To the best of my recollection; yes, sir. nd, of course, all this information that you 2:M; J have given to us on both Friday and today are the same facts that you gave in, in the military proceedings in this case? To the best of my recollection; yes, sir. MR. SEGL: I think so, too. No Ul 1 1 1 further questions. MR. BLCKBURNt qttemtloti*, tour Honor. THE COURT: (Witness excused.) MR. BLCKBURN: Merrill Bronstein. a (Whereupon, We have no further Call your next witness. Your Honor, we call Dr. 1 1 1 DR. MERRILL L. BRONSTEIN was called as a witness, duly sworn, and testified follows:) as 1 DIRECT EXMINTION : a.m. 22 2 BY MR. BLCKBURN: Please state your name, sir? Merrill Hersch Bronstein. Dr. Bronstein, please, if you would, sneak 2 loudly enouoh so everyone can hear you. Dr. Bronstein, t. P r J PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. xu * O W. Ml MIN OFFICE RLEIGH 2 0 OUKHM 1 'J2 CHPEL HILL PITTSBORO 2-
1 where do you presently live? - >- \M0 2 In San Francisco, California. 0 How are you employed? I am in private practice of heart suraery!. What education what is your educational : background, sir? I went to college and medical school and did residencies in general surgery and in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. Where did you go to college? I went to Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio. 1 M IS I went to Chicago Medical School in Chicaao, Illinois. did my internship at Jefferson Hosoital in Philadelphia; residency and general surgery at Temple University in Philadelphia; residency in thoracic and cardiovascular I 1 surgery in the University of California in San Francisco. 1 Now, directing your attention to February of 1 1 '.'2, did you have an occasion to be employed at Vomack Hospital? Yes. I was a captain in the United States ir Force, and I was stationed in the Deoartment of Suraery at the Womack rmy Hospital at Fort Braga, North Carolina. I was in charge of a surgical ward there. 2» MR. BLCKBURN: Your Honor, at this time, 2 we would offer this witness as an exoert in the ftold of r"~j PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. " O r Mill MIN OFFICF RLFir.H R OCRS DURHM J I Vi? CHPEl "III 'JJJ rittsboro 2 1 -!
medical science. \w>i THE COOPTJ. Very well. BY MR. BLCKBURN: Dr. Bronstein, who was in charge, if you know, sir, of the Department of General Surgery at that time? Dr. Frank Gemma. Where were you in the pecking order, so to speak? I I was a partially-trained general surgeon. > in M The department consisted of about ten or doctors, the majority of whom were Board-certified general surgeons. t that time, I had been there a long time, so I was in charge of a ward; so, in the pecking order, I would say that I was about average. IS Now, in February of, did you have an 1 occasion to know the Defendant, Jeffrey MacDonald? 1 1 1 Yes. How long had you known him, sir? few months. How did you first meet him? 22 We met through our outside employment. Both of us worked moonlighting in the Emergency Room of the Cape 2 Fear Valley Hospital. positions. It was outside of our military 2 0 Did you know each other on a social basis or r J PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. _» O Bo. MUJ MIN OFFICE RLEIGH R? 0 DURHM n I 1S?R CHPEL HILL " ' i 1) PinSUUHO 2
was it purely professional? 2!JS,v It was an acquaintanceship. For examole, wc would work shifts as physicians, and we would often be in shifts that were back-to-back so that either I wouild be going and he would be coming or vice-versa. We would talk and discuss patients who either of us might be responsible for that the other had seen or to get follow-uo on patients we had seen on previous times that we were working in that Emergency Room. Now, directinn your attention to the 1th of February,, and as a result of beincr emdloyed. at Womack Hospital, did you have an occasion to go to the 1 hospital early that morning? 1 Yes. I was the Staff Surgeon on call for the 1 Department of Surgery at Womack rmy Hospital on that 1 night. I was called in the early morning hours. 1 Do you recall who telephoned you? 1 Yes, Dr. Jacobson. He was the Surgical 1 Resident. He was the resident in general surgery, and he was the Staff Surgeon responsible for the hospital that night. He was stayina in the hosoital that nioht. I 22 lived on the post about a mile from the hospital, and he called me. 2 Do you recall the approximate time, sir? 2 I think it was probablv before :00 o'clock \h PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. a.i.io" *o.i" c.-pi."» lit* MIN OFFICE RLEIGH RT? 'IDS DURHM > " V>?H CHPEl Hill. 'I >.\ J/M PITTSBORO b*
. * X r maybe <J:JO or quarter to :00 somewhere in there. 2D;J What did Dr. Jacobson say to you as best vou can recall? He said that a doctor of our mutual i l acquaintance had been admitted to the hospital and had been stabbed and that his family had been killed, and could I please come to the hospital and help him out. s a result of that telephone call, what did you do? I got dressed and went to the hospital. pproximately how long did it take you to oet to the hospital? 1 few minutes I would imaoine. I am certain 1 that it was not more than I mean it couldn't have been 1 a half hour probably 1 minutes to get dressed and get 1 over there. 1 When you got there, where did you first CTO? 1 To the Intensive Care Unit. 1 nd you saw Dr. MacDonald there, I presume? Yes. When I came into the Intensive Care Unit, Dr. MacDonald was there and he was in one of the 22 cubicles in the Intensive Care Unit. When did you first actually see Dr. M acdonald? 2 is that when you first saw him? 2 I saw him from the instant that I walked into fch r~] PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. p o. ;iifcj MIN OFFICT Rlfir.H 1? SOUS DURHM 1 1S?H CHPEt Mill DJJ JS PITTSBORO
. t. Intensive Care Unit. 2JJ1 0 Who else besides yourself and Dr. MacDonald a were present if you can recall? I don't recall. I How was Dr. MacDonald dressed? He had his pajama bottoms on and that is all. 0 You were able then to view his entire chest area and arm area; is that correct? Well, I went in and I talked to him and then I examined him. I think well, I don't remember the exact order, but I know that when I examined him, I had him to take off his pajama bottoms. 1 1 1 if. 1 1 sitting up? Now, where did this examination take place? In the bed in the Intensive Care Unit. When you went in, was he lying down or was he He was lying down on the bed. With respect to the examination, where did you 1 first examine him on his body? I looked at him, I guess, all over. I mean, I was, I am sure, not concentrating on any soecific area. 22 With resoect to his head area, what examination, if any, did you conduct there, sir? 2 Well, I conducted a pretty thorough examination 2 because I was very upset he was unset. Me was tearful and [ J PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC r o *> mm MIN Offlff RIflf.M m.' '"IHS DURHM in 1',/H CHPfl Hill 'JJ <«PlTTSBORO b? "> 1
r- * very obviously anxious and I guess I was very intent?)h on relieving his discomfort his cjencral aaitation and I wanted to give him medications to calm him down. It was this intention of mine which maybe was medically qucstioni able, but I felt so bad that I didn't know how else to make him comfortable. He had told me that he had been knocked out. In medical terms, that is a concussion, and he had a bruise on his forehead. I felt that I should examine his head very carefully and be darn sure that I wasn't about to compromise him from a medical ooint of view and do him some damage (Interposing) Is that what you mean by 1 "medically questionable"? 1 Yes. In other words, if a person has a head 1 injury or a concussion, generally, we would hold narcotics 1 and sedatives because you want to observe the patient's 1 symptoms to be sure they don't lapse into coma aaain. 1 If you make them sedate with medication, then you are not 1 really capable of judging their medical condition. p. nd in your opinion. Dr. r.acdonald was caoable of taking medication; is that correct? 22 Yes. I gave him medication. 2 2 r "J PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. MIN OFflCF leir.h >"**, DURHM M?>H CHPEI Mill!>J J' PiTTSBORO 1??i
BY MR. BLCKBURN: r 2JIK Now, in your examination of his head, how ^ H 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 22 2 2 many bumps or lumps or bruises could you find? I only found one bruise. It was a contusion I of his forehead and, as I recall, it was on the lef.t side just above the eye. fter you examined his head area, what next part of his body did you observe? I looked him over pretty carefully, and he had a couple of lacerations and a stab wound, and some abrasions. Now, where were the lacerations? He had a cut on his left upper outer arm, and it was, I guess, an inch or so long; and he had a cut on his left upper abdomen. In medical terms, it is below the costal margin, below the edge of the ribs, maybe two inches down. nd it was about an inch and a half or two long, and it was through the skin and through the fat. 0 Well, with respect to the first laceration that you mentioned the one on the left arm what medication, if any, did you use to treat that? I don't recall that I did anything to treat it, other than clean it off. How would you classify that wound? s a laceration. JL J PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. n 0=] X u_ MIN OmCE RlEir," HV ">"HS DURHM I T-;i CHPTl l"l I '. I.1/!).l PlMSBOHO -1?.
s a superficial or non-supe frficial? VJJ«"0 < m It was non-superficial, in that it was through the skin, but it did not appear to be deeper than that, and there was no bleeding from it. no compromise of the motion of the arm. nd there was With respect to the second wound that you mentioned, you said it went down to the fat; is that correct? It went through the fat. You could see the fascia. It is kind of a flat tendon of the middle muscle n of the belly called the rectus muscle rectus abdominus. I could see the white fascia, but it wasn't bleeding. It > 1.1 N IS was not superficial, in that it is through the skin and through the subcutaneous tissue, but was not through the fascia. Hi What about with respect to the third wound 1 1 1 'I'l that you mentioned? He had a stab wound of his right chest. I think it was over the top of about the sixth rib, and it was in what we call the anterior axillary line, which is a line that you would draw from the front of your armpit down your side. 2 'J. r ) remember? pproximately how long was this, if you can I would say a centimeter and a half--a little C~ PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC f O Bo*»t«J MIN OFFIfF RlEir.M? fl* DURHM 1 ;K>?B CHPEl Mill '?> PITTSBOflO M2
more than half an inch. How long did your observation of Dr. Mac- 2W- Do you have an opinion, sir, satisfactory to in 1 1 1 1 1 1 22 J 2 yourself, as to what type of weapon could have caused that particular wound? j with a blade. Donald last? I think it would just have to be something Well, I think that I gave him sedation pretty soon after I got there, so I would imagine my examination involved the first 1 or minutes that I spent with him; but I spent almost the whole first day with him in that cubicle. body of Dr. MacDonald? Dr. How many ice pick wounds did you see on the None. fter this first 1 or minutes went by. Bronstein, what did you do next in your medical treatment of Dr. MacDonald? sedation. We cleaned up his wounds, and I ordered some I don't recall exactly what I ordered; but then, I think very promptly, we had a visitor. came in. IPS r~j PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. n» O Boi IHU Was this still down in the cubicle? n MP Yes; my only contact with Dr. MacDonald as MIN orriff RiFirvi R? qnnf) OURXM 1 JMfl CHPEL HILL!> PIITSBORO «? '"
his physician was in that cubicle. 2\)W. Now, did there come a time, sir, when Dr. MacDonald went to x-ray in the hospital? He had been x-rayed before I saw him, and he I did not leave while I was there to go anywhere., How long did you stay at the hospital this first morning? I was at the hospital up until about :00 o'clock and before that, I had called Dr. Gemma and Dr. Dreupple that was the Chief of the hospital. Dr. Gemma was my immediate superior. around :00 o'clock and I went home. Then Dr. Gemma came I showered and 1 shaved. Then I came back to the hospital around :0. u Now, before you left the hospital this first is 1 1 1 1 oo time, what medical treatment, if any, did you give, as you recall, to the stab wound up in the right chest area? None, except for cleaning. We had reviewed the x-ray Dr. Jacobson and I and he had a partial collapse of his lung; but since he was not short of breath, and since, from a medical point of view, I was most concerned about his agitation, I decided that I did not want to put a chest tube in. 2.1 2 Now, after you went home, did you have occasion to come back to the hospital? 2 Yes; I came back very promptly. [ ] PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. P 0 tea NlU MIN OFFICE RLEIGH m? 'lorf> DURHM ">t S?R CHPEL HILL S PITTSBORO 2 '-l
Do you recall approximately what time that J&llill was? a hospital? round :0. What did you do when you went back to t;he I went right back to the Intensive Care Unit. nd saw Dr. MacDonald? Yes, sir. t that time, what medical treatment, if any, did you give to Dr. MacDonald? I don't believe I gave him any more medical treatment, except for maybe I ordered more sedation. 1 1 IS n; How long did you remain Dr. MacDonald's doctor? Until the afternoon of that day, when I asked Dr. Gemma to relieve me of that role; 1 Why did you do that? IS I was too upset. I found the whole thing 1!) very uncomfortable. I knew and liked Dr. MacDonald on a personal and professional basis. He was very upset, >2 and my wife was pregnant, and I just felt very uncomfortable, since I was not able to do anything else. 2 I was uncomfortable leaving him alone, because he didn't want to be alone. He kept asking me to 2 please stay with him, and so I had to, you know, bo I. LmJl I! J PRECISION REPORTING (nil I ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. P O Be* Hill MIN OFFICE RLEIGH B? 1DR DURHM I 2R CHPEL HILL -1 PITTSBORO?
JZ supportive, because he asked mo to. nd I had to call ivjiii his family and be there when they all found out; and I just did not want to be there anymore. Dr. Bronstein, do you have an opinion, sir, i satisfactory to yourself, as to whether or not Dr. Mac- Donald could have passed out from loss of blood? I do not think Dr. MacDonald passed out from loss of blood. Now, when you came back to the hospital the second time, did you have an occasion to meet up with Dr. Frank Gemma? Yes. \ 1 1 1 nd what did you say to him, sir, and what did he say to you? t that time, I don't know. I don't recall. 1 Did you ever have any conversation with him 1 with respect to the insertion of the chest tube? 1H 1 did it. No; he decided that it should be done, and he Now, you spoke a moment ago of Dr. MacDonald asking you to get in touch with his family; is that cor ii rect? Yes. /* 2 Who, specifically, did he ask you to get in UP touch with? PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. m il f-.» O».. M.U *, I I I»>lin» No-. C»»" W MIN OfFlCF RlflOH PI? >nns DURHM,'l 2H CHPEL HILL 'b-s PIITS0RO -1
With his mom and with his in-laws. s a result of that, what did you do? 2!!ti;: them all up. I found out their phone numbers and I called nd what did you tell them? I told them that I was Jeff's doctor, and that he was in the hospital, and there had been some trouble; and it was very important, if they could, to please come down to North Carolina. Now, during this time that you first observed Dr. MacDonald, I believe you said he was very agitated and you had given him medication? 1.1 Yes. In your opinion, sir, was he oriented as to IS where he was and what was going on? If. 1 1 1 with him? Yes. Did you have any difficulty in communicating No. 22 2 2 ~Y ir~ PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC MIN OFFICE RLEIGH 1? ''OB'. (DURHM 1 2 CHPEL HILL <» PITTSBORO ->2
BY MR. BLCKBURN: \%tm How long was it, sir, before Dr. MacDonald was taken from the Emergency Room area UD to the Intensive Care area? fi I don't know. Was it that mornino sometime, or do you recall? It had to have been. I was called, I auess, a little bit before :00 say, quarter to :00 and I not there between :00 and :1. I came in throuoh the Emergency Room door and he wasn't there. I went rioht un to the Intensive Care Unit, so it must have been in that interval; i:i I believe you testified that you staved there 1 how long that first day? ir, I was there until the early afternoon say, if. about 2:00 or :00 o'clock. 1 Were you present in the room when any of the 1 1 22 interviews of Dr. MacDonald were conducted that day? Yes. I was present whenever anybody else was in the room. 0 Who do you recall, sir, came to talk with Dr. MacDonald? First, an MP came and then later, a man from 2 the CID came. Later on, I think a couple of FIB aoents cnmn. s T recall, there were three interviews that C~~] PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. P O Bei? '*! MIN aific.f RMtir.H Hi? nnhs DURHM 1 CHPEL HILL?S<i PITTSBORO M? 1-1
mormnq. -* k- r.. &!M»' Did you observe these aqents takinq notes of the interviews when they were conducted? Yes. They all had the MP had a Dad and j i everybody else had a clipboard. What did you hear, if anythinq. Dr. MacDonald said to these agents concerning what hapoened to him and his family? He told about how his family had been attacked by four people. He told a very frightening story. He told the same story each time to all of the three different interviewers. 1 Now, did you hear Dr. MacDonald give any M description of the individuals to the agents? 1 Yes. 1 What descriptions did you hear him give, sir? 1 He described a woman with lona hair and a 1 floppy hat and two white men and a black man. 1 Did you hear him give any particular char'acter- 2<> istics of the individuals or were they fairly averaqe characteristics? 22 The woman he described as havino lona, liaht brown hair, and the men he said had relatively short hair, 2-1 but they were not military cuts. I would sav thev were 2 fairly neneral characteristics. I don't recall that thev U^ X "J PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. U. i» o» n<u MIN OFFIfF IEIGH HI? '>OflS DURHM «'i V'?B CHPfl Hilt.»?-> PITTSBORO M? /1
were specific. I don't think that I could have, you j>[wu know, pinpointed anybody from those descriptions. Now, Dr. Bronstein, in your opinion, sir, did Dr. MacDonald appear to be alert and responsive bo these individual agents? Yes. What, if anything, did the Defendant, Dr. MacDonald, say about his family to you by "his family," I mean his wife and children? Well, before I went home, he was very concerned about where thev were. He had a lot of ambivalence. He wanted me to be with him and he didn't 1 1 1 1 1 want me to leave him, but he kept asking me why I didn't go to help them. He kept wondering where they were. He kept asking me what was going on and why was he there. He wanted to see them and why didn't I ao find out what, you know, was happening to them. 1 1 What did you say to Dr. VacDonald? I said that I had been the doctor assianed to j j 'J take care of him and that other doctors were takina care of them and that, you know, I could stay with him and people would aive us reports when there was infornation. That was in the early morning hours because when I came back from my shower, he already knew that they were dead. 2 O Here you there, sir, when his mother and his LflJ ( H PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC a MIN orricf HifiOH M """ins DURHM 1 V.?R CHPEL HILL 0 'S-» PITTSBORO 2 "
1 in-laws arrived? JJOlili \ 2 Yes. When did that take place, sir, if vou can recall? It was sometime during thnt day either late in the morning or early in the afternoon, but I don't recall. Dr. Bronstein, would you tell us precisely in your own words what a pneumothorax is? Our chest is architecturally supoorted bv "\ c II 1 u 1 1 n a rib caae and internally divided into three major spaces. One on each side contains the luna, so to oo, for example, to another picture, assume that one side of the chest is like a box and in that box, the lunn is blown up like a sponge-filled balloon. The luna is knot expanded by pressure down throuah our airway in that box just as if someone's mouth was blowing up a balloon inside 1 a box. When there is a hole made in the chest wall or in 1 the lung itself, the space between the luno and the chest wall or between the balloon and the box becomes filled with air, and so, the lung or the balloon in the box moves away from that wall. That is what a pneumothorax is. 2-1 What is a tension pneumothorax? That is when pressure builds up in that space "-S 2 as thnt balloon or lunq would collapse away from the box or ro^ PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC MIN O'flCt Rlfir.H l> 1? 'i"»' DURHM -1 1 S.'H CHWl Hill " V PlTTSBOBO b«2 1
1 from the chest wall if,-iir accnmulated in that nnacn 2JIK 2 and could not escape,.it had no way out. In other words, air was coming in from some place, but say that the tissues which permitted air to come into the chest did not permit air to go out of the chest. The Dressure In the chest could build up to collapse the lung comoletcly- and push over the heart and blood vessels which are in the middle of the chest so that a tension pneumothorax is a completely different physiological situation from a pneumothorax, but it begins architecturally the sane way. 0 Do you know, sir, whether Jeffrey MacDonald ever had a tension pneumothorax? 1 Jeffrey MacDonald never had a tension 1 pneumothorax while I cared for him. 1 Now, in this part of your chest, and I believe 1 you have already testified that you saw a stab wound and an 1 incised wound at the seventh intercostal soace; is that 1 correct? 1 Yes. 0 What internal organs are under that place? Well, usually, the lung, but in a sitting 22 position, the diaphragm would rise up so that the top part of the liver might approximate the area in the front of 2 the chest not on the side. 2 O '.'hat if the oerson stood up? '''hat would hnnnon? rt [ ] PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. a MIN omcr R.MEir.H pi? IOR^, DURHM 1 S?R CHPEl HILL J PITTSBORO? -1
Your diaphragm and liver tend to go down MlHiH so that in the area that we are talkino about, the liver might or might not be immediately behind the area. in a very obese person with a distended abdomen, a oregnanjt lady, yes, indeed, the liver would, indeed, be at that i level. In a thin adult man, unlikely. In a thin adult man, how far down would you a have to go to hit the liver? 1 H IS interspace. You could probably hit it at the seventh How deep is what I am tryinc to say? How far in? Yes, sir. Probably three to four inches. How far in or how deep in, I should say, would 1 you have to go to puncture the lung? 1 ia n inch or an inch and a half. How far deep do you have to eo to oet throuah 1 the chest wall area? n inch or an inch and a half. The luna is closely approximated to the chest wall so that you could go through the chest wall without Duncturincr the luna, but 2 2 in general, what happens is that when you puncture the chest wall, because air gets into the chest, the lunn falls away so that usually, you nrobably would not hit \ J PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. MIN OFFIfF RtflCM m? 'OH', DURHM /1 f >?B CHPfl MILL H -1 PITTSBORO? T<1
luna either. 2!)fi! How long were you at '-lomack Hospital? I was there two years. During your time there, did you ever havej occasion to see many patients who had a pneumothorax?' G I would say that I probably saw more than any other doctor in the Western "Jorld during that brief period. in n saying? That was fairly common; is that what you are Yes. I would say that it is one of the two 1 1 IS Ifi most common diseases that we treated there amono the young soldiers at I-Jonack rmy Hospital, but it was usually spontaneous. In other words, each of us have little bubbles on our lung and these bubbles sometimes break and spontaneous pneumothorax is very common among young men. 1 1H 1 2 2. r > r~"l PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. MIN Off'Cf RlET.M W? 'Wi DURHM 1 f<2h CHPH HILL "?.-> PiriSBORO ">? M
BY MR. BLCKBURN: -i k- v* 0 0 Well, now in your study of medicine. Dr. Bronstein, do you know whether or not causing a pneumothorax was ever used or has over been used as a medical treatment of any disease? Yes, it was the standard treatment for a tuberculosis for many years prior to the introduction of antibiotics to treat tuberculosis. Now, I believe you testified earlier this li morning that after a period of time you asked to be relieved as Jeffrey MacDonald's physician, is that correct? 1 1 IS 1 Yes. Who took over from you? Dr. Gemma. Now, after Dr. Gemma took over from you, did 1 1H you ever have an occasion to see Dr. MacDonald again in the hospital? 1 Yes, I saw him every day. JO What would be the basis for that? 22 2 2 Purely social. I was the head doctor on Ward 2-, and he was staying in a private room at the beginning of the ward, so when I walked on the ward in the morning I would see him. 0 Do you know, sir, approximately how long his LPS LJJ D PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC.» O B». IIIU MIN OFF ICC Riftr.M R>? ions DURHM /1 S CHPtL HILL S-1 PITISBORO -.1
-2 medical recovery took in the hospital? I think.about a week or so. 0 Did you ever meet an individual friend of 1 < B Dr. MacDonald's by the name of Ron Harrison?! Yes, I did. Where did you meet him? I met him in Dr. MacDonald's room. I met him one day when I was either walking on or off the ward. II 1 1 IS at all? to you? Did you ever have occasion to talk with him Yes, I did. What did you say to him and what did he say I did not say much to him, but he frightened If. 1 me a lot. He told me that he was MR. SMITH: (Interposing) We OBJECT. 1 THE COURT: Yes, I don't know what 1 0 he is going to say; but whatever somebody else told him, of course, would be objectionable as hearsay. 22 just one moment? MR. BLCKBURN: (Pause.) Your Honor, may I have 2* 2 BY MR. BLCKBURN: 0 Now, Dr. Bronstein, in your observing of Or. MacDonald's body, did you have an occasion to L. ~jr ] PRECISION REPORTING u fil] ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. MIN omrr CHPEL HILL P O ft.i :!'! ".'. - *.-.. Caighti 'CM PITTSBORO RIEIC.H RI; inns DURHM a I ^? H >S-> 2 D??'.
observe anything around his navel area? "^2 I might.have noted an abrasion there, but R 1 H IS 1 IT 1 he had a few abrasions, kind of like a scraping of the top layer of the skin, you know, sometimes got littjle i spotty crusts if you get a scratch; but other than that there was no other injury on his abdomen. The reason I am sure of that is that ho had this laceration of his upper abdomen, and I elected not to do anything more about that. Essentially, when someone has a cut of their abdominal wall, and if it does penetrate the skin and the tissue underneath it, one of the common treatments is to do a surgical exploration, what's called a laparotomy--to take the patient right to the operating roomr _ to find out if an instrument penetrated further in a way that is not observable from externally. I elected not to do that because his abdomen was soft, and he didn't have any tenderness, and I didn't want to have him have any operations that morning. 1 Did you ever have an occasion to observe., > the back of Dr. MacDonald? Uh-huh (yes). I looked at his back, and I don't recall any, you know, major injuries or cuts or :M anything. What about his right arm? 2S Didn't have anything on his riciht- arm. Lti?S r ] PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC. D * O Ufa *«lt] MIN nrficf Rifir.M uij-mw, DURHM 1 M«.?R CHrti Mill PITTSBOHO?
^ rt - 0 What about his wrists or hands? :> His hands wore dirty. He was dirty; ho was < real dirty a lot of dirt under his fingernails. 0 I take it then you say you observed his i wrists and his hands? Yes, he was a very, very clean-cut guy, I mean very noticeably a very clean person, very meticulous in his appearance. He had a very neat military haircut, and I was kind of unkempt, always tend to be a little bit shaggy; so that I would say that he looked, you know, much less neat than usual when I saw him. But you did not observe any injuries on his 1 wrists or hands? 1 No, none whatsoever. IS MR. BLCKBURN: Your Honor, that completes lfi our examination of Dr. Bronstein. 1 THE COURT: ll right, we will take 1 our morning recess, and we will come back at :. 1 'JO Members of the Jury, don't talk about the case. back at :, please. Come (This proceeding was recessed at :2 a.m., to reconvene at : a.m., this same day.) 2 2 C~~] PRECISION REPORTING ND TRNSCRIBING. INC m O >»»*) MIN OFFICE Rlfir.M FTI? lofis DURHM 1/1 IS?B CHPEl Mill L> I'SO PITTSBRO S-»? 1J