Thanks for correcting; the tweet headline claimed it was same model car and carseat--sorry. Apparently there was no significant difference in interior dimension of the car, though.
For the most part, I found Stoddard's testimony direct, specific, and helpful. Some parts of it, though, I found to be vague to the point of essentially being incomprehensible. This usually happened in those parts where he interrupted himself to restate something better (and didn't)--and, as a result, his statements could be taken to mean whatever one is inclined to believe. Not sure if that was purposeful or not; I mean, why bring up the specific detail that he turned his head if you're not also going to say in which direction?
Anyway...the direction of the turn of head when RH tossed in the lightbulbs is inconclusive to me. IMO, it really can't be known from what we've seen/heard so far. It'll get nailed down better in trial if relevant.
To me, the whole issue of whether his head could tilt in an undersize carseat is a pretty moot point...it is simply incomprehensible that the child could've fallen asleep in the 40 seconds it took between buckling up after breakfast and the left turn needed to go to daycare. I've raised two kids, babysat more. I know the sleep patterns of toddlers, and a half minute (time to left turn) after buckling up in the morning is not a credible amount of time for a healthy, undrugged child to fall asleep--that's their bright, alert time of day. Nor is two minutes, if you want to stretch it to the time it took to travel to his workplace. Remember, too, state testimony said Cooper always arrived to daycare bright, happy, and alert.
(Plus, it's a stretch of credibility that RH would claim both that he didn't notice Cooper and that Cooper was asleep. Can't know your child fell asleep if you didn't see his eyes closed, hear light snoring, or otherwise notice him. That's called CYA in my book.)
