Post by Jax on Aug 7, 2018 12:24:18 GMT -6
Before we get started let me tell you that I am not the smartest person in the world or not even in the middle. LoL. I get lost in some of this & don’t understand it all. But I will do the best I can to tell you what was argued in the 2nd Appellate Court in Elgin today.
The 3 judges were Michael J Burke, Kathryn E Zenoff & Mary S Schostok. The State’s Attorney was Mary Beth Burns. Before the judges came out the clerk informed us that this was the first time in that court’s history that they were allowing cameras so we were to behave & not make them regret it. No talking. No phones. He said there would NOT be a decision today but it will be forthcoming.
Kathleen Zellner began her agurment at 10:32am. She basically talked about the x-rays & the alleged fracture. The lead judge Zenoff said both sides had agreed on readable x-rays. She said all evidence was viewed, even the computer. She questioned how was anything suppressed when the Defense had access to everything? She also asked how was it a Brady Violation?
KZ said the file was compressed & 98% of the data was not readable. It was saved in a tiff format & was there the whole time but not given to the Defense. Zenoff said that the fracture could have been seen the whole time. KZ said that the jury was told that the death was due to a through & through fracture. Zenoff said the jury received further instruction on cause of death. KZ said there was no fracture & no one touched a fracture. Zenoff said but they testified they did touch a fracture. KZ said Zimmerman said there wasn’t a fracture. Zenoff said in his opinion there wasn’t one.
At this point is when I notice the doctors who are sitting behind me are frantically passing notes to each other. One of them was Dr Rudd, the coroner who changed the cause of death from homicide to undetermined. He clearly was not happy about things being said & would cover his eyes in frustration.
KZ said the X-rays they got in 2009 were perfect. The timer goes off at 10:48 so this is when KZ is supposed to stop talking but the judges kept talking to her. KZ said that when Melissa demonstrated how she allegedly dropped Ben the face was facing out. So the fracture if there was to be one would be in the front. Not the back. Zenoff said that Melissa said 3 times that he hit the back of his head. KZ said it was Detective George Filenko who said to Melissa that she wasn’t telling the truth because he knew a fracture caused Ben’s death. That is when Melissa then said that she picked him up with him facing out. KZ said that matters.
KZ was told at 10:52 her time was up. States Attorney Mary Beth Burns began her argument. I didn’t take many notes from anything she said because quite frankly, she didn’t really say anything at all. The woman was quite ill prepared for this case. I am not saying that as someone who is prejudicial to the case. It was quite clear that she didn’t know how to argue this. Zenoff asked her how is an unreadable X-ray being compliant? Judge Burke asked how would Melissa’s original attorney DeLuca know that there was a more readable X-ray? Burns said that they did provide them with one. Zenoff said a couple weeks before the trial & that’s not enough time.
Zenoff asked if the State had a jpeg version if that was enough to satisfy disclosure under Brady? She said the jury never heard an expert say that the skill was not fractured.
This is where I have in my notes that Burns repeatedly answered things starting with “my understanding”. It just showed me that she understands things even less than I do.
Schostok told Burns she is arguing 2 different things. She asked if a judge has the expertise to judge evidence is radiologically sound? Burns said they could if an expert gives medical evidence.
That is when Dr Rudd covers his eyes in frustration behind me. I could tell KZ was getting annoyed too.
& here is the bottomline of this case. Burke said if there is no fracture there is no homicide. Zenoff said no pediatricians took X-rays of Ben previously. The alarm goes off at 11:07 but the judges continued talking to Burns. He questioned that if no fracture exists wouldn’t that change the position? They were done talking to the State at 11:08.
KZ said the jpeg was unreadable. They had said that Ben died from violence inflicted on him & there was blood in the fracture. They presented favorable evidence for their case.
Schostok said KZs burden is to put the case in another light. KZ said they had a judge making a decision on an X-ray. Ben had a bump on his head in October of 2008. A pathologist said he made a mistake & didn’t see a hematoma. Zenoff said a defense witness at trial said they saw a hematoma. The alarm went off at 11:14. KZ ended by saying Melissa did not get a fair trial & it was all over.
The family came away from this proceeding as feeling confident that there would be finally be justice for Melissa & that these judges will free her. There is just no evidence that Melissa had anything to do with Ben’s death. Don’t say to me that Melissa confessed. So many people confess to crimes they didn’t commit because they just want out of that room. They’re told we know it was just an accident. Just say it was an accident & this will all be over.
Why Melissa was framed for this we don’t know. There are plenty of theories but we don’t know what the facts are. All we know is this poor child died way too young & instead of looking into what really happened, people wanted someone to blame. Melissa was in the room with Ben so it must have been her. I understand people want answers. But you need the facts to get the answers. Coercing Melissa into a false confession & doctoring an x-ray so you can’t see there wasn’t any fracture is not justice for ANYONE involved.
The judges have 90 days to rule on this case. We are obviously hoping to hear much sooner. Melissa has lost almost 10 years of her life. Both of her Grandmothers have died in the last year & she wasn’t able to say goodbye to them. Her father’s health isn’t the greatest. She is an aunt & doesn’t get to play with her nieces & nephews. She can’t nap with her mom. Walk her dog Oreo. Let this poor girl go home!
Stay tuned for updates on this case. You can also follow it at her official Facebook Group that is run by Melissa’s Aunt Helen.
www.facebook.com/groups/740709216037007/
If you would like to help Melissa or her family you can donate to their Go Fund Me.
www.gofundme.com/PaulandCherylCalusinski
#JusticeForMelissa
#MelissasArmy
#InZellnerWeTrust
The 3 judges were Michael J Burke, Kathryn E Zenoff & Mary S Schostok. The State’s Attorney was Mary Beth Burns. Before the judges came out the clerk informed us that this was the first time in that court’s history that they were allowing cameras so we were to behave & not make them regret it. No talking. No phones. He said there would NOT be a decision today but it will be forthcoming.
Kathleen Zellner began her agurment at 10:32am. She basically talked about the x-rays & the alleged fracture. The lead judge Zenoff said both sides had agreed on readable x-rays. She said all evidence was viewed, even the computer. She questioned how was anything suppressed when the Defense had access to everything? She also asked how was it a Brady Violation?
KZ said the file was compressed & 98% of the data was not readable. It was saved in a tiff format & was there the whole time but not given to the Defense. Zenoff said that the fracture could have been seen the whole time. KZ said that the jury was told that the death was due to a through & through fracture. Zenoff said the jury received further instruction on cause of death. KZ said there was no fracture & no one touched a fracture. Zenoff said but they testified they did touch a fracture. KZ said Zimmerman said there wasn’t a fracture. Zenoff said in his opinion there wasn’t one.
At this point is when I notice the doctors who are sitting behind me are frantically passing notes to each other. One of them was Dr Rudd, the coroner who changed the cause of death from homicide to undetermined. He clearly was not happy about things being said & would cover his eyes in frustration.
KZ said the X-rays they got in 2009 were perfect. The timer goes off at 10:48 so this is when KZ is supposed to stop talking but the judges kept talking to her. KZ said that when Melissa demonstrated how she allegedly dropped Ben the face was facing out. So the fracture if there was to be one would be in the front. Not the back. Zenoff said that Melissa said 3 times that he hit the back of his head. KZ said it was Detective George Filenko who said to Melissa that she wasn’t telling the truth because he knew a fracture caused Ben’s death. That is when Melissa then said that she picked him up with him facing out. KZ said that matters.
KZ was told at 10:52 her time was up. States Attorney Mary Beth Burns began her argument. I didn’t take many notes from anything she said because quite frankly, she didn’t really say anything at all. The woman was quite ill prepared for this case. I am not saying that as someone who is prejudicial to the case. It was quite clear that she didn’t know how to argue this. Zenoff asked her how is an unreadable X-ray being compliant? Judge Burke asked how would Melissa’s original attorney DeLuca know that there was a more readable X-ray? Burns said that they did provide them with one. Zenoff said a couple weeks before the trial & that’s not enough time.
Zenoff asked if the State had a jpeg version if that was enough to satisfy disclosure under Brady? She said the jury never heard an expert say that the skill was not fractured.
This is where I have in my notes that Burns repeatedly answered things starting with “my understanding”. It just showed me that she understands things even less than I do.
Schostok told Burns she is arguing 2 different things. She asked if a judge has the expertise to judge evidence is radiologically sound? Burns said they could if an expert gives medical evidence.
That is when Dr Rudd covers his eyes in frustration behind me. I could tell KZ was getting annoyed too.
& here is the bottomline of this case. Burke said if there is no fracture there is no homicide. Zenoff said no pediatricians took X-rays of Ben previously. The alarm goes off at 11:07 but the judges continued talking to Burns. He questioned that if no fracture exists wouldn’t that change the position? They were done talking to the State at 11:08.
KZ said the jpeg was unreadable. They had said that Ben died from violence inflicted on him & there was blood in the fracture. They presented favorable evidence for their case.
Schostok said KZs burden is to put the case in another light. KZ said they had a judge making a decision on an X-ray. Ben had a bump on his head in October of 2008. A pathologist said he made a mistake & didn’t see a hematoma. Zenoff said a defense witness at trial said they saw a hematoma. The alarm went off at 11:14. KZ ended by saying Melissa did not get a fair trial & it was all over.
The family came away from this proceeding as feeling confident that there would be finally be justice for Melissa & that these judges will free her. There is just no evidence that Melissa had anything to do with Ben’s death. Don’t say to me that Melissa confessed. So many people confess to crimes they didn’t commit because they just want out of that room. They’re told we know it was just an accident. Just say it was an accident & this will all be over.
Why Melissa was framed for this we don’t know. There are plenty of theories but we don’t know what the facts are. All we know is this poor child died way too young & instead of looking into what really happened, people wanted someone to blame. Melissa was in the room with Ben so it must have been her. I understand people want answers. But you need the facts to get the answers. Coercing Melissa into a false confession & doctoring an x-ray so you can’t see there wasn’t any fracture is not justice for ANYONE involved.
The judges have 90 days to rule on this case. We are obviously hoping to hear much sooner. Melissa has lost almost 10 years of her life. Both of her Grandmothers have died in the last year & she wasn’t able to say goodbye to them. Her father’s health isn’t the greatest. She is an aunt & doesn’t get to play with her nieces & nephews. She can’t nap with her mom. Walk her dog Oreo. Let this poor girl go home!
Stay tuned for updates on this case. You can also follow it at her official Facebook Group that is run by Melissa’s Aunt Helen.
www.facebook.com/groups/740709216037007/
If you would like to help Melissa or her family you can donate to their Go Fund Me.
www.gofundme.com/PaulandCherylCalusinski
#JusticeForMelissa
#MelissasArmy
#InZellnerWeTrust