Child care worker cleared of abuse

Oakland Tribune, Jan 12, 2008 by John Simerman

More than two years after an infant girl suffered a severe brain injury while a San Ramon day care provider watched her, a judge dismissed child abuse charges Friday against the caregiver after doctors offered conflicting opinions on the girl's injury.

Prosecutor Lynn Uilkema said further investigation after a preliminary hearing in 2006 raised doubts about whether the 10- month-old child suffered shaken-baby syndrome while Navy Saha watched her on Nov. 3, 2005.

Defense lawyers for Saha, now 46, called that initial diagnosis into question with an opinion from a medical expert that the baby may have suffered an earlier blood condition, since doctors had found a new clot in her brain more than a week later.

"I felt we couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury what had happened," said Uilkema.

Saha, a Cambodian native who maintained her innocence throughout, smiled but declined to comment outside the courtroom after Judge Theresa Canepa dismissed the case.

"She's just exuberant. Literally her life has been on hold for two years," said Roberta Brooks, one of her lawyers. "The problem with the case was too many questions."

The baby's parents told investigators that she was acting normally when they dropped her off with Saha at the day care center. Saha told them she had trouble waking the baby after a nap, then the baby coughed,keeled over and hit her head on the carpeted floor.

At the preliminary hearing, a medical expert testified for the prosecution that the girl had injuries consistent with being shaken. But a defense expert, Stanford University neuroradiologist Patrich Barnes, testified that a shaking hard enough to cause her injury would "literally have to break the neck or at least damage the brain stem," which didn't happen.

Uilkema said she later consulted a third expert and then a fourth, and opinions varied on possible causes for the girl's brain hemorrhaging.

The girl, now 2, faces lasting damage.

Her parents "understand why this is happening," said Uilkema of the dismissal. "Their focus is on getting their daughter better."

Reach John Simerman at 925-943-8072 or jsimerman@bayareanewsgroup.com.