MACKENZIE TRASK - 6 Months (2006) - Norman (S of OK City) OK

Norman OK ---- A state medical examiner testified in Cleveland
County District Court on Friday that a baby who died after being
abused had multiple bruises, some of them older than others, indicating
she had been hurt on more than one occasion.
Dr.
Chai Choi said most of the bruises on 6-month-old Mackenzie
Trask were no more than eight to 12 hours old. Some injuries,
however, showed signs of healing, which indicated they were at least 48
hours old, she said. Choi was testifying in a first-degree murder trial for the child’s
mother, Heather
Trask, 25, who is accused of permitting her daughter to be injured.
The baby’s father, Jonathan
Trask, was convicted of first-degree murder in the death in 2008. Prosecutors
Jennifer Austin and Susan
Caswell contend the mother knew her daughter was being abused and
knew she was injured on April 5, 2006, when she left the child with her
father while she went to work about 10 p.m. The father called 911 at 3
a.m. April 6 to report the baby was not breathing. Choi testified that the baby died of acute head injuries that could have
happened 8 to 12 hours before she died. The medical examiner said the baby suffered a skull fracture, swelling
of the brain and had the beginning stages of pneumonia brought about by
being in a coma. The child had bruises on her forehead, chin, abdomen and buttocks, and
injuries to her fingers, and inside her mouth at the base of the tongue,
the doctor testified. Choi said the tongue injury showed signs of healing. It appeared to be a
tear that was consistent with a star-shaped pacifier being shoved into
her mouth, she said. "I can’t say for sure that’s what caused it, but it is consistent with
it,” Choi said. Defense attorney Tracy
Schumacher said the baby had a cleft palate, which Choi failed to
notice when she performed an autopsy. "Nowhere in her report does she mention a cleft palate. I think that’s
the result of sloppy work,” Schumacher said. Choi said she didn’t see a cleft palate, although she later learned that
the baby had one. "I think it was little, very minor,” she said. Schumacher and defense attorney Steve
Stice contend Choi’s findings are unreliable and that her timeline
of when injuries occurred is not accurate. The trial was recessed for the weekend but will continue Monday before District
Judge Tom Lucas.

Heather Trask Found Not Guilty
Woman Had Been Accused Of Letting Husband Kill Infant Daughter
POSTED: 5:43 pm CDT May 6, 2010

NOBLE, Okla. -- Jurors said Thursday night that a Noble mother on trial for first-degree murder in the death of her 6-month-old daughter is not guilty.
Prosecutors had said Heather Trask allowed her husband to abuse and ultimately kill her daughter, Mackenzie. Jonathon Trask is serving a life sentence after his murder conviction in December.

Trask's attorney argued that Jonathan Trask is solely responsible for the girl's death.

Jurors got the case at about noon on Thursday and returned with a verdict at 6 p.m.

Heather Trask said she has been waiting for years to clear her name.

"It's very nerve-wracking, knowing that you could go away for the rest of your life for something you didn't do and didn't know about," she said.

She said she's also looking forward to seeing her 6-year-old son, whom she hasn't been allowed to see for four years.

"I would like to thank all of (the jurors) for looking through everything and believing my side of the story," she said."I was hoping that they would make the right decision and they did."

"We're so glad after four years of scrutiny, (and allegations) of permitting or murdering her child, a jury has been able to see all the evidence and come back and found her not guilty," said Heather Trask's attorney, Tracy Schumacher.

"She was the caretaker. She had no reason to believe he was abusing her," said defense attorney Dave Stice. "The jury saw that and believed she was not responsible."
http://www.koco.com/r/23479964/detail.html

there is no way that she didnt notice that something wasnt wrong with her baby!