Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
A doctor who supervised Michael Mineo's care at Brookdale University Hospital testified on Tuesday that when Mr. Mineo arrived shortly after his confrontation with the police in a Brooklyn subway station 15 months ago, he had anal skin lacerations, a "small amount" of anal bleeding and symptoms of an internal inflammation, including a high white blood cell count.
The doctor, Syed Ahmed, said the insertion of a "foreign object" could have caused the tears and led to the inflammation, which eventually developed into a full-blown infection. And Dr. Ahmed said it was "highly unlikely" that Mr. Mineo could have caused the tears himself, as defense lawyers have suggested, given how painful it would have been.
His testimony in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn offered the first detailed glimpse of Mr. Mineo's medical condition during two separate hospital visits after the events of Oct. 15, 2008, when prosecutors contend that Officer Richard Kern repeatedly rammed his retractable baton between Mr. Mineo's buttocks. Officers had seen Mr. Mineo, then a 26-year-old body piercer, smoking marijuana and chased him into the Prospect Park subway station.
Officer Kern is charged with aggravated sexual abuse. Two other officers, Andrew Morales and Alex Cruz, are accused of helping Officer Kern hush it up.
Since Mr. Mineo first went public with his story, the medical records have been something of a mystery. After the subway encounter, his lawyers refused to fully release the records, fueling skepticism over whether he was telling the truth. For more than a week, top police officials, citing witness testimony, denied any abuse had occurred -- even though investigators had interviewed Mr. Mineo in the hospital, and television cameras had showed him there later, his face etched in pain.
More medical testimony is expected on Wednesday, as prosecutors wrap up their case.
Defense lawyers plan to call their own medical experts to testify that the tears could have been caused by a bowel movement or other factors unrelated to Mr. Mineo's arrest, and that the elevated white blood cell count suggested an infection well under way before he encountered Officer Kern.
Mr. Mineo tried to leave the hospital the day after he was admitted, but ended up staying until Oct. 19. He was hospitalized again, at Brooklyn Hospital Center, a few days later with an abscess that had to be drained.
Court testimony and records show that investigators were in contact with both Mr. Mineo and the Brookdale staff on the first day he was hospitalized, though it is unclear which of his medical records they looked at, or whether they showed any of them to doctors or experts.
In court last week, the officer who conducted the police's internal-affairs investigation testified that prosecutors prevented his team from taking the medical records to an expert; prosecutors, in turn, said that was because they had their own experts.
On the witness stand on Tuesday, Dr. Ahmed, a surgeon, said he never actually met Mr. Mineo, but was on duty the night he was admitted and supervised his case. Mr. Mineo's first exam was at 5:30 p.m. that day, about four hours after the encounter with the police. A report said he stated that "he was smoking weed, attacked by police officers," and complained of abdominal pain and that he had been assaulted by a "foreign body to rectum." It notes "multiple rectal tears, appear to be superficial."
Dr. Ahmed explained that the references to rectal tears were mistaken: Mr. Mineo actually had "anal skin lacerations," he said, and showed no sign, from a CT scan, that the walls of his rectum had been pierced. Mr. Mineo's heart rate and white blood cell count were "significantly high," Dr. Ahmed testified, indicating an "inflammatory process going on in the body."
Another report noted Mr. Mineo complained of pain in his lower abdomen, and while urinating. The CT scan found an enlarged pelvic muscle "consistent with edema," or a swelling caused by excess fluid. His pain score was recorded on yet another report as 10 out of 10.
"That means pain of a maximum intensity," Dr. Ahmed said.
A prosecutor, Jeffrey Ferguson, showed Dr. Ahmed Officer Kern's baton, and asked: "Is the insertion of this object into the rectum of Michael Mineo consistent with your medical findings?" Dr. Ahmed answered that it "could be."
During a heated cross-examination, Officer Cruz's lawyer, Stuart London, asked Dr. Ahmed repeatedly why Mr. Mineo did not receive antibiotics, or a battery of tests. Mr. London also asked about the distance between the site of the inflammation, and Mr. Mineo's tears, suggesting they were too far away from each other to be related.
"It's not so far away," Dr. Ahmed said.
As Mr. London tried to hand Officer Kern's baton to Dr. Ahmed, the doctor paused for a moment to put on surgical gloves.
"If it is the same object," the doctor said, "I would suggest that you do that, too."
NewsHawk: User: 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2010 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia
Author: Kareem Fahim
The doctor, Syed Ahmed, said the insertion of a "foreign object" could have caused the tears and led to the inflammation, which eventually developed into a full-blown infection. And Dr. Ahmed said it was "highly unlikely" that Mr. Mineo could have caused the tears himself, as defense lawyers have suggested, given how painful it would have been.
His testimony in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn offered the first detailed glimpse of Mr. Mineo's medical condition during two separate hospital visits after the events of Oct. 15, 2008, when prosecutors contend that Officer Richard Kern repeatedly rammed his retractable baton between Mr. Mineo's buttocks. Officers had seen Mr. Mineo, then a 26-year-old body piercer, smoking marijuana and chased him into the Prospect Park subway station.
Officer Kern is charged with aggravated sexual abuse. Two other officers, Andrew Morales and Alex Cruz, are accused of helping Officer Kern hush it up.
Since Mr. Mineo first went public with his story, the medical records have been something of a mystery. After the subway encounter, his lawyers refused to fully release the records, fueling skepticism over whether he was telling the truth. For more than a week, top police officials, citing witness testimony, denied any abuse had occurred -- even though investigators had interviewed Mr. Mineo in the hospital, and television cameras had showed him there later, his face etched in pain.
More medical testimony is expected on Wednesday, as prosecutors wrap up their case.
Defense lawyers plan to call their own medical experts to testify that the tears could have been caused by a bowel movement or other factors unrelated to Mr. Mineo's arrest, and that the elevated white blood cell count suggested an infection well under way before he encountered Officer Kern.
Mr. Mineo tried to leave the hospital the day after he was admitted, but ended up staying until Oct. 19. He was hospitalized again, at Brooklyn Hospital Center, a few days later with an abscess that had to be drained.
Court testimony and records show that investigators were in contact with both Mr. Mineo and the Brookdale staff on the first day he was hospitalized, though it is unclear which of his medical records they looked at, or whether they showed any of them to doctors or experts.
In court last week, the officer who conducted the police's internal-affairs investigation testified that prosecutors prevented his team from taking the medical records to an expert; prosecutors, in turn, said that was because they had their own experts.
On the witness stand on Tuesday, Dr. Ahmed, a surgeon, said he never actually met Mr. Mineo, but was on duty the night he was admitted and supervised his case. Mr. Mineo's first exam was at 5:30 p.m. that day, about four hours after the encounter with the police. A report said he stated that "he was smoking weed, attacked by police officers," and complained of abdominal pain and that he had been assaulted by a "foreign body to rectum." It notes "multiple rectal tears, appear to be superficial."
Dr. Ahmed explained that the references to rectal tears were mistaken: Mr. Mineo actually had "anal skin lacerations," he said, and showed no sign, from a CT scan, that the walls of his rectum had been pierced. Mr. Mineo's heart rate and white blood cell count were "significantly high," Dr. Ahmed testified, indicating an "inflammatory process going on in the body."
Another report noted Mr. Mineo complained of pain in his lower abdomen, and while urinating. The CT scan found an enlarged pelvic muscle "consistent with edema," or a swelling caused by excess fluid. His pain score was recorded on yet another report as 10 out of 10.
"That means pain of a maximum intensity," Dr. Ahmed said.
A prosecutor, Jeffrey Ferguson, showed Dr. Ahmed Officer Kern's baton, and asked: "Is the insertion of this object into the rectum of Michael Mineo consistent with your medical findings?" Dr. Ahmed answered that it "could be."
During a heated cross-examination, Officer Cruz's lawyer, Stuart London, asked Dr. Ahmed repeatedly why Mr. Mineo did not receive antibiotics, or a battery of tests. Mr. London also asked about the distance between the site of the inflammation, and Mr. Mineo's tears, suggesting they were too far away from each other to be related.
"It's not so far away," Dr. Ahmed said.
As Mr. London tried to hand Officer Kern's baton to Dr. Ahmed, the doctor paused for a moment to put on surgical gloves.
"If it is the same object," the doctor said, "I would suggest that you do that, too."
NewsHawk: User: 420 Magazine - Cannabis Culture News & Reviews
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2010 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia
Author: Kareem Fahim
