Thursday, after only a few hours of deliberation a jury in Iowa City (IA) acquitted Brian Dykstra of all charges in the death of his Russian adopted son
The 21-month old was admitted to the hospital on August 2005, with severe head trauma and died the next day after being taken off of life support. His injuries were reported consistent with shaken baby syndrome. Dykstra claimed that three days earlier the boy had fallen down steps head first on to a concrete floor, but had not required hospital treatment.. Doctors and police believed that while Isaac did fall a few days earlier, the injuries that caused his death happened in a separate incident the day before he died. After a prolonged police investigation, in August 2008, Dykstra was charged with 2nd degree murder. His former wife, Lisa DeWaard,. (divorce final August 1, 2011), now an assistant professor of Spanish at Stetson University, wasn't home at the time and wasn't charged. Brian Dykstra, if found guilty, could have been sentenced to as much as 50 yeas in prison.
The trial opened last week with strong testimony from prosecution EMTs, hospital personnel and police witnesses who said that Ilya suffered severe head trauma, including a fractured skull, brain swelling and bruising that could not have occurred from a tumble down two steps.ad Dykstra claimed.
The defense argued that Dyskra was an "eager, loving father" who would never have harmed the toddler. Based on news reports, which is my only available reference, it appears the Dykstra's defense was based on matters of "good character."
The media run-up to the trial indicated that 39 witnesses--including 11 doctors would be called. News reports, however, focused on prosecution arguments and outside of coverage of Brian Dyskra and Lisa DeWaard's testimony generally either gave short shrift to defense witnesses--or there weren't many.
Below are excerpts from news reports of the trial. I have put them in order of subject matter. I've tried to give a wide range of coverage and take full responsibility if I missed anything.
Several medical officials testified Thursday in the
Brian Dykstra second-degree murder trial that the death of his
20-month-old adopted child was due to "non-accidental trauma."...Catscan photos were shown and explained to the
jury by UI radiology Professor Michael D'Alessandro. D'Alessandro was
one doctor who said he believed non-accidental trauma was the cause of
the injuries, adding it would take "massive force" to cause the injuries
to the child's brain he observed.
Iowa City Gazette, October 26, 2011
Nurse says she was concerned by father's statements
The next testimony gets interesting. According to Joyce Osborn, a now
retired nurse who in August 2005 was staffing Mercy on Call, a free
medical hotline, testified that Brian Dykstra called after Isaac's fall
down the stairs. While the baby's injuries did not seem critical and
would normally be treated at home, Osborn said she decided to override
the routine recommendation when Dykstra showed concern that Isaac would
have a visible bruise since the family was expecting a visit from their
adoption social worker in a few days:
He seemed concerned that his son would
have a (visible) bruise because a social worker was coming in a few
days,” Osborn said, adding that she “thought that the call may have
needed a doctor’s input.”
An on-call doctor was signaled to call Dykstra about the incident.
The
next day, according to testimony, registered nurse Sue Kuntz conducted a
follow-up call with the family. After talking with Lisa Dykstra, Kuntz
testified, she did not feel there was a reason to be concerned about
Isaac’s well-being.
Former adoption specialist Hilary Condon, who
helped the Dykstras adopt the boy from Russia, also testified that she
found no reason to be concerned for his safety when she visited the
family at their home Aug. 12.
Daily Iowan, November 2, 2011
Dykstra has trouble recalling the day of his son's hospitalization
After the defense rested, the state had a rebuttal,
which included a testimony from Wayne State University pediatric
radiologist Wilbur Smith, who said he specializes in abusive head
injuries in children.
Smith, who said he has investigated for the FBI
and U.S. Army, said the injuries he observed in the child occurred
"somewhere within an hour of his collapsing."
"[The child] may have had a short fall, but the
injuries that he suffered on the 13th were from a different trauma — a
whole unique different set of trauma," Smith said.
Spies focused his cross-examination on
discrepancies between Smith's findings and what other investigative
officials found in regard to the injuries to the brain.
He asked Smith why he could not tell him the size
of an injury inside the child's brain called a "subdural hematoma" and
whether the other doctors' findings were inaccurate.
"I don't know how they could have been," Smith said. "I don't think anybody can tell you how large it was."
Spies then objected to a slide show intended to be
shown by state witness Nasreen Syed, a UI clinical associate
professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences.
Sixth District Judge Patrick Grady believed the
complete slide show would be inappropriate and instead allowed a only a
few photographs to be shown.
The photographs showed the child's eyes, which,
Syed said, indicated "retinal hemorrhages," and they were "most likely a
result of inflicted injury."
 |
| Dr. Janice Ophoven |
MEDICAL TESTIMONY - DEFENSE
Eastern Iowa News Now, October 31, 2011
But Janice Ophoven, a pediatric forensic pathologist out of
Minnesota, said Dykstra’s explanation that his son fell down two stairs
three days before he was rushed to the hospital on Aug. 13, 2005 is
plausible.
“Even though (Isaac) could walk and eat and sleep, could he do that
with all the medical problems he was having?” Dykstra’s defense attorney
Leon Spies asked Ophoven.
“Yes,” she said, adding that it’s “not possible to say (Isaac) died of inflicted injuries.”
Assistant Johnson County District Attorney Anne Lahey questioned
Ophoven’s credibility, asking if she exaggerated the number of child
autopsies she performed and asking if she previously wrote in
publications signs of child abuse.
“You wrote that adults responsible will say they have no idea how the
injuries were sustained,” Lahey said. “You also wrote that an injury
might be blamed on actions of a sibling or that he fell from an
innocuous height like a bed or couch.”
AUTOPSY PHOTOS DENIED
The The Daily Iowan, October 27, 2011
Dykstra Trial: trial judge rules autopsy photos will not be shown
Photos from the autopsy of a child who died while
under the care of a former Iowa City man will not be shown in court
after a 6th District judge's ruling Wednesday.
Brian Dykstra, 35, who is charged with the
second-degree murder of his adopted son, objected to having pictures of
the child's autopsy shown in court. Defense attorney Leon Spies said a
doctor testified at a previous hearing that "the autopsy photographs are
not relevant to the determination of the injuries" and are "more
prejudicial than appropriate."
 |
| Brian Dykstra and Leon Spies |
BRIAN DYKSTRA TESTIMONY - DEFENSE
Eastern Iowa News Now, October 28, 2011
Brian Dykstra talks about events preceding his toddler son's death in Iowa City murder trial
On Aug. 13 – the day 21-month-old Isaac Dykstra was rushed to the
hospital with severe head injuries – Brian Dykstra said his son awoke
around the same time he always does but was yawning all morning
“You never think of these things until now,” Dykstra, now 35, told an
Iowa City police investigator in a video taped interview taken on Aug.
13, 2005, and played this morning for the 14 jurors hearing his
second-degree murder trial in Johnson County.
Dykstra told the detective that Isaac had fallen down two steps three
days earlier and hit his head. He said the child suffered a bruise on
his cheek and on his ear and a bump on his head that turned “mushy” over
the next few days.
He said Isaac was a bit fussier after the fall, but he was mostly
himself, according to the videotaped interview. On the morning of Aug.
13, Dykstra told the investigator that his son was just sitting in the
hallway, feeling his head and watching TV.
“Normally he was all playing, and he was just sitting there,” Dykstra said. “He just wasn’t his normal self.”
Dykstra said later that day he was in the kitchen washing dishes when
he heard Isaac cry, according to the videotaped interview. Dykstra said
he found his son lying on the ground, crying “like he bumped his head
again” and holding his head.
Dykstra said Isaac appeared to be struggling to breathe, and at one
point he “did a little bit of CPR,” according to the interview. When
Dykstra tried to look at his son’s bruise, according to the interview,
Isaac pushed him away.
Because the child was laboring to breathe, Dykstra said he called 911 but hung up.
“He seemed to be coming out of it,” Dykstra said.
When a 911 operator called back, Dykstra said someone should probable come help.
“I thought, you know what, I don’t trust myself,” he said in the interview. “I want someone here.”
Isaac was pronounced brain dead on Aug. 14 after suffering a
hematoma, hemorrhaging, retinal bleeding and brain swelling.
Investigators immediately considered the death suspicious, but they
didn’t arrest Dykstra until three years later in August 2008.
Cedar Rapids Gazette,November 1, 2011
UPDATE: Testimony ends in Iowa City murder trial: Closing arguments set for Wednesday
We fell in love with him,” Dykstra today told the 14 jurors who are
hearing his second-degree murder trial in a Johnson County courtroom.
“You couldn’t ask for a better fit for us.”...
...Dykstra this morning told the jurors how much he adored his son. When
asked if he “beat up” his child, Dykstra said, “Absolutely not.”
Dykstra described for the jurors a fall on Aug. 10 that he said led
to the injuries that took his son’s life a few days later. Authorities
and doctors have testified that Isaac had to have suffered devastating
and fatal injuries on Aug. 13 – the day his dad called 911 and Isaac was
rushed to the hospital.
But Dykstra described a slow change in behavior and small signs over a
few days that led to Isaac’s passing out in the family’s Iowa City
living room on Aug. 13.
“Looking back, I really wish we would have taken him to the hospital” on Aug. 10 after his fall, Dykstra said.
“To the normal average person, he looked fine,” he said. “But,
looking back, there was a lot more going on there than just a fall.”
Dykstra described a knot that his son got on his head after the Aug.
10 fall and said it turned soft over the next few days. He said Isaac
was groggy, uninterested in walking and irritable.
But, upon cross-examination, Dykstra said he can remember few details
about Aug. 13 –when he called 911 and hung up and told an operator who
called back that his son was struggling to breathe.
Dykstra said he doesn’t remember refusing to answer responders’
questions about what happened that morning that led to his son’s passing
out with severe head injuries. He said he doesn’t remember what he told
doctors about administering CPR or being preoccupied with the dogs when
paramedics were at his house.
Daily Iowan, November 2, 2011
Dykstra has trouble recalling the day of his son's hospitalization
"I went in there, and he was holding his head,"
Dykstra said. "I picked him up and was trying to comfort him, and that's
when I remember the eyes rolling back and he just passed out."
Assistant County Attorney Beth Beglin asked
whether he remembered what occurred when the first responders to his 911
call arrived at his house.
"I don't remember anything," Dykstra said. "I
remember basically [my son] passed out in my arms and then being driven
to the hospital in the back of a police car."
He focused the rest of his testimony on his relationship with his former wife Lisa DeWaard — who defended him Monday in her testimony — and the child they adopted from Russia.
Dykstra, a self-described "small-town country
boy," said the time he and DeWaard had with their child was the happiest
part of their relationship.
"It was like he was the glue to our relationship … everything we did, we did together," he said.
The victim's father described how they played with
cars and balls, and he said they maintained their "connection" by looks
and touch rather than speaking, because the child spoke Russian.
While describing himself, he mentioned he played a
number of sports. When defense attorney Leon Spies asked whether he was
any good, he smiled and said, "I could play," which caused some
laughter his family.
"I always wanted to be the dad," he said. "To have
a kid and be able to do those things and to be that type of a role
model that my dad was for me."
 |
| Lisa Dewaard |
LISA DEWAARD (DYKSTRA) TESTIMONY - DEFENSE
Easter Iowa News Now, October 31 201
Lisa DeWaard, who told the 14 jurors today that her marriage ended
with Dyktra on Aug. 1 of this year, talked in depth about their adoption
process and said her husband was excited to adopt and immediately
bonded with Isaac.
The couple met their child twice in the Russian orphanage where he
lived before being adopted, and DeWaard testified that she had initial
concerns about the fact that Isaac’s birth mother was HIV-positive, even
though he had tested negative numerous times.
After the couple’s first meeting with the child, adoption officials
wanted to know whether they were still interested, DeWaard said.
“I looked at Brian and said, ‘I’m a little nervous,’” she said. “He looked at me and said, ‘This is my son.’”
When the couple returned to the orphanage a second time to complete
the adoption, DeWaard said her husband “kept hogging the baby.”
“It was fun to see Brian playing with him,” she testifying,
explaining that he was teaching Isaac how to make car sounds and how to
roll a ball. “They were probably the best days of my life
Eastern Iowa News Now, October 31, 2011
Mother said her husband and son "had a very close relationship"
After Isaac Dykstra fell down two stairs on Aug. 10, DeWaard said her
son was sleepier. He also had a large bump on his head, he was fussier,
and he didn’t play or try to walk as much as he usually did, DeWaard
told the 14 jurors hearing her ex-husband’s case in Johnson County
District Court.
“Looking back, I wish we would have taken him into Mercy immediately,” she said.
The couple, who lived in Iowa City at the time, didn’t take Isaac to
the hospital after he fell Aug. 10. But they called the nurse, who told
them that if he hadn’t vomited, he hadn’t suffered a head injury.
On Aug. 13, while DeWaard was away at a church function, Dykstra
called 911 and hung up. When an operator called back, Dykstra asked that
paramedics come because his son was struggling to breathe.
When medical personnel arrived, they found Isaac with severe head
injuries, and rushed him to the University of Iowa Hospitals and
Clinics, where he was treated for brain swelling, hemorrhaging and
retinal bleeding....
...DeWaard initially told doctors and authorities that Isaac was his
normal self in the days after the fall on Aug. 10. But, on the stand
Monday, DeWaard said he developed bruising on his face, had more bowel
movements than normal, wanted to be held more and seemed lethargic.
“I thought he was coming down with Brian’s cold,” she said.
Dykstra’s defense attorney Leon Spies showed jurors pictures of Isaac
in the days that preceded his death. One showed him sitting on his
father’s lap with visible bruises on his ears. DeWaard said Isaac often
pinched his own ears, which she thought was the result of stress from
the adoption.
Spies also showed a photo of Isaac eating breakfast on the day before
he was rushed to the hospital – two days after the short fall. The
photo, which showed visible bruising around Isaac’s eyes, caused DeWaard
to choke up.
“That was the last picture taken of him,” she said. “And it was unusual because he’s not smiling, and he was always smiling.”
DeWaard and her mother testified that Dykstra was a loving and gentle father, who was proud and wanted to show off his son.
“(Isaac) loved Brian,” DeWaard testified. “Isaac would sit with him
and watch TV. Isaac wanted to be in the dugout with daddy. … They had a
very close relationship.”
On the day Isaac was rushed to the hospital, DeWaard said Dykstra called her crying.
“I went into the emergency room, and that’s when I saw Brian,”
DeWaard said. “He was a mess. He had been crying. The second I saw him,
he gave me this big hug and broke down crying.”
Doctors and authorities previously testified that Dykstra appeared
unemotional when they arrived at the house and rushed the child to the
hospital. They also testified that the injuries that took Isaac’s life
had to have occurred on the day he was hospitalized.
CHARACTER TESTIMONY - DEFENSE
Iowa City Gazette, October 26, 2011
Nurse says she was concerned by father's statements
Close friend Luke Haverhals also took the stand, stating that Isaac
was a “happy kid” who showed no obvious signs of serious injury when he
saw him that Friday evening.
Haverhals said that when he went to the hospital the following day,
Dykstra’s demeanor, described as being “un-distressed” by a first
responder during Tuesday’s testimony, was one of shock and grief.
“Sometimes [Brian] was staring off and sometimes he was sobbing,” he said.
Eastern Iowa News Now, October 31, 2011
Mother said her husband and son "had a very close relationship"
Elizabeth Field, who said she knew the Dykstra’s through church,
testified Monday that the atmosphere in the hospital when she arrived
Aug. 13 was “disturbing.”
“The atmosphere was disturbing in the sense that they were accusing
Brian of purposeful injury on this child,” she said. “It was troubling
to see the staff’s demeanor
The Daily Iowan, November 4, 2011
Dyksata found not guilty in son's death
Spies said he felt the testimonies of Dykstra's
friends and neighbors made the difference in the case, calling it a
"nightmare compounded" that "prolonged the agony of [the child's]
death."
"I think it was important for the jurors to hear from the many men and women who knew Brian," Spies said. "I was moved by it."...
Several doctors and other medical officials
testified they believed the injuries they observed on the child were
results of "inflicted injury."
First responders to the 911 call described Dykstra's demeanor at his Iowa City home as unnaturally "calm."
Dykstra's neighbors and church friends spoke positively about his character.
Next-door-neighbor Carey Norton said in her
testimony on Monday Dykstra was "very caring" and "very loving," adding
she would trust him to watch her own children.
"Brian can be very caring and very gentle, but [he's] definitely someone who's more reserved verbally," Norton said.
Dykstra's character was also the main focus of Spies' closing argument Wednesday.
"Men and women, Brian Dykstra has been described
consistently as a caring, loving dad," Spies said. "What you see about
Brian is what you get; he is pretty plainspoken and quiet. He is not the
killer."
 |
| Defense Attorney Leon Spies |
DEFENSE ASKS FOR DISMISSAL
Immediately after the prosecution rested, defense attorney Leon Spies as the court to dismiss all charges.
Cedar Rapids Gazette, October 30, 2011
Judge refuses to dismiss murder charges in Dykstra trial
“We have nothing here but mystery,”
defense attorney Leon Spies told Judge Patrick Grady. “It cannot be said
that the fatal injuries were inflicted out of malice, as opposed to by
accident.”
Assistant District Attorney Anne Lahey disagreed and
said that numerous doctors testified that Isaac Dykstra had to have
suffered the injuries that took his life on Aug. 13, 2005 – the day his
dad called 911 and he was rushed to the hospital....
...“There
were devastating internal injuries in Isaac’s head caused by a
malicious act such as shaking, slamming or a combination of both,” Lahey
said.
Grady declined to make an immediate ruling in the case,
finding that there is evidence that Dykstra killed his son “with malice
and forethought” due to the nature of his injuries.
“A rational
juror could conclude that the injuries occurred while he was in the sole
care of the defendant,” Grady said. “And the injuries show malice, and
that there was a fixed purpose to do harm.”
 |
| Asst. County Prosecutor Anne Lahey |
CLOSING ARGUMENTS - BOTH
Cedar Rapids Gazette, November 2, 2011
Defense attorney calls Iowa City toddler's death a "tragedy, an accident"Assistant Johnson County
Attorney Anne
Lahey told jurors hearing the second-degree murder trial of Brian
Dykstra during closing arguments today that the couple told a half dozen
people in the days preceding Isaac’s death on Aug. 14, 2005, that Isaac
was doing fine despite a short fall on Aug. 10.
“Lisa had no
concerns about Isaac’s health” on the morning after he fell down two
stairs, Lahey said. A friend who came to the house on Aug. 12 – the day
before Isaac was rushed to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics
with severe head injuries – looked the toddler over and saw just a small
bruise on Isaac’s cheek, Lahey said....
...During closing arguments this morning,
Dykstra’s defense attorney, Leon Spies, told jurors that the “best
scientific minds,” including the state medical examiner, have concluded
that it’s “impossible to say that Brian Dykstra is a murder.”
“There
is nothing in this case that is inconsistent with this tragedy being
exactly what it is,” Spies said. “A tragedy. An accident.”...
...During closing arguments, Lahey reminded
jurors about earlier bruising that doctors noticed on Isaac after the
Dykstras adopted him from Russia in May 2005. And Lahey pointed out
inconsistencies in Dykstra’s stories about what happened on Aug. 13
around the time he called 911.
“We don’t know how many times he slammed his head down,” Lahey said. “We don’t know how many times he shook him.”
But
Spies talked to jurors about the quality of Dykstra’s character – about
his dream to be a dad and the witnesses who testified to him being a
loving father.
Spies stressed that several doctors and experts
said toddlers can die from injuries suffered in short falls that develop
over several days.
“It’s not fair to judge Brian on the
statistics that death from a stairway fall is rare,” Spies said. “We
don’t take comfort in the mysteries of this case.”
But, Spies said, if there are doubts, “they have to be resolved in Brian’s favor.”
Cedar Rapids Gazette, November 3, 2011
Deliberations resume in Iowa City murder trial
Dykstra’s defense attorney presented
medical experts who said that, although rare, children have been known
to die from short falls. The defense also hinted that Isaac, who was
adopted just a few months earlier from an orphanage in Russia, might
have had unknown medical issues that were not fully disclosed.
During
closing arguments in Dystra’s trial, Assistant Johnson County Attorney
Anne Lahey told jurors that prosecutors didn’t have to prove how Dykstra
killed his son – whether he slammed him or shook him – they had to
prove only that he inflicted the fatal injuries, and Lahey reminded
jurors that several University of Iowa doctors said the severe injuries
only could have occurred shortly before Isaac was hospitalized, when he
was in the sole care of his father.
But Dykstra’s defense attorney
told jurors that even the Iowa Medical Examiner couldn’t say for sure
whether Isaac’s death was a murder or accident. And, he said, any doubts
had to be resolved in his client’s favor.
“The evidence was clear
that Brian was not the kind of man or father who would kill a child
they worked so hard to have in their family,” Spies said after the
verdict Thursday. “It was a nightmare compounded too long.”
 |
| Getting the verdict |
THE VERDICT
Cedar Rapids Gazette, November 3, 2011
Iowa City murder suspect found not guiltyA 12-member jury has found Brian Dykstra not guilty of killing his 21-month-old son in 2005...After
hearing the verdict, Dykstra started weeping and buried his face in the
shoulder of his attorney Leon Spies. Many of his supporters also
started sobbing when the verdict was read, including his former wife,
Lisa DeWaard
“This means we can finally grieve our son,” a
teary-eyed Lisa DeWaard said after hearing the not guilty verdict in
her ex-husband’s trial. “It’s been six very very long years.”
******
I've posted more here than I planned to, so I'll keep my comments short.
I followed this trial through press reports each day, which naturally limits our knowledge of the trial. I'm really surprised, though, at the verdict, which I thought, until today, was a slam dunk for the state..After the prolonged investigation, large numbers of witnesses questioned over that time, and numerous trial postponements, I thought the state would have had a strong enough case to convict.. In fact, I believe the state made its case. The physical evidence presented by the many prosecution witnesses-(police, EMT, and medical) is overwhelming and based in science not neighborly anecdote.
It was clear though that "character" was the only real chance Brian Dykstra had.
I wrote most of this entry in the early hours of Friday and made the supposition then that "character" had been the defense. Now, we see Leon Spies quoted in the
Daily Iowan, admitting the strategy. Certainly character counts and should, but I simply can't comprehend how secondhand observations trump scientific evidence and expert testimony--especially since the Dykstra camp couldn't come up with genuine counter arguments. I wish they had. I'd feel better about the verdict.
Without actually attending the trial every day, it is difficult to deconstruct testimony and reporting. We, too are only observers. Two pieces of testimony, though, described in the press, jumped out at me: the conflicting testimony between Brian Dykstra regarding Isaac's appearance the week of his death:
“To the normal average person, he looked fine,” he said. “But,
looking back, there was a lot more going on there than just a fall.”
and Lisa DeWaard:
Dykstra’s defense attorney Leon Spies showed jurors pictures of Isaac
in the days that preceded his death. One showed him sitting on his
father’s lap with visible bruises on his ears. DeWaard said Isaac often
pinched his own ears, which she thought was the result of stress from
the adoption.
Spies also showed a photo of Isaac eating breakfast on the day before
he was rushed to the hospital – two days after the short fall. The
photo, which showed visible bruising around Isaac’s eyes, caused DeWaard
to choke up.
“That was the last picture taken of him,” she said. “And it was unusual because he’s not smiling, and he was always smiling.”
Something's not right in Iowa City.
Only Brian Dykstra knows what happened, and too many questions
will never be answered.
So far there are no comments from the jury, and the Russian government has not made a statement. If there are additions, I'll put them up later.
RIP ILYA/ISAAC
November 18, 2003, Sosnovoborsk - August 14, 2005, Iowa City Iowa
Nikto ne zabyt - Nichto ne zabyto
“The Americans expressed regret over
their inability to organize the timely information of the Russian
authorities about the death of our little citizen (all the children,
adopted in Russia, continue to be Russian citizens until they come
of age), or the proper protection of the rights of the children, who
fall victim to the offences,”
