Opinion ID: 4519639
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Deputy-coroner testimony

Text: {¶ 34} The forensic pathologist/deputy coroner, Dr. Scala-Barnett, testified that Brandi suffered visible injuries to her neck and face and that her face was dark purple in color, a condition consistent with asphyxiation. Brandi had an abrasion under her chin, with bruising and a laceration inside her lower lip. She had hemorrhages associated with asphyxiation in her eyeballs and different layers of her neck muscles, and she had numerous tiny, pinpoint hemorrhages all over her face and eyelids. The deputy coroner concluded that the cause of death was strangulation and the manner of death was homicide. {¶ 35} Dr. Scala-Barnett examined the stomach contents as part of the autopsy protocol. She testified that a victim’s stomach contents may prove to be helpful information if it is known when the victim last ate. She explained that digestion ceases once a person is dead. She testified that Brandi had 110 cubic centimeters, just over three ounces, of food material in her stomach, including recognizable meat particles. Dr. Scala-Barnett said that during the digestion of a 10 January Term, 2020 small meal, such as a breakfast sandwich, “gastric contents will start to empty in about two hours.” She concluded that “based on a reasonable degree of scientific certainty,” Brandi died “within one to two hours after she ate her sandwich.” {¶ 36} Two days after the autopsy, a detective brought in a glove collected from Boaston for a side-by-side comparison of a rectangular abrasion under Brandi’s chin. Dr. Scala-Barnett testified that she “test-fit” a buckle on one of the gloves by putting a clear plastic sheet over Brandi’s face and placing the buckle against the abrasion. Dr. Scala-Barnett testified that the abrasion was consistent with the pattern, shape, and roughened material of the buckle and Velcro on one of Boaston’s gloves.