Posted 11:41 pm Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Bite Expert Testifies In Exorcism Murder Trial
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
CONROE — Jurors heard compelling evidence Monday from a bite expert who testified Blaine Milam could not be ruled out as the contributor of the majority of bite marks on 13-month-old Amora Carson.
Staff Writer
CONROE — Jurors heard compelling evidence Monday from a bite expert who testified Blaine Milam could not be ruled out as the contributor of the majority of bite marks on 13-month-old Amora Carson.
Milam and the child’s mother, Jesseca Carson, are accused of beating the child to death on Dec. 2, 2008 in Rusk County. Officials have said the couple took part in strangling her, biting her and sexually abusing her in the name of an exorcism to drive demons out of the toddler.
Robert Williams, a forensic odontologist and Dallas area dentist who works closely with doctors at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas on autopsies, said out of the 20 plus bite marks he examined on the child’s body, Milam could not be excluded as the person who caused those wounds.
Using a life-size and life-like child doll, Lisa Tanner, the Texas Attorney General prosecutor assisting Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson on the case, helped Williams demonstrate how several of the bites were made.
Williams positioned himself to the child in the way the person biting her would have to cause the injuries.
Williams testified his area of expertise has been used to identify serial killers, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and Branch Davidian victims when other methods failed.
Using a mold of Milam’s, Ms. Carson’s and Milam’s brother, Danny’s, teeth and the autopsy photos, Williams compared the molds to the bite marks. Danny Milam was excluded as being the one who caused any of the wounds and Ms. Carson was excluded from all but a partial bite under her daughter’s chin.
Milam’s sister testified earlier Monday that Danny and his mother were actually at her home in Louisiana the night before and day of the murder.
Outside the presence of the jury, Ms. Carson was led into the courtroom mid-morning to answer a subpoena requesting her to testify. However, Ms. Carson invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself.
As she waited to be transported back to Rusk County where she is being held, Ms. Carson was made to sit in the back of the courtroom where she cried.
The clinking of her chains could be heard in the courtroom as she lifted her hands to wipe the tears from her face.
When her transportation was secured, Ms. Carson was led from the courtroom, and Milam never glanced back at her.
Patrick Hill, a Child Protective Services investigator, told jurors he went to the scene of the homicide on Dec. 4 and took a series of photographs of the entire home.
Defense team member Stephen Jackson took issue with the photos because they showed things moved and some things even added in later photos crime scene investigators took about seven days later.
However, Hill showed Jackson some of the items were still in the photos, and had just been moved.
Out of the presence of the jury, Jackson tried to impeach Hill by calling into question his former career as a police officer in Harrison County.
Jackson asked if Hill had been forced to resign or terminated due to an incident involving a drug deal. Hill told Jackson his information was wrong and in fact he was exonerated of any wrong doing and continued as an officer with the department for another four years until he decided he wanted to go in a new direction.
Jimerson called former Rusk County Sheriff’s Sgt. Amber McFarland, known previously as Amber Rogers, to the stand and began answering questions about her role as lead investigator in Amora’s death.
Ms. McFarland said she did process the scene with Smith County Sheriff’s Office Criminalist Noel Martin on Dec. 11, but that she did not process the scene on the day of the murder.
She testified that no one went underneath the home until Dec. 13 when they received information that evidence may have been placed under the mobile home.
Ms. McFarland said she found a pipe wrench stuffed through a hole in the master bedroom in some insulation.
“I didn’t see it at all until I got to the hole,” she said.
With jurors excused out of the courtroom, Jackson asked if she had talked to Milam about Ouija Boards and exorcisms, but Jimerson objected, saying the conversation fell under the self-serving heresy rule and could not be admitted into testimony.
Other testimony Monday included a forensic scientist who said tests he performed on two diapers, a pipe wrench and baby wipes all contained areas where a personal lubricant was detected.
Authorities contend Amora was sexually assaulted with the pipe wrench during her hours-long murder.
Testimony is scheduled to resume this morning at 9 a.m. and the state could rest as early as this afternoon.
Using a life-size and life-like child doll, Lisa Tanner, the Texas Attorney General prosecutor assisting Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson on the case, helped Williams demonstrate how several of the bites were made.
Williams positioned himself to the child in the way the person biting her would have to cause the injuries.
Williams testified his area of expertise has been used to identify serial killers, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 and Branch Davidian victims when other methods failed.
Using a mold of Milam’s, Ms. Carson’s and Milam’s brother, Danny’s, teeth and the autopsy photos, Williams compared the molds to the bite marks. Danny Milam was excluded as being the one who caused any of the wounds and Ms. Carson was excluded from all but a partial bite under her daughter’s chin.
Milam’s sister testified earlier Monday that Danny and his mother were actually at her home in Louisiana the night before and day of the murder.
Outside the presence of the jury, Ms. Carson was led into the courtroom mid-morning to answer a subpoena requesting her to testify. However, Ms. Carson invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself.
As she waited to be transported back to Rusk County where she is being held, Ms. Carson was made to sit in the back of the courtroom where she cried.
The clinking of her chains could be heard in the courtroom as she lifted her hands to wipe the tears from her face.
When her transportation was secured, Ms. Carson was led from the courtroom, and Milam never glanced back at her.
Patrick Hill, a Child Protective Services investigator, told jurors he went to the scene of the homicide on Dec. 4 and took a series of photographs of the entire home.
Defense team member Stephen Jackson took issue with the photos because they showed things moved and some things even added in later photos crime scene investigators took about seven days later.
However, Hill showed Jackson some of the items were still in the photos, and had just been moved.
Out of the presence of the jury, Jackson tried to impeach Hill by calling into question his former career as a police officer in Harrison County.
Jackson asked if Hill had been forced to resign or terminated due to an incident involving a drug deal. Hill told Jackson his information was wrong and in fact he was exonerated of any wrong doing and continued as an officer with the department for another four years until he decided he wanted to go in a new direction.
Jimerson called former Rusk County Sheriff’s Sgt. Amber McFarland, known previously as Amber Rogers, to the stand and began answering questions about her role as lead investigator in Amora’s death.
Ms. McFarland said she did process the scene with Smith County Sheriff’s Office Criminalist Noel Martin on Dec. 11, but that she did not process the scene on the day of the murder.
She testified that no one went underneath the home until Dec. 13 when they received information that evidence may have been placed under the mobile home.
Ms. McFarland said she found a pipe wrench stuffed through a hole in the master bedroom in some insulation.
“I didn’t see it at all until I got to the hole,” she said.
With jurors excused out of the courtroom, Jackson asked if she had talked to Milam about Ouija Boards and exorcisms, but Jimerson objected, saying the conversation fell under the self-serving heresy rule and could not be admitted into testimony.
Other testimony Monday included a forensic scientist who said tests he performed on two diapers, a pipe wrench and baby wipes all contained areas where a personal lubricant was detected.
Authorities contend Amora was sexually assaulted with the pipe wrench during her hours-long murder.
Testimony is scheduled to resume this morning at 9 a.m. and the state could rest as early as this afternoon.
