There was injury to the
gums caused while the victim was still alive. (BMHR 2629-30)
I had contacted Dr. Dugan, a dentist, just to make sure that a pattern injury
above the right eyebrow was not a human bite mark. (BMHR 2630-1) Dr. Sturner
was also brought in to look at the bodies. I wanted someone else to look at the
bodies. (BMHR 2631). At some later point, during the Echols Rule 37 proceedings,
Dr. Mincer also agreed there were no human bite marks here. (BMHR 2632-33)
There were contusions of the ears and injuries that I noted to be, irregular
gouging wounds, cutting wounds on the left side of the face. I characterized them
as gouged in that the tissue was torn and pulled. State Exhibits 34 and 35 show the
pattern injury to the top of the face. State Exhibits 36 and 37 shoe the bell shaped
injury and the injury to the ears. I did not section these injuries. There was a
pattern injury that I concluded might have been a belt buckle.
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There was a hemorrhage in the posterior neck muscles. (BMHR 2641)
There were some fractures toward the back of the skull where the neck joins the
head. The injury occurred when Mr. Branch was alive. (BMHR 2643) In my view
this was not animal caused damage. There are a lot of patterns here, and I think it’s
some kind of implement. (BMHR 2645)
There was no unusual injury to the anal area. But because of the the
combination of the bodies being found nude and being hogtied together with some
of the other injuries suggested ‘at least in some part’ a sexual assault. (BMHR
2647)
There were scratches on the penis. I noted a ‘line of demarcation’ around
the penis and some injuries to the legs, including post-mortem scratches. Those
could have happened by the body being dragged. (BMHR 2650)
On the back of the hands there was bruising consistent with defensive-type
wounds which occurred prior to death. They looked like the wounds on his face. [A recess was taken from October 1 to October 2, 2009]
