WARREN, Minn. -- The defense team for Damien Marsden took its first steps at putting a dent in the prosecution's case Tuesday, forwarding its own theory for the death of Marsden's son bolstered by testimony from a forensic pathologist.
Jurors heard emotional testimony from Tammy Klein, the grandmother of Marsden's son, who said an incident when Rylin Marsden was in her care may have contributed to his death.
Marsden, 33, of Grygla, Minn., is facing three murder charges in state District Court for allegedly shaking Rylin Marsden, which led to the 4-month-old boy's death.
The prosecution rested Monday and the defense called Klein and its own medical expert, Jonathan Arden, to the stand.
Another fall
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Klein, whose daughter, Megan Niemi, is Rylin Marsden's mother, testified she ran a licensed daycare for seven years in Grygla and also has been charged with the care of a number of foster children ranging from newborns to teens.
She told jurors her grandson was at her daycare on July 23, 2009, when she heard a crash from the next room.
She said her 4-year-old daughter Kia had tried to pick up Rylin Marsden out of a bouncy chair and had accidentally dropped him onto a wood floor, leaving him crying and with a golf ball-sized red mark on the back of his head.
Klein reported that she told Niemi about the drop but couldn't recall if she ever said anything to Marsden.
She said at the time the incident didn't seem to be too serious, a point prosecutors pushed her on under cross-examination.
Klein was a trained first responder and had extensive experience working at hospitals and clinics. But lead prosecutor Matthew Glen Frank pointed out she didn't make an official medical report of the incident.
She did report it to Dr. Arne Graff once Rylin Marsden had been admitted to the MeritCare Hospital in Fargo on Aug. 2, 2009.
Klein testified Graff continually told the extended family he knew it was a shaken baby, a term Graff said under oath on Monday he didn't use.
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Klein and Marsden both wiped away tears as she testified to his character and patience in dealing with Niemi's other son as well as children in Klein's large family.
Forensic opinion
Arden, an expert anatomic and forensic pathologist based out of northern Virginia, provided testimony supporting a theory that Rylin Marsden's hospitalization and eventual death were the result of a pair of falls, the first coming at Klein's daycare.
Arden's theory was initially based on his finding that there were signs of two different injuries, and that re-bleeding of the initial injury in the boy's head caused him to be hospitalized on Aug 2.
The second injury was purported to be a barely more than 2-foot fall from a bed onto a carpet on Aug. 1. Arden said the timeline of injuries on July 23 and Aug. 1 were consistent with what he saw in the healing of initial injury and re-bleeding.
Arden went over a number of CT scans with the jury and testified that his reading of initial CT scans having both fresh and healing hemorrhages were in agreement with a case radiologist's findings.
Prosecutors inferred Arden was a witness for hire -- he runs a consulting firm and testified to charging $400 an hour for consulting and $4,000 per day for court appearances.
The state had a tougher time putting holes in his testimony, attempting to make the case that changes in Rylin Marsden's blood sugar, breathing and behavior didn't work with his theory.
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Motions, rulings
Lead defense attorney Peter B. Wold said the decision as to whether Marsden will take the stand will likely not be made until today, which is expected to be the last day of testimony in the trial.
Frank declined comment Tuesday.
Judge Jeffrey Scott Remick ruled Monday morning against a defense motion to dismiss two of the three murder charges.
Following jury dismissal on Tuesday, both sides argued on defense motions made regarding jury instructions. One motion involved instructions regarding circumstantial evidence and another dealt with language anticipating appellate review of such cases.
Reach Bieri at (701) 780-1118; (800) 477-6572, ext. 118; or send email to cbieri@gfherald.com .
