Daley Ponderings

I just got back from the courthouse. The judge upheld all charges. The prosecution added a fourth charge as well, that I didn't really understand -- It was a little hard to hear everything. There is an additional charge of endangering the welfare of a minor, I think having to do with actions before Isaac was born, and the first charge only has to do with actions after he was born. Judy's lawyer argued that the actions are one, her actions of the entire care of the baby, and I think the judge sort of agreed, and maybe said something about allowing it in, and then it would be dismissed, not quite sure about all that. At the end, he just said something like, "all charges stand." The prosecutioner is very young. I think younger than me, although maybe she is older than she looks. Unfortunately, there wasn't a camera to get a picture of her almost sticking her tongue out at me as she nastily smiled when the obstetrician said something in her favor. ;] Mostly, the testimony was just a repeat of the inquest stuff, a couple paramedics and officers, the homicide detective, a nurse midwife from AGH, Dr. Omalu (the autopsy guy), and a new doctor from McGee, I forget his name. One paramedic did testify that the most experienced person at our house was one particular doctor, and from her earlier testimony, she has only seen a couple babies delivered, so that isn't saying much for their experience. Oh, I almost forgot -- one of the paramedics testified that the umbilical cord should always be cut within minutes of the baby being born to avoid blood clots, or breathing problems. Duh. There were a number of objections sustained in our favor regarding Dr. Omalu, which was nice, since he likes to talk. I would say the objections were somewhere around even for overruled and sustained on both sides, but I wasn't keeping count. I don't know if the testimony was very interesting, Judy's attorney trapped Dr. Omalu in a significant contradiction in his testimony, but I guess it was agreed that it was taking something out of context. He wasn't as preachy this time. The obstetrician brought in a doll and a pelvic bone, to demonstrate the different kinds of breech births. Fortunately, cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, so that probably isn't much of a story, although it was humorous to see the doctor twist the baby's head around backwards like an owl. There were tons of people, and they weren't letting people into the courtroom because it was so full, but since I was the dad, they let me in. The only seat, which I didn't realize it at the time was next to all the media, but I think that ended up being a good thing, because I whispered stuff whenever there was something I didn't like, and I noted a number of my comments got written down, so hopefully the stories will be a little more truthful. Upon exiting the courtroom, there were tons of media, which I was going to try to avoid, but they were waiting and came swooping in. I suppose I still could have left, but there is that part of me that wants to believe that they actually do want to print the truth. They got me on one question, they asked if I had refused Judy when she asked about calling 911, which she never asked that question explicitly, so I stopped for a second, and then said no, so probably that is all that will get published tonight. I explained after that I had refused transport, which I guess is the same thing, although I think we probably would have just driven to the hospital, and not called 911 to do that. Hopefully, no one makes a big deal out of that. I think I was able to say some good statements, so hopefully those will get picked up. There was some debate over the difference of obstetrical care versus midwifery care, and mostly the judge didn't care about the difference, that he says midwives are practicing medicine, so it should all be the same. In reference to some of the obstetricians' statements, I said that I didn't want the care that he would provide. I referenced the statistic of a baby dies every four days in Pittsburgh hospitals, and no one seems to take notice of that. One of the reporters is now pregnant, and I meant to not say that in front of her, as I try not to quote the reality in front of pregnant mothers, who most likely are not going to change their mind, and are potentially going to stress when they hear the statistics about their care provider. They asked about the significance of the purple ribbon, specifically the purple part, which as far as I know, the color isn't sigificant, so hopefully that is the right answer. I did say that we would have Judy for our midwife again, and that it was primarily for legal reasons that we did not for our second child. Jonathan and Heather were there, so everyone knows we have a second child now, born by a midwife. I also referenced the kids that were running around, that most were born by midwife, and most of those born at home, which is probably a nice fact to know, since there were tons of kids everywhere. I got to meet lots of people that previously I had only known on the internet, and that was nice. So, in all, not too surprising, I guess really. There is still some strange contradictions in the testimony of various EMTs and myself, and even among themselves. I guess people don't remember stuff the same, I don't know what that will come down to -- I say it happened this way, another guy says it doesn't, and he is an EMT, so presumably he wins.