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Harve L. Johnson
The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on 2-year-old Darisabel Baez said Tuesday the brutal and ultimately fatal beating she endured lasted at least 45 minutes.

And from the overall number of external and internal injuries she suffered, the person who administered the beating "would have to inflict an injury every 20 seconds," Dr. Wayne K. Ross testified.

York City Police and the York County District Attorney's Office believe Harve Lamar Johnson beat Darisabel, his girlfriend's daughter, with the cord from a video game controller, a child's hiking boot and his fists on April 6, 2008.

Johnson, 28, is on trial for first-degree murder. The commonwealth is seeking the death penalty. A possible plea arrangement seemed to be in the works Tuesday morning as the start of the second day of testimony was delayed.

Those negotiations did not result in an agreement, and Ari Weitzman, one of Johnson's attorneys, told Judge Michael J. Brillhart, "We're continuing with the trial."

Before testimony began, Johnson asked to be excused from the courtroom before pictures of Darisabel's numerous injuries were shown to the jury.

After some extended discussion and research, Brillhart determined the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had previously ruled a defendant being tried for a capital crime must remain in court.

Patti O'Brien, a forensic examination nurse, photographed Darisabel's injuries at York Hospital, where a trauma team began the child's initial treatment. Darisabel was transferred to Hershey Medical Center where she died the next day.

Johnson put his face down on the defense table and plugged his ears with his thumbs during O'Brien's testimony Tuesday morning. He resumed that position when Ross took the stand Tuesday afternoon.

O'Brien told the jury she documented more than 72 bruises and lacerations on the girl's body. She said the diagram she used to note the injuries - an outline of the human body - did not have enough space to include all the injuries.

While bruises literally covered almost all of the child's body, the most gruesome injuries were the numerous whip-like marks that transected her back and buttocks. At the end of every mark was a small rectangular bruise.

Forensic scientists from the Pennsylvania State Police crime lab told the jury blood was found on Darisabel's clothing, bedding and the sleeveless T-shirt Johnson was wearing April 6, 2008, and that DNA testing established it came from Darisabel.

The child's blood also was found on the plug end of the video game cord and the sole of the hiking boot.

Ross, who found 220 different injuries "head to toe" on Darisabel's body, said the video game controller cord exactly matched the bruises on the girl's back and the sole of the shoe matched the patterned bruise on her left cheek.

Ross said Darisabel also had bruises to the back of her heart and liver, her right lung and adrenal gland and her pancreas. He also found her brain was swollen and surrounded by blood and evidence she had been choked.

Ross said 150 of the girl's injuries occurred within 24 hours of O'Brien's photographs.

NEXT

The county courthouse is closed Wednesday in observation of Veterans Day. Ross will return to the courtroom for cross-examination Thursday.

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