Stewart's defense reveals holes in state's case, suggesting that HIV-infected baby's mother had Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy

Dec. 3 (Court TV) — Suggesting that the HIV-injected baby's mother suffered from Munchausen's Syndrome By Proxy, Brian Stewart's defense cast doubt on the prosecution's case and continued to suggest that someone else contaminated the child with the AIDS virus.

Stewart is accused of first-degree assault for allegedly injecting his son (who is referred to as "BSJ" in court) with the AIDS virus in February 1992 to avoid paying child support. According to prosecutors, Stewart never wanted the boy and frequently denied being the child's father. Stewart and BSJ's mother, Jennifer, separated in August 1992. When Jennifer confronted Stewart about providing child support, Stewart allegedly predicted BSJ's early death. This prophesy came long before the boy had been diagnosed with the fatal disease in 1996.

Detective Kevin Wilson, the chief investigator on the case, testified that he suspected Stewart's alleged involvement in the crime when he learned that the defendant was a phlebotomist (one who draws blood for tests) at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. According to Wilson, in various interviews Barnes employees said that Stewart had access to blood supplies at the hospital.

Wilson based his investigation on Jennifer's account of the events of February 6, 1992, the day she alleges Stewart injected BSJ with HIV-tainted blood. BSJ was hospitalized with a respiratory ailment, and Stewart made an unannounced visit. Jennifer said Stewart was left alone with the baby for approximately 20 minutes, and when she returned, BSJ was crying hysterically for seemingly no reason. After that incident, BSJ's health took a sudden turn for the worse and he suffered various serious illnesses in subsequent years.

Wilson testified that Elizabeth Stolte, a registered nurse who worked with Stewart at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, told him that Stewart had taken blood and blood supplies home and had shown her parts of the hospital where he was not supposed to have access. In addition, Wilson told jurors that another ex-girlfriend of Stewart, Amy Braun, said that Stewart told her that BSJ was infected with the AIDS virus on July 4th weekend 1996 — two weeks before authorities told him about his son's illness.

During his investigation, Wilson found out that Jennifer's sister (BSJ's aunt) lived with her during BSJ's infancy and was an intravenous drug user. He learned that BSJ was exposed to other drug users and a convicted child molester in the household. However, Wilson testified, he concluded that BSJ did not get AIDS from a contaminated needle because the various drug users in Jennifer's household tested HIV-negative. Wilson also said that BSJ underwent a test on June 3, 1996 that concluded that he was not sexually abused.

However, during cross-examination, defense attorney Joseph Murphy pointed out that Stewart had not worked at Barnes in the three days prior to his visit with BSJ on February 6, 1992 and did not have access to blood supplies. Referring to BSJ's numerous hospital trips before February 1992 and Jennifer's hospitalization for stress later that year, Murphy asked Wilson if he had considered whether Jennifer suffered from Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, a mental illness in which parents purposely make their children sick to gain attention. Wilson said he had considered the theory but dismissed it because Jennifer did not have access to HIV-contaminated blood. But, Murphy noted, Jennifer did have access to blood in her job at another hospital.

Murphy focused on Wilson's failure to keep his notes after he wrote his report. Wilson could not remember the exact number of witnesses he interviewed or when he became aware of the drug users in Jennifer's household. Murphy asked Wilson whether he once said that this case was "riddled with reasonable doubt" Wilson did not remember making that statement. During cross-examination Wilson admitted that none of the Barnes-Jewish hospital employees he interviewed ever saw Stewart take HIV-contaminated blood outside the hospital.

The defense also attempted to diffuse the cryptic nature of Stewart's Aug. 1992 statements about BSJ. Murphy suggested that Stewart may have said this to Jennifer because BSJ had been so sickly and repeatedly hospitalized during his infancy.

Dr. Linda Steele-Greene, a pediatrician who has treated BSJ, said that the boy's significant weight loss in April 1996 worried her, and she tested him for cystic fibrosis. When BSJ tested negative for that disease, Dr. Steele recommended that BSJ be tested for AIDS. When asked about BSJ's various hospitalizations for foot and head injuries during his infancy, the doctor testified that she found nothing unusual about the incidents and did not suspect abuse. Dr. Greene said that Jennifer and her family told her several times about Stewart's prediction that BSJ would not live past age five.

"I found that statement spooky," Steele-Greene said. "I thought, 'That's a weird thing for a parent to say.'"

Blood bank expert Dr. Michael Graham testified about bodily reactions to incompatible blood transfusions. Dr. Graham said that reactions range from vomiting to nausea to even death. Another sign of an incompatible blood transfusion is a rapid rise in temperature within hours. According to the doctor, there was a slim chance that tests would have detected HIV in BSJ's blood shortly after the alleged injection on February 6, 1992. BSJ's blood was not tested on the day in question.

When asked why BSJ was not tested for a incompatible blood transfusion, Dr. Graham testified that since the baby was not supposed to get a blood transfusion and because there were no transfusion supplies around him, no one at the hospital suspected that he had been injected.

Public health specialists Debbie Schindler and Bill Huber supported the state's claim that BSJ's Aunt Veronica and her boyfriend tested negative for the AIDS virus. Huber said that Jennifer also tested HIV-negative, and further tests proved that AIDS was not transferred to BSJ prenatally. Records showed that during infancy, BSJ did not undergo major surgery and was never vulnerable to HIV-contaminated blood during his multiple hospitalizations.

—Bryan Robinson

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