Pediatrician testifies a fall from a couch couldn’t have killed a toddler

A pediatrician who examined the one-year-old boy in hospital says Kody Smart’s injuries were severe and couldn’t have come from being knocked down by a family dog. In a chilling 911 call made by Brian Matthews in 2015, he explains what happened to his one year old grandson to a dispatcher.

“He was sitting on the floor, or standing up against the couch earlier my dog jumped over the couch, knocked him on the floor. He hit his head.”

A story that an expert witness, a pediatric doctor who studies child abuse says doesn’t explain Kody’s severe brain swelling and bleeding, as well as extreme hemorrhaging in his eyes.

Dr. Nura Hawisa who testified today examined Kody at the time and says a short fall, 3 feet or under, wouldn’t have caused such severe injuries and that a toddler does not have enough force to inflict those injuries on himself. Meaning she believes the trauma was inflicted by an adult.

Kody died two days after being admitted to the hospital.

The defence was trying to show that the doctors opinion may be biased in this case because she did not take calls from the defence prior to the trial and cancelled a scheduled appointment to meet with Matthew’s lawyers. The doctor said she has four children, one of them an autistic boy who required special care on the day of the scheduled appointment. She said she tried her best to meet with the defence.

Matthews wife Jaclyn told CHCH News her husband is a loving man who adored his grandson. She says the family has received death threats on social media and she can’t wait until the truth prevails and her husband is found innocent.