Unchallenged but faulty forensic evidence opens the door for the worst kind of injustice
The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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It was the early summer of 2011, and the nation was riveted by the trial of Casey Anthony, the Orlando woman charged with murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie.
At the same time, in the same courthouse, another young woman was standing trial in the death of an infant. And it’s fair to suspect that the prosecution of Amanda Brumfield might have attracted a great deal more attention had the Anthony case not grabbed the headlines: Brumfield, the estranged daughter of Oscar-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton, was facing charges that included first-degree murder in the death of 1-year-old Olivia Garcia, her goddaughter. The prosecution’s theory: That Olivia was abused so savagely that she ended up with a 3.5 inch fracture at the base of her skull, and that Brumfield (who was babysitting Olivia overnight) let her lapse into unconsciousness and die. Scientific experts for the prosecution curtly rebutted Brumfield’s story: That Olivia fell a short distance after crawling up on the side of the playpen where she was supposed to be sleeping, and that she was playful as Brumfield fed her a banana, painted her nails and put her to sleep.