Doctor testifies dog could not have caused toddler’s fatal injury
Brian Matthews on trial for manslaughter in the death of grandson
An expert witness said there was no way a dog could have caused the catastrophic brain injury that led to the death of 13-month-old Kody Smart.
Dr. Nura Hawisa testified she examined Kody at McMaster Children’s Hospital the day after the toddler was transferred there by air ambulance from Niagara.
Brian Matthews, 37, of Thorold is on trial for manslaughter in Kody’s death. He is Kody’s grandfather.
Hawisa was the pediatrician on call that day at McMaster and is also a doctor with the Child Advocacy and Assessment Program. It is a program that specializes in assessing children for signs of physical abuse.
She spent the entire day on the stand.
Crown attorney Cheryl Gzik and defence attorney Kimberley Van der lee began the morning by arguing over whether her credentials would allow her to offer expert testimony.
Hawisa was dismissive of the idea, put to her under cross-examination by Vanderlee, that a collision with a “well-muscled” 36-kilogram dog could cause the kind of brain damage that led to Kody’s death.
“In order to have this kind of massive impact, it would have also caused a fractured skull or a massive brain bleed,” said Hawisa, who was appearing for the Crown. “There was no evidence of that kind of impact in any of the examinations or MRIs.”
On 911 tapes played earlier in the trial, Matthews could be heard telling a dispatcher the family dog had knocked over Kody in the living room. It’s an explanation Matthews maintained ever since.
Matthews was arrested and charged by Niagara Regional Police in November 2015 following a lengthy investigation into Kody’s death.
Emergency crews were called to a home on Thorold Townline Road on July 25, 2015, in response to a 911 call of a child in medical distress.
Paramedics took the Kody to St. Catharines hospital. He was then transferred to McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton by air ambulance where he died the following day.
Matthews told the dispatcher Kody appeared uninjured after being hit by the dog, which jumped over a loveseat. However, a short time later, Kody had a seizure and became limp and unresponsive.
Kody died from what Hawisa termed a fatal cerebral edema, or swelling of the brain. The swelling was caused by fluid leaking from damaged brain cells. The swelling damaged his brain and induced a cascade of other problems.
Hawisa said Kody’s brain swelled to such an extent that it bulged out of the bottom of his skull and put pressure on his brain stem, which controlled his main body functions such as breathing. The trial has heard that no surgical intervention would have made a difference.
Vanderlee wondered if Hawisa’s position with the Child Advocacy and Assessment Program would interfere with her objectivity in assessing Kody’s injuries — something Hawisa denied.
The non-jury trial in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines before Judge Joseph Nadel continues today. It is expected to last two weeks.