Jeffrey “Jeff” Havard currently sits wrongfully convicted on death row in Mississippi for the sexual assault and murder of his girlfriend’s six-month-old daughter, Chloe Britt. Havard has stated from the beginning that the infant slipped from his arms while lifting her from the tub, causing her head to hit a nearby toilet. There is no evidence whatsoever to support a sexual assault charge. Multiple experts currently support Havard’s claims that Chloe’s death was the result of an accident.
In May of 2016, the Mississippi Supreme Court ordered an evidentiary hearing for Havard’s case based on defense claims of new evidence due to changes in the science behind Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). Last week, after nearly 15 years of incarceration on death row, Havard finally had the opportunity to return to the courtroom of Adams County Circuit Court Judge Forrest Johnson, with renewed hope that the truth would finally be heard.
Judge Johnson presided over Havard’s trial in 2002. The trial was speedy to say the least. Within a matter of two days, the court selected a jury, tried the case, received the jury’s verdict, and sentenced Havard to death. The jury heard from only one expert who testified for the prosecution. Havard asked for an expert of his own but the request was denied by Judge Johnson based on financial restraints of the county. At the time, indigent defendants were expected to rely on the prosecution’s expert if they could not personally afford their own.
Havard’s 2002 trial was a sham. It is not possible to properly try a death penalty case in two days. To put things into perspective, last week’s evidentiary hearing took three days. The judge listened to testimony from four experts who testified for the defense, and also heard testimony from a pediatrician who testified for the prosecution. Havard’s evidentiary hearing, which was dedicated to a single topic, and provided no immediate decision, took longer than the entire trial which landed Havard on death row in 2002.
Havard’s evidentiary hearing began on August 14, 2017 and concluded on August 16, 2017. The Adams County Courthouse where the hearing took place is in Natchez, Mississippi, a historic Mississippi River town bordering Louisiana. I was intrigued by the small town feel of Natchez. Entering the courthouse for the first time gave me the sense that I had somehow stepped back in time. The courthouse is listed as the oldest in Mississippi, and is no doubt rich in history. A history which the building now struggles to contain. The public hallways are lined with file cabinets overflowing with paperwork, with cardboard bankers boxes stacked on top which are also being tested to their limits of capacity, as loose paperwork can be seen stacked about.
The courthouse works as a multi-functional building. The first floor has a clerk’s office where people file in to pay various fees, taxes, and fines. The second floor contains courtrooms and judge’s chambers. Each morning when I arrived, I walked past a line of people waiting to see the clerk, wondering if any of them were aware of the fact, that in the very same building, just up the stairs and down the hall, a man was fighting for his life. It was a stark reminder that people are swallowed up by our justice syste. Once convicted, the incarcerated are all but forgotten by society, minus those close to any case. For some, this may not garner much sympathy for those who are guilty of the crimes they are convicted of, but it certainly provides a painful reality for those who currently sit in cages for crimes they did not commit.
The Sheriff’s deputies working at the courthouse were courteous and professional throughout the hearing. They went above and beyond to try and accommodate Havard’s family as much as they could. Havard was allowed to shake hands with supporters, and most importantly, he was allowed to hug those closest to him. Human contact is something Havard has not experienced for the past 15 years, so it was no surprise to see the heartfelt display of emotions from those involved.
The hearing began with instructions from Judge Johnson, laying out the guidelines set by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The high court recognized that the cause of death in Havard’s case warranted review but the high court did not grant the defense’s additional request to review the charge of sexual assault, keeping on par with their previous rulings on past appeals.
The high court’s orders that Havard’s evidentiary hearing could only review the charge of SBS, provided for unique circumstances, because Havard sits on death row solely due to the combination of charges. Without the charge of sexual assault being tacked on, Havard’s case would have never been a death penalty case in the first place. Havard’s lawyers refused to be deterred. The defense made sure throughout the hearing to highlight on the record that there are currently no experts who support the claim of sexual abuse. Every expert who testified, as well as the prosecution’s pediatrician, all stated under oath that there was no evidence of a sexual assault.
The prosecution’s case in 2002 was built primarily on the testimony provided by Dr. Steven Hayne and the ER staff that was present on the night Chloe died. Hayne conducted the autopsy on the infant. Hayne did not find evidence of sexual assault while conducting the autopsy, even though he was told to look for it. Hayne helped the prosecution when he testified that a contusion in the infant’s anus could have resulted from penetration with an object. Hayne also testified that the death was the result of SBS. Hayne has now retracted those statements.
There is not one single shred of evidence that Chloe Britt was ever sexually assaulted, by Jeff Havard or by anyone else. The sexual assault allegation was based on observations of the ER staff that the infant’s anus was dilated. The ER staff was not qualified to give an opinion regarding sexual abuse. Every single staff member who provided a statement to police, made the same mistake when misdiagnosing the condition of the infant’s anus. The court furthered the damage when wrongly allowing the ER staff to testify as experts at trial.
Anal dilation has given rise to suspicion of sexual abuse in other cases, and a clinical study was done to clarify the subject. Researchers found that anal dilation is a common artifact in accidental deaths involving severe brain injury.
Havard’s defense filed several appeals over the years citing expert evidence that no sexual assault had occurred, but those appeals were all denied. After Havard’s conviction, Mississippi’s post-conviction relief office obtained the services of former Alabama state medical examiner Dr. James Lauridson to review the autopsy findings of Hayne. Lauridson concluded that the evidence failed to confirm that a sexual assault of any kind had taken place. There was no sign of any tears or lacerations in the infant’s anus and it was not out of the ordinary for dilation to occur naturally. Lauridson noted that there was no trace of Havard’s DNA found on or inside the infant. He also noted that a thermometer inserted into the infant’s anus at the emergency room could have caused the small one centimeter bruise noted by Hayne. Lauridson’s report refuted the prosecution’s claim of a sexual assault. Interestingly, Lauridson’s expert opinion had no bearing on appeal.
After Judge Johnson finished addressing the court, the defense called Dr. Steven Hayne to the stand. Hayne poses many problems for the state of Mississippi. Hayne has a shady past that involves thousands of autopsies, and countless legal cases. Hayne was presented by prosecutors as a primary expert in criminal trials for a period of decades in Mississippi. Investigative journalist Radley Balko has been reporting on Hayne’s questionable conduct for years.
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Source: Wrongful Conviction News, Bruce Fischer, August 25, 2017
Related content: Mississippi: Controversial medical examiner backs off ‘shaken baby’ claim in death penalty case
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
