Prosecutors, defense present arguments as faith-healing trial opens in Oregon City

The Oregonian ^ | June 29, 2009 | Steve Mayes

[jazusamo]

Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian

Carl and Raylene Worthington held hands as they observed
the opening of their trial Monday in Oregon City. The couple,
who favor faith healing over medical treatment, face criminal
charges in the death of their 15-month-old daughter.

OREGON CITY -- Prosecution and defense attorneys differed sharply Monday on what led to the death of 15-month-old Ava Worthington.

Ava, malnourished and in obvious distress, "died a needless death" because her parents, Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington, failed to provide adequate medical care, said Greg Horner, chief deputy district attorney.

"This child had a cold, and it didn't appear to be anything of great concern," said John Neidig, who represents Raylene Worthington. He described Ava as alert, playful and having a good appetite in the days and hours before her death.

More

Updates from the courtroom, court documents and past stories on the case.

The Worthingtons, members of an Oregon City church that believes in spiritual healing, are charged with criminal neglect and second-degree manslaughter. Their daughter died at home March 2, 2008, of pneumonia and a blood infection.

Prosecutors said antibiotics could have saved her life.

Defense attorneys said the girl's illness didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary; many people were sick that winter, and a child with congestion and a runny nose didn't seem alarming.

Horner said the evidence will show a different picture. The child's condition got progressively worse over the last few days of her life. A large benign cyst on the right side of her neck grew swollen and discolored, making it more difficult to breathe. The growth first appeared when the girl was a few months old.

Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian

Clackamas County Presiding Judge Steve Maurer moved the faith-healing trial of Carl and Raylene Worthington to a larger courtroom Monday to accommodate large numbers of supporters from the Worthingtons' church.

Horner said that when detectives asked Brent Worthington whether he was concerned the night before Ava died that she might not survive, he replied "yes." Instead of seeking medical care, the couple relied solely on prayers and faith healing, Brent Worthington told detectives.

Horner described the girl as malnourished. He said Ava went from being far above normal height and weight when she was born to far below normal when she died. The first doctor she saw was the one who performed her autopsy, he said.

The Worthingtons never denied medical care to Ava, said attorney Mark Cogan, who represents Brent Worthington. "They never felt it was needed."

Cogan described the Worthingtons as loving and law-abiding parents. The couple held hands throughout Monday's court proceedings.

Ava was the victim of an unforeseeable but "deadly collision" of a blood infection and the onset of pneumonia, Neidig said. The combination hit quickly, and Ava would not have survived even if she had been in a hospital, he said.

Neidig said the girl was well-fed and of average height and weight for her age.

Defense attorneys said that the Worthingtons and their family and friends reported nothing out of the ordinary. "They thought she was getting better," Neidig said.

He downplayed the significance of the cyst. Several women in the Worthington family had such growths, which would enlarge and subside but did not cause discomfort or give reason for concern.

The trial will center on the testimony of medical experts who are expected to offer radically different readings of the evidence.

The Worthington case will be the first time anyone in Oregon has been prosecuted under a 1999 law passed in response to an extraordinary number of child deaths involving their church, the Followers of Christ. The law eliminated religion as a defense in most cases of medical neglect.

The case has attracted the interest of advocates for religious freedom, parental rights and child safety as well as national media outlets. Clackamas County Presiding Judge Steven Maurer moved the trial, expected to last about three weeks, to one of the county's largest courtrooms. TruTV, formerly known as Court TV, is taping the proceedings. About 50 members of the Worthingtons' church attended the trial's first day.

Prosecutors will call their first witnesses today. First up will be Deputy Medical Examiner Jeffrey Mayer, who interviewed the Worthingtons shortly after their daughter died.

[jazusamo]

Ping!

[Salvation]

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[jazusamo]

Thanks for pinging the list, Salvation. I just finished reading the article on the testimony of the first witness.

Medical examiner recounts night of faith-healing death

by Steve Mayes, The Oregonian

Tuesday June 30, 2009, 2:09 PM

Randy L. Rasmussen/The Oregonian/The Associated PressCarl and Raylene Worthington, members of the Followers of Christ church, are charged with manslaughter in death of their 15-month-old daughter, Ava, who died March 2, 2008, of pneumonia that the state medical examiner ruled could have been easily cured with antibiotics.

The first thing Jeffrey Mayer noticed when he began investigating the death of 15-month-old Ava Worthington was a large discolored growth, "approximately the size of a baseball," on the right side of her neck.

The child also appeared to be malnourished, with her ribs protruding, said Mayer, Clackamas County deputy medical examiner.

Mayer was the first witness in the trial of the girl's parents, Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington. The couple, members of an Oregon City church that practices faith healing, are charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminal neglect for failing to provide adequate medical care to the child.

Prosecutors displayed a photo for jurors that showed a swollen area from the girl's ear to her collar bone.

"I had never seen anything like that," said Mayer, who has investigated more than 1,000 deaths.

Prosecutors claim the growth interfered with Ava's ability to breathe. She died of bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection. Defense attorneys said the growth was unsightly but had nothing to do with the death. The say she died of the blood infection without showing symptoms of a fatal illness.

Mayer was the first investigator at the Worthington home on March 2, 2008, the night Ava died. He spoke with the Worthingtons a few hours after their daughter died, and prosecutors on Tuesday played tapes of the interviews for jurors.

Raylene Worthington, at times barely audible, said her daughter had developed a cough a few days before she died. The cough got worse and as Ava's condition changed, church members were called to pray for the child, who died on a Sunday evening.

Brent Worthington said the girl's breathing got worse Saturday night and that she slept fitfully. Both parents noted that the swelling on Ava's neck started increasing in size about 36 hours before she died about 7 p.m. Sunday.

There were as many as 200 members of the Followers of Christ church at the home when he arrived. "It was standing room only," Mayer said.

Mayer, who has investigated other deaths of church members, said it's not uncommon for large numbers to be present when one of the congregation is seriously ill or dies.

[Clinging Bitterly]

It's sad there are folks who will not use professional medical care when it is needed, especially where one who can not make his/her own decisions is concerned.

But this is a multifaceted issue, and I'm not certain a blanket state veto over parents’ religious beliefs is called for in any event. The vast majority of these folks, and their children, probably go through life in better health than the average person because of the decisions they have made.

If we must protect children from parents’ “incorrect” religious beliefs, what particular aspects of their lives are we going to control. Based on what principles? Who is going to draw the lines? And Where?

[Phileleutherus Franciscus]

If we must protect children from parents’ “incorrect” religious beliefs, what particular aspects of their lives are we going to control. Based on what principles? Who is going to draw the lines? And Where?

Aye, that is the difficulty. That these particular parents were, not to put too fine a point on it, morons, is indisuputable, but it's not a judgement one really wants the government to make.

[jazusamo]

You make a good point but if you look at the history of this church there have been many infants and children die over the last half century or more from lack of modern medical care.

I personally think that any member of that church has every right to determine their own belief and fate as long as they’re of legal age but believe that infants and minors are not old enough to make that decision. Being the parents won’t bend and allow medical care for them I think it’s appropriate that Oregon changed that religious exemption part of the law and it was changed because of this church.