Posted on 09/13/2011 8:15:49 AM PDT by flowerplough
...Despite unsuccessful attempts in 2009 and 2010, the Overtons are again appealing Hannah's high-profile case in which she was accused of intentionally or knowingly poisoning Andrew Burd with salt, but convicted for failing to take him to a medical facility in a timely manner (see "Unknown ingredient," Feb. 23, 2008). Andrew was the child of a drug-abuser with undiagnosed behavioral and eating problems that led him to frequently overeat and vomit.
Overton, a former licensed vocational nurse, gave Andrew some spicy, salty seasoning dissolved in water, after which he vomited and became cold. She waited until her husband came home, then decided to take him to a medical clinic. Andrew died the next day of hypernatremia, or salt poisoning, as shown by a blood test.
Since Texas law prescribes capital murder charges for the death of children under age 6 and no lesser charge options were provided to the jury, Overton received a sentence of life in prison without parole—but Larry is "pretty confident" his wife will be released in light of medical evidence presented to the court in April.
Overton's appellate counsel, Cynthia Orr, said she has now gained access to evidence that confirms her client did not give Andrew a lethal dose of salt. A lab test of Andrew's stomach contents shows a very low sodium concentration, in contrast to the very high levels in his blood. "If she had forced him to ingest (salt), his stomach sodium levels would have been at the same level or higher (than his blood sodium level)," Orr said. "This basically proves she did not poison him."
Orr is asking the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to appoint a special master for another hearing.
Orr calls the lab evidence "new" and says lead trial prosecutor Sandra Eastwood kept it from the defense...
(Excerpt) Read more at worldmag.com ...
Should this lady?
Ha! Good luck getting anything past the TCCA...
Uninformed citizens produce uninformed jurors, to the judge's and prosecutor's delight.
Why in the heck did she do this? I didn't see any reason given in the article.
Did they test for the other ingredients in what she gave him? The argument being, if the other ingredients weren't also in the stomach, why would they expect the salt to be there? If this concoction she gave him wasn't the reason for the high salt content in his blood, what was?
Low sodium content in the stomach doesn't sound like a good enough reason to release her unless some of the above questions are answered somewhere else.
I have a question - what was she trying to accomplish forcing her son to ingest spicy/salty mixture in water? Was it some form of punishment? I don’t get it. What was her intent? Was it to cause harm?
Further - how does one’s salt levels get to a lethal point without it showing up in the stomach?
Something’s fishy (or in this case - salty)...
She was accused of poisoning her son. Tests show absence of poison in her son's stomach. What else has anything to do with the case? What does it matter, what was she thinking, if in fact she is not responsible for the child's death? You are almost going after some sort of thought crime.
If there were toxic levels in her stomach, then and only then one might ask what she was thinking that led her to feed him a toxic dose, and does it rise to murder or whatever. But not in this case.
Casey Anthony. It swings both ways.
You should do a google on this case to get more details. She was convicted of failure to seek medical care for the 4 year old she had or was adopting, who was forced to sleep on a piece of plywood. The coroner found 2 causes of death, first sodium poisoning, 2d blunt force trauma. According to the Caller Times, Hannah watched Andrew on a security camera, and used food and pepper as a form of punishment. I don’t know that this is correct, but one source said 23 teaspoons of Zatarains hot sauce powder seasoning in water in a sippy cup was given to him. When she finally took him to a clinic, he “coded” in the car. It looks like the group trying to free Hannah is using a very biased article to gain sympathy for this monster. I ask you, who speaks for the 4 year old Andrew Burd who likely died a terrible pain-ridden death?
Sad. Very sad.
But the "poison" (aka too much salt) WAS in his bloodstream. If the other ingredients in that toxic "cola" WERE in the stomach but the sodium was not, then I could see questioning her guilt. But if it had all passed out into the body, then I don't see why she should even been considered to be set free unless there is other evidence.
You are almost going after some sort of thought crime.
Oh hogwash. I was just wondering what in the world she did it for.
But not in this case.
Again, there were toxic levels in the blood. The digestive system seems to have done its job before the child died. That's not a reason to set her free.
Exactly.....poor baby was tortured by this woman from hell...
Actually - the woman had other children who were perfectly healthy. The boy was a foster child who had multiple issues, including eating disorders, bedwetting, and destructive tantrums, a legacy of his drug-addicted mom and prior state custody. The DA made her out to be a monster, selectively withheld evidence and made a selective portrayal to the media in order to gain public support. The jurors were interviewed afterwards and revealed doubts which should have led to a different verdict.
She should never have been put on trial, let alone convicted. The case was a travesty of justice.
Read about the case:
http://freehannah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=254&Itemid=53
Hannah Overton was tried, convicted and sentenced by the newspapers, TV and public opinion.
The child had Prader-Willi syndrom:
Symptoms may include:
•Almond-shaped eyes
(See picture of child)
•Delayed motor development
•Floppy newborn infant
•Insatiable appetite, food craving
•Irregular areas of skin that look like bands, stripes, or lines
•Narrow bifrontal skull
•Rapid weight gain
•Skeletal (limb) abnormalities
•Slow mental development
•Small for gestational age
•Undescended testicles in the male infant
•Very small hands and feet in comparison to body
He ate non-stop.
He would raid the garbage cans to eat, and would throw tantrums when denied food.
He most likely got into cabinets and poisoned himself.
http://freehannah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=254&Itemid=53
.
Here are some videos of the Hannah Overton case from various TV news shows:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hannah+overton&aq=f
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