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Judge OKs expert witness
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A judge has approved the hiring of an expert witness at a cost of up to $10,000 to assist with the defense of a Southington woman accused of killing a 3-month-old baby at a Newton Falls day-care facility last June.
Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court approved the expenditure Monday for Sarah Kaiser, 29, of McConnell East Road, charged with murder, felonious assault and child endangering.
Kaiser was ruled indigent and is being represented at the state’s expense by Atty. Alan Matavich of the Ohio Public Defender’s Office.
Matavich said he plans to employ Dr. Cyril H. Wecht of Pittsburgh, one of the best-known forensic pathologists in the country, author of several books and an attorney.
Wecht has performed roughly 17,000 autopsies and has supervised, reviewed or has been consulted on about 30,000 more, according to his website.
Matavich said it’s not clear whether $10,000 will be enough for Dr. Wecht’s services, but he believes there will be an opportunity to ask the judge for additional fees if the amount exceeds $10,000.
Matavich said he believes the understanding he and the judge have is, “If we reach the $10,000 mark, we’ll deal with it then. ... [$10,000] at least gets it started.”
The state will make use of a forensic pathologist and other experts in prosecuting the case against Kaiser, Matavich said.
“We just wanted to be able to get our own expert to look at this and give us another opinion,” Matavich said.
Kaiser is charged in the death of Jacob F. Culp, son of Jonathan P. Jr. and Jennifer M. Adams Culp of Newton Falls.
The baby died June 6 of abusive head trauma at Akron Children’s Hospital, where he was taken after being discovered not breathing June 1 at Church of God Day Care Center on West Broad Street in Newton Falls, where Kaiser worked.
The Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the boy’s death a homicide Sept. 15.
He died from lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain as a result of blunt-force trauma to the brain and skull, the examiner’s office said.
The boy’s parents filed a civil suit in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court on March 6, naming Kaiser, First Church of God on Broad Street in Newton Falls, various church daycare officials and Medical Mutual of Ohio of Cleveland as defendants.
The Rev. Arnold Edmonson, pastor of the church and one of the people named in the suit, did not return a call Monday seeking comment.
Mutual Medical of Ohio is the medical insurance company for the Culps, and the company is named in the suit so the court can determine what its rights of reimbursement are for the expenses it paid arising from the boy’s injuries, the suit said.
The suit says the boy suffered not only head injuries but also fractured ribs and that the defendants “ratified and/or acted in willful concert and conspiracy to cover up and hide the physical abuse and abusers” of the boy.
The suit seeks at least $25,000 in damages.