Prosecution rests in baby-tossing trial

TAMPA After presenting DNA evidence showing the dead infants blood on the defendants clothes, the prosecution in the Richard McTear Jr. murder trial rested its case Monday.

The defense is expected to present its evidence Tuesday, and then both sides will deliver summations. If McTear is convicted of the first-degree murder of infant Emanuel Wesley Murray Jr., a second trial will be conducted in front of the same jury to determine whether he should receive a death sentence.

The prosecution says McTear attacked the babys mother, Jasmine Bedwell, in a jealous rage and then took the infant and threw him out of his car on Interstate 275.

The defense has attacked the prosecutions case as resting entirely on the credibility of Bedwell, described by the defense as a liar who made up stories about other people taking her baby.

The evidence presented Monday could be seen as a response to that scientific information analyzed by experts.

Among that evidence was testimony from Carol Greenwell, a DNA analyst from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who said she found the babys DNA in a blood smear found on the console of a car owned by McTears cousin. The prosecution asserts that McTear was driving the car, a Chevrolet Malibu, that night.

Greenwell also said she found Bedwells DNA in scrapings taken from McTears fingernails after his arrest and in possible blood stains on the shorts he was wearing. The babys DNA was also found in possible blood stains on the shorts, Greenwell testified.

The prosecution also presented testimony from a dental expert, Barry Lipton, who testified that bite marks found all over Bedwells body were likely from McTear. Bite marks were found on her cheek, her neck, her back and arms, according to testimony.

The defense challenges Liptons expertise and his ability to match McTears mouth to the bite marks. Although Lipton conceded the science has changed since 2009 and that skin is not a good medium for duplicating a pattern, the dental expert said said McTear has unusal teeth and the bite marks were unusually detailed.

Less than 2 percent of the population has teeth shaped like some of McTears, Lipton said. Its possible that someone else in the world could have left a similar mark, but not likely, he testified. Lipton said he didnt compare the bite marks to the teeth from other possible suspects.

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Prosecution rests in baby-tossing trial