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Man Acquitted In Hernando Child Battery Case

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: January 16, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - The jurors leaned forward in their seats, craning their necks at the photos splayed before them.

"You can see here how this dusky bruise extends from behind the ear across the neck," Marilyn Barnes said, tracing the damage to the 2-year-old's head with her finger.

Thursday was day two of the Joseph McDonald's trial and Barnes, an advanced nurse practitioner, was detailing her examination of the girl that McDonald allegedly beat.

She was firm in her conviction that these bruises were the result of abuse - blows hard enough to rupture the ear drum of the victim. She dismissed the defense's position that the damage was done when the girl struck her head on the bottom of a sink.

"That story does not explain these injuries by a long shot," she said.

Apparently the jury disagreed. After about four hours of deliberation, they acquitted McDonald of child abuse without great bodily harm.

"I'm not real happy about it, but I respect the jury's decision," said Lisa Herndon, the assistant state attorney who prosecuted the case.

The second day of trial featured Barnes' testimony, along with the testimony of one of the detectives on the case.

Detective Sgt. John Messer, with the Brooksville Police Department, told of his visit to McDonald's home and the confession he eventually earned from the suspect.

According to Messer, McDonald confessed that he grew angry as he changed the girl's diaper because she wasn't wiped properly. His anger scared the girl and she urinated on the floor.

That enraged him further and he struck the girl on the ear hard enough to knock onto the floor, Messer testified. He claimed that he didn't hit the girl again, but pulled her up off the floor by the ear.

McDonald's attorney, Osa Harp IV, spent the day pitching the alibi about the sink and questioned the strength and validity of the police department's investigation.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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