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Prosecution rests in child abuse case

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Lisa MacDougall, mother of defendant Joshua Witkowski, told Manistee County's 19th Circuit Court on Wednesday that she has seen her son care for various children appropriately.
Lisa MacDougall, mother of defendant Joshua Witkowski, told Manistee County's 19th Circuit Court on Wednesday that she has seen her son care for various children appropriately.

Defendant Joshua Witkowski expected to take stand today

MANISTEE — After hearing testimony from witnesses ranging from forensic investigators to ex-girlfriends of the defendant on Wednesday in Manistee County's 19th Circuit Court, the prosecution rested in the first degree child abuse case against Joshua Witkowski.

Witkowski, 27, of Manistee, faces up to life in prison if found guilty of knowingly or intentionally causing serious physical harm to a 2-year-old Manistee girl on Dec. 17, 2012.

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Following the conclusion of the prosecution's case, the defense called two witnesses on Wednesday, hearing from Witkowski's mother, Lisa MacDougall, and an ex-girlfriend who told the court that a son she shared with the defendant was never harmed by Witkowski.

MacDougall told the court that she has seen Witkowski care for various children appropriately, and that he wasn't great in disciplining children.

"He would try time outs, but he would just give in," MacDougall said. "That's just the way he always was. He didn't want to upset the kids, so he gave them what they wanted."

Before resting his case, Manistee County assistant prosecutor Jonathan Hauswirth called Michigan State Police forensic investigators Jennifer Patchin and Katherine Merideth to testify about evidence collection and a DNA match with the victim.

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Merideth, an expert witness in DNA analysis, said that blood recovered from a stain on a car seat matched 13 of 16 locations from the victim's sample, and a stain on an infant's shirt matched the DNA of the victim. During cross examination, defense attorney Mark Otto asked whether the blood could be dated based on a DNA match, and Merideth said it could not.

While one of Witkowski's ex-girlfriends said Witkowski never harmed her son, two ex-girlfriends told the court that their daughters were injured while in Witkowski's care.

"The whole side of her face was bruised," one said of an instance regarding her daughter. "Her ear, her neck, and she had bruises on her forehead. (Witkowski) called me while I was at work and said she tripped on her blanket, and fell and hit her face on these rocks that were cemented into the floor in our apartment."

Further in the woman's testimony, she said that she saw Witkowksi smack his son across the face to discipline him in the past. She said that the injury to her daughter did not cause any lasting physical damage, but it did temporarily cause mental damage.

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"When she went home, she didn't want to be anywhere near (Witkowski)," the ex-girlfriend said. "She didn't want to be anywhere near any guy...She didn't want to be around her grandfather, her uncle, or other (males) in her life that were important to her for a long time."

The second ex-girlfriend called by the prosecution told the court that her daughter sustained bruises on both sides of her face, and that Witkowski "didn't have an answer for me (about) what happened."

In his cross examination of several witnesses throughout the trial, Otto asked questions about whether the victim's mother could have had a role in the trauma or if it was possible that she was hiding anything.

In an attempt to outline the victim's mother's state of mind, Hauswirth called the case's medical social worker Chad Fessenden, who told the court that the mother told him that the incident felt "like a bad dream."

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Witkowski is expected to testify in his own defense this morning, and the case could be up for decision by the jury sometime today. Testimony begins at 9:15 a.m. in Manistee County's 19th Circuit Court.

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