Staff Sergeant Brian P. Johnston, 37, is accused of killing his two-month-old son by shaking the infant, causing severe head trauma. On the night of Lukas's death, Johnston was caring for the infant while his wife, Lauren, slept.
Prosecutors allege that Johnston shook the baby in frustration, which showed a "wanton disregard" for Lukas' life. In addition, Johnston "knew that death or great bodily harm was a probable consequence of his act." They intend to call in medical experts to testify about "shaken baby syndrome," also called abusive head trauma, which the prosecution claims is consistent with Lukas' autopsy.
"Bruises on the forehead and both ears. Bilateral retinal hemorrhaging. Brain trauma," said prosecutor Captain Alexander Hess during his opening argument. "The evidence is going to show you that when baby Lukas sustained these injuries [he] was under the sole care of the accused, Staff. Sgt. Johnston."
Johnston's lawyer, Aaron Meyer, says that Lukas' death was an accident, that Lukas rolled off an ottoman Johnston had placed him on and hit his head. The infant's parents "loved Lukas," according to Meyer, "but when you have a child who's dead, someone needs blame."
During his own opening statement, Meyer called shaken baby syndrome "a myth. They say if you find the triad [retinal hemorrhaging, bruises and bleeding of the brain] then it's shaken baby syndrome. You can't do that anymore. They say because [Brian] was there, that he did it. But he didn't beat his baby to death. The Johnstons loved their baby."
Meyer added that young Luka was in poor health: he was underweight despite being properly fed and had been diagnosed with Down syndrome, a hole in his heart, and eye problems. "When you face these factors, a fall that might not normally be severe can become severe quickly."
Hess rejected Meyer's assertion. "We're going to ask you to rely on common sense, on whether a 15-inch fall off an ottoman can cause all the symptoms we've mentioned," Hess said. "What caused these symptoms was the intentional use of force on the infant. Assault."
During the first day of the court martial, German pediatrician Jennifer Woehlker testified that she examined Lukas between his injury and his death, noting that he had multiple bruises on different parts of his head. She added that Lukas' injuries were not consistent with that of a fall.
"If a child falls, they would have one bruise on one spot, if any," Woehlker said. "I can't see how a child could have two bruises on opposite sides of the head from a fall off an [ottoman]."
However, Meyer pointed out that four months after the 2015 incident, Woehlker had issued a statement to the police claiming that Lukas only had one bruise on his head. Woehlker admitted that she might have misremembered the extent of Lukas' injuries.
