2 Doctors Testify on Toddler’s Death

Two doctors testified Wednesday in the murder trial of Oxnard parents accused of fatally beating their toddler last year.

Dr. William Starr, a plastic surgeon, told the Superior Court jury that he examined a series of severe wounds on Joselin Hernandez in July 1994 while she was hospitalized at the Ventura County Medical Center.

Then 6 weeks old, the child had third-degree burns on the tops of her feet and hands as well as burn-like injuries to her buttocks and inside her mouth, Starr said.

On cross-examination, the doctor acknowledged that he could not be sure that all of the injuries were burns. He said the wound inside Joselin’s mouth could have been a canker sore.

He also was unable to determine what caused the burns to her limbs. Prosecutors have suggested that Joselin was burned by battery acid while in the arms of her father, Rogelio Hernandez.

Starr said that all of the burns and wounds on Joselin’s body were similar in age and quite small. He told the jury that the multiple marks on her bottom were smaller than a pencil eraser and caused by “some hot object on the skin. What it was, I don’t know.”

During his testimony Wednesday, Starr also examined photographs taken at Joselin’s autopsy. The child died in June 1996 as a result of severe blows to the abdomen. She was 2.

Looking at the photos, Starr said it appeared that the toddler had a cigarette burn on her upper lip. But on cross-examination Starr acknowledged that he could not be sure that was what had caused the injury.

Dr. John R. McMahan III, director of radiology at the county hospital, discussed a series of X-rays taken of Joselin in July 1994.

Based on the films, it was his opinion that the child sustained nine fractured ribs when someone grabbed her and forcefully squeezed her.

“That’s basically an anatomical handprint,” he said, referring to marks on the X-rays.

McMahan also said that he thought the child’s legs were broken by someone twisting them. He is expected to resume the witness stand for cross-examination later in the trial. The trial will not be in session today or Friday. Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday.