Background Mar. 23 1998Update Mar. 24 1998Update Mar. 25 1998 Update Mar. 27 1998 Update Mar. 30 1998 Update Mar. 31 1998 Update April 1 1998 Update April 2 1998 Update April 3 1998 Update April 6 1998 Update April 7 1998 Update April 8 1998 Update April 9 1998 Update The Outcome (1998 Trial) The Bail Hearing (1998) The Verdict (1999 Retrial)

According to defense attorneys for former daycare provider Suzanne Johnson, the tragic death of six-month-old Jasmine Miller could be placed on a pre-existing head injury that may have been caused by the baby's parents---particularly the child's mother, who may have resented that her life and promising college career was suddenly changed by her pregnancy and Jasmine's birth.

As the first day of the murder trial of Johnson began, her attorneys portrayed her as a harmless grandmother who would not have, and did not, harm baby Jasmine. Johnson claims the infant accidentally fell out of her highchair. The defense also told jurors that the prosecution's medical experts cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jasmine's fatal injuries were caused by the defendant. In fact, claimed the defense, there is evidence that Jasmine suffered a skull fracture two weeks prior to her sudden death and that someone else, perhaps the baby's parents (Travis and Crystal Miller) may have caused the injury. When Jasmine fell out of the highchair, the injury was aggravated and eventually killed her. And Johnson, the defense claims, was then wrongfully accused of murder.

However, prosecutor Eugenia Eyherabide had a different view of Johnson. Eyherabide characterized Johnson as a liar who told police different stories on what happened to baby Jasmine: first, she told police that Jasmine was choking on food and then changed the story and said the baby fell out of her high chair. Eyherabide's theory is that Johnson became frustrated with Jasmine's constant crying during the month she babysat her and abused and eventually killed the child. The prosecutor also pointed out that Johnson never told the Millers about any difficulty she may have had with handling Jasmine.

The first witness called by the prosecution was Travis Miller, Jasmine's father. Miller told the court how he had met his wife Crystal and how after a long courtship, Crystal's pregnancy was unexpected. But, Miller insisted that the pregnancy was part of their dream of sharing a life together, and when Jasmine was born, it was the happiest day of their lives.

According to this witness, Jasmine was a healthy baby who had no health problems. Crystal breastfed Jasmine, and when she decided to wean the infant so that she could start working again, they decided to look for a daycare center for her. When the Millers interviewed Suzanne Johnson, they liked her and felt comfortable about entrusting their daughter in her care. Miller said that when Johnson persuaded Jasmine to drink baby formula as opposed to breast milk, he felt that Jasmine was in good care. (Up until that point, both Travis and Crystal had tried unsuccessfully to wean their child onto formula. They had tried different formulas and nipples to no avail.)

But, Miller noted, in the weeks following the beginning of Johnson's services, gradually he and Crystal saw changes in Jasmine that concerned them. They noticed that Jasmine was sleeping for longer periods of time and not eating as much. Jasmine was also increasingly irritable. Miller also told the jury about one day when he picked up Jasmine from the daycare center after work and found that her hair was ruffled. Despite, their concerns, Miller said that he and Crystal never suspected that Johnson may have been harming Jasmine. Johnson, he said, never told them about any difficulties she may have had in caring for their child. Nonetheless, Miller said that he and Crystal were mulling their parents' advice and considering taking Jasmine out of Johnson's care in the weeks leading up to the fateful incident.

Miller tearfully told the jury how he found out about the incident that killed Jasmine. He said that he knew something was wrong when the doctors refused to let him and his wife see Jasmine right away. This witness insisted that he never slammed his daughter against a hard surface and that he would have never harmed her.

The defense then tried use Miller to cast suspicion about Jasmine's fatal injuries towards his wife Crystal. During cross-examination by defense attorney David Burgess, Miller said that although the sudden pregnancy put a hold on his wife's promising college career and cost her her track and field scholarship, there was no friction between them. Miller said that his wife never expressed any resentment toward the pregnancy and Jasmine. According to Miller, Jasmine was a part of their dream of spending their lives with each other. On redirect by prosecutors, Miller described the bruise he saw on Jasmine's face after she died as "purplish." He told police about a minor scratch that was healing above Jasmine's eye and said that he thought the wound may have been self-inflicted by Jasmine.

Neuropathologist Jan Leestma, who testified during the trial of British Au Pair Louise Woodward last year, was then called to the stand. Leestma testified that Jasmine's skull fractures could not have been caused by a tumble out of a high chair because the apparent areas of impact are in the back of her head. Leestma, who said the "punch-in" fracture on the left side of the baby's skull had to have occurred after 11:25 am on June 24, 1997. He said brain swelling and respiratory failure would have rendered Jasmine unconscious for two hours before 3:50 p.m., when she was pronounced dead. According to Leestma, the fracture on the right side of Jasmine's skull was a combination of an injury that was 2-3 weeks old and a recent elongation of the initial fracture. He approximated that infant's retinal hemorrhaging was one to two days old. He also said Miller's older subdural hematoma were between two to four weeks old.

During cross-examination, Leestma acknowledged that child neurological pathology and estimating the age of injuries is not an exact science. He insisted, however, that the injuries could not be as old as 35 days. Leestma also agreed with the defense that babies can die from 32 inch falls and said signs of retinal hemorrhaging will occur in patients who have received CPR. (Johnson was administering CPR on Miller when police officers arrived at her house.)

Leestma will return to the stand for further cross-examination tomorrow.

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According to autopsy reports, six-month-old Jasmine Miller died from a blunt force trauma to the head that was the equivalent of a fall from a third or fourth story window.