Sundance
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Dr. Vincent DiMaio chief medical examiner for Bexar County:
Q. Okay. Do the bruises on June the 10th
20 of 1996 demonstrate bruising?
21 A. Yes. I mean, if you look at her arms
22 on the 10th, you can see there is just massive soft
23 tissue hemorrhage.
24 This is her right arm. And what it is
25 going from the wrist right up to past the elbow and into
Sandra M. Halsey, CSR, Official Court Reporter
4540
1 the upper arm, so it's going, just sweeping, all the way
2 here on what you would call the plexor surface of the
3 arm, not on the back. And this is extensive hemorrhage.
4 And it appears to be a few days old, because it's
5 turning, it's a good purple color, and it's indicative of
6 severe, blunt trauma.
7 This, you know, everyone bumps into
8 something, an edge or something and gets a little bruise,
9 but just think about, if you have gotten one little
10 bruise, how much force must have been generated, must
11 have been put against this arm to cause the whole arm
12 from the wrist past the elbow, to be bruised.
13 So that is a lot of force. And so
14 there is evidence of really severe injury, and there is
15 like a little, a few little, what appears to be scrapes
16 here, indicating that there was an impact with something.
17 So, you're talking again of severe
18 force. The left arm -- again, this is the right -- the
19 left arm is not too bad. You can see it's going upward
20 to maybe a third to half a way up the forearm on this
21 surface.
22 Q. Doctor, you have noted, that no doubt,
23 that there is evidence in the photograph you have in your
24 left hand or just put down there on it, of a line, an
25 arterial line in her left wrist?
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1 A. Yes, sir.
2 Q. And also, an IV in her, I guess, what
3 is that, the inside of the left elbow?
4 A. Yes, sir. Right. Yes.
5 Q. That's what I call it.
6 A. All right. That is good enough.
7 Q. All right. At least --
8 A. At the cubital fossa, let's use the
9 crease.
10 Q. Is that bruising, in your judgment and
11 experience, is that a result of medical intervention?
12 A. No. The bruising here -- I mean, I --
13 at one time I actually treated live people. I started
14 IV's. That was the day before we had disposable needles,
15 and those needles were dull.
16 I can tell you, I perforated vessels
17 and there was blood, and you did not get this massive
18 hemorrhage into the arms.
19 And I have had IV's started on me,
20 where they have poked through, and you don't get it.
21 This is blunt force injury, and it's deep, it's deep down
22 into the muscle. And so, it was deep down and then
23 gradually the blood percolates up to the surface
24 underneath the skin.
Q. Doctor, directing your attention to
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1 the right arm, the photographs that depict the right arm?
2 A. Yes, sir.
3 Q. And, you will notice two stab wounds
4 in the right forearm?
5 A. Yes, sir.
6 Q. One of some two inches in length and
7 the other, of approximately a half inch in length?
8 A. Yes, sir.
9 Q. Do you have an opinion with respect to
10 whether or not the bruising associated with the right arm
11 was caused by those two stab wounds?
12 A. No. Stab wounds in those locations
13 would not produce that massive bleeding into the arm.
14 And in fact, if you even use a
15 little -- if you think about it, look at where they are.
16 They are on the back, and on the back, there is not much
17 bleeding. Where is all of the bleeding? Let's see,
18 excuse me.
19 There's so many, I have got to juggle
20 these things. It's on the other side. So, these stab
21 wounds have nothing to do with the bleeding in the arm.
22 Q. All right. Doctor, what sort of
23 instrument caused those injuries?
24 A. The two penetrating wounds in the --
25 Q. No. No. That caused the bruising?
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1 A. It would have to be something blunt.
2 By blunt, I mean it doesn't have sharp -- it's not a
3 knife, it's not something with very sharp margins.
4 It could be blows from a fist, because
5 your fist is considered a blunt object. It could be
6 blows from a hard object, people always like baseball
7 bats, things like that.
8 It could be anything that is heavy,
9 that doesn't have any cutting edges and that can be, that
10 could impact hard against the arm, so to cause all this
11 bleeding in this area.
12 Q. Are those injuries consistent and
13 compatible with Darlie Routier having been severely
14 beaten with a blunt, heavy instrument?
15 A. Yes. That is what they are. These
16 are blunt force injuries. Impacting something very hard
17 that produced extensive bleeding into her muscle.
18 Q. Are those injuries consistent and
19 compatible, those shown in the photographs of June the
20 10th, of 1996, are those consistent and compatible, the
21 bruises evidenced in those photographs, with having been
22 received by Darlie Routier during the early morning hours
23 of June the 6th of 1996, some four days or so earlier?
24 A. Yes, sir. The coloration is
25 appropriate, and it is consistent with it.
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1 Q. Okay. Dr. DiMaio, are those injuries
2 consistent or inconsistent with having been
3 self-inflicted, the bruising?
4 A. That is -- I would say it's
5 inconsistent. I mean, how do you get blunt force
6 injuries here? I mean, it's easy to get blunt force
7 injuries here, if you want, you know, I can bang my arm
8 against the edge here. But to here? And, also, again,
9 it's very wide spread.
10 I mean this, this, a lot of force.
11 You -- everybody has bumped into something and you get a
12 bruise, but look at this. It's just really severe
13 hemorrhage up and down the arm. This is tremendous
14 force.
That's what I could put my hands on really quick. I think I have more but will have to look for them.
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