Opinion ID: 1547407
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: William's injuries.

Text: On November 7, 2000, Michael Knaggs, a firefighter and emergency medical technician, responded to Simms' home after receiving a report that a father and child had fallen down a flight of stairs. When Knaggs arrived, Simms told him that William was his son. Simms confirmed that he had fallen down the stairs with William in his arms. Simms took Knaggs upstairs, and Knaggs found the child lying down, holding his arm, and whimpering. Knaggs noted bruises on William's upper arm and a bite mark on his left arm. Knaggs recalled the bite mark because there are some things that stand out in your head. Knaggs took William to Children's Hospital, where the boy was found to have suffered numerous injuries, including three fractures of his left arm, two fractures of his right arm, several bite marks, and bruises all over his head, face and body. Simms indicated, both to Knaggs and to physicians at Children's Hospital, that William might have been bitten by a puppy. The bite marks, however, were human, and the parties ultimately so stipulated at trial. Because William's injuries appeared inconsistent with Simms' explanation of a fall down the stairs, and because they were so numerous, Dr. Maria Ieni, a Children's Hospital pediatrician, reported the matter to the District's Office of Child Protective Services. Following Dr. Ieni's call, Sergeant Morani Hines and Detective Wallace of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) responded to Children's Hospital. After Simms had told them that he was prepared to talk about the incident, Hines and Wallace transported him to a police station where Simms made a videotaped statement which was subsequently introduced into evidence at his trial.