Doctors who treated the baby of Israel Valas, the 19-year-old ultra-Orthodox man who is on trial on suspicion of killing his baby son, said that they suspect the baby was strongly shaken.
"An eye check caused heavy suspicions, or even sharp evidence, according to the prosecution, for a violent shake of the baby," Dr. Iren Enetva, an eye doctor at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, said Wednesday.
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Dr. Enetva said that following the findings of bleeding in the retina of the eyes and tears in the retina of the small eye, she reached the conclusion that the baby was violently shaken.
According to her testimony, the baby was blind when it reached hospital following the shaking.
Professor Avi Rivkind, manager of the Trauma and General Surgery Department at the hospital, said during the court session that he checked the baby in accordance with a request by the Burial Society Chairman Yehuda Meshi Zahav, who according to the prosecution got involved in the affair due to requests made by the ultra-Orthodox community which wanted to cancel witness statements suggesting signs of abuse.
'Baby suffered from severe brain edema'
In his testimony, Professor Rivkind said that he x-rayed the baby, as is done when there are suspected head injuries or abuse. All of the doctors testified that the baby suffered from severe brain edema (accumulation of liquids), which showed up during the night hours when the baby was received.
The edema became more severe the following day, and doctors then realized the baby would not survive for much longer.
The last to testify was Dr. Ido Yatziv, Manager of the Children's Emergency Ward. The doctor gave evidence on the treatment and general clinical condition of the baby.
Valas' attorney attempted to claim that the baby fell from a low height. The doctor said he has never seen such a severe condition in a case of a baby falling from such a height. The prosecution claimed that in the eyes of the witnesses, there was an unequivocal accumulation of evidence for shaking of the baby. Lawyers added that the evidence amounted to a fall from 10 stories.
Prosecutors are satisfied with the progress of the trial so far and say that the defense has not provided any surprises thus far, despite their attempts to contradict the doctor's findings.
Later in the trial, a dentist who wrote that that there is unequivocal evidence that the baby was shaken is expected to testify.
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