NECC defense fights use of ‘gruesome’ photos
Federal murder defendant Barry J. Cadden’s defense team wants to stop jurors from seeing “extremely gruesome images” of six people killed by fungus-infected steroid injections manufactured by the former New England Compounding Center.
Attorney Bruce Singal filed a motion Saturday asking U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to block this week’s anticipated testimony by Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen of the Washtenaw County Medical Examiner’s Office in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Jentzen is expected to introduce 20 photographs taken of six of eight victims, while testifying about their autopsies for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“Each of these six sets of photographs contain extremely gruesome images,” Singal tells Stearns. “They are irrelevant given the nature of the alleged murders charged and the lack of dispute that each of the individuals died from fungal meningitis contracted from an injection of Methylprednisolone Acetate compounded at NECC. More importantly, though, this type of testimony and evidence is unfairly prejudicial.”
Testimony in the uncommon medical murder trial enters a second month today. Cadden, who ran Framingham-based NECC, faces 25 counts of second-degree murder and a potential life sentence if convicted. Federal parole was eliminated 30 years ago.
The national fungal meningitis outbreak, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention brought to light in October 2012, ultimately claimed 64 lives and left hundreds others sickened by strokes and abscesses.
“The deaths in this case are tragic, as is the suffering of the decedents and others who contracted fungal meningitis,” Singal’s motion reads. “But testimony and photographs of the like the Government seeks to present through Dr. Jentzen have no probative value concerning Mr. Cadden’s culpability on the elements of the charges ... and the only conceivable purpose such testimony and evidence could serve the Government’s case is to unfairly prejudice Mr. Cadden in the eyes of the jury.”