Jury hears versions of foster son's death

It was not the first time the child was left bound in the closet, the prosecutor said.
BATAVIA, Ohio (AP) -- Jurors listened to vastly different portrayals Thursday of a woman accused of leaving her hard-to-handle 3-year-old foster son bound in a closet, where he died.
The jury in Clermont County Common Pleas Court will have to decide whether she was responsible for the death of Marcus Fiesel, as prosecutors contend, or a compliant wife intimidated into going along with her bully husband and his live-in lover.
Liz Carroll, 29, is on trial on a charge of murder because prosecutors say she caused the boy's death, though unintentional, by restraining him as she did. She and her husband also are charged with involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping, felonious assault and three counts of child endangerment.
Prosecutors acknowledge that Marcus Fiesel, who had been placed with the Carrolls three months before he died, was difficult to handle. He acted more like an 18-month-old child than a 3-year-old, and needed constant attention, they said.
What happened
In his opening statement, Assistant Clermont County Prosecutor Daniel "Woody" Breyer said evidence will show that Liz Carroll suggested binding the developmentally disabled boy in a blanket and leaving him alone while she and her husband, David Carroll Jr., and Amy Baker, who lived with the couple, went to a weekend family reunion in August.
Breyer told jurors that the child was wrapped "much like a cocoon" with only his head and bare feet sticking out.
"He was confined as effectively as if he had been placed in a straitjacket," Breyer said.
The child was dead when the Carrolls and Baker returned two days later.
It was not the first time the boy had been confined like that, Breyer said. He said the Carrolls had left the child that way when they left the home on shorter errands.
Defense attorney Gregory Cohen told the jury that Liz Carroll was far from being the driving force behind the boy's death and the Carrolls' false claim that he had wandered away or had been taken from a public park Aug. 16. A massive search by authorities and volunteers followed.
What lawyer said
He said she was a tender, caring person devoted to children and that David Carroll and Baker were responsible for the boy's death.
"Their theory has to be tested," Cohen told jurors of the prosecution's argument, then pointed to an empty chair at the defense table, where Liz Carroll was seated. "I believe the evidence will show somebody else belongs there."
He called David Carroll "a damaged individual with psychological problems" who sought multiple sex partners, and Baker a controlling person who gave him sex and dominated the household after moving in with the Carrolls.
David Carroll, 30, also is charged with murder and will be tried March 19. Both Carrolls have pleaded innocent to all charges and are being held under 10.1 million bond each.
In addition to murder, David Carroll is accused of burning the boy's body and dumping the remains in the Ohio River, and is charged with gross abuse of a corpse.
Baker, 25, has not been charged and is expected to be the main witness against the Carrolls.