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Pocono News Section
Luzerne County baby death trial
Luzerne County baby death trial - Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at 4:45PM EST
Tuesday, Mar 11, 2008 @04:45pm EST
A Luzerne county mother and father head into day two of their trial, charged in the death of their baby daughter.
Tuesday, we found out why it took so long to charge the parents.
It took doctors more than a year to get medical and police records in the case of Alana Gould.
Once they did, they changed the cause of her death.
Samuel Gould is charged with involuntary manslaughter, and both parents are charged with child endangerment.
Alana Gould was found dead in their Edwardsville home in December 2005.
An initial autopsy showed the cause of death as "undetermined."
Pathologist Dr. Gary Ross, and former deputy coroner Bill Lissman took the stand Tuesday.
They said baby Alana clearly showed signs of severe dehydration, but couldn't use that as a cause.
A pediatrician taking the witness stand also believed dehydration led to the baby's death.
Hippa laws blocked access to baby Alana's medical records, needed to give an official cause.
But in March, 2007, Callahan signed off for those records.
The cause of death was changed in May, 2007.
Callahan and Gould were arrested.
Police say they neglected baby Alana by not feeding her for almost a day, and keeping her in a room with temps reaching nearly 90 degrees.
The defense argues Samuel Gould fed baby Alana 3 times the day before she died.
On the witness stand Tuesday, a pediatrician said that's not possible, because the baby didn't have that much food in her stomach during the autopsy. | |
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