Photo at Ish trial spurs controversy

The eighth day of the Martin Edmo Ish murder trial resumed on Wednesday morning with medical examiner and forensic pathologist Cliff Nelson, who flew into Pocatello Tuesday night just to testify.

During his testimony, the defense introduced a piece of evidence that drew a reaction from the court – it was a photograph showing the inside of Eugene Lorne Red Elk’s skull after the brain had been removed by one of the medical professionals during the investigation.

Before it was shown to the court, the prosecution argued that photo was so gruesome, not only was there was a possibility of eliciting bias, but it was also unnecessary.

The defense argued the photo was the best way for Nelson to explain the damage done to Red Elk’s skull which caused his death back on June 17, 2009.

Nelson said, based on his years of training and experience, he ruled Red Elk’s death as “undetermined” since there was an equal possibility the events leading to him falling and hitting his head on the pavement could either be a homicide or an accident.

Nelson explained Red Elk sustained a fracture to the left side of his skull where his head hit the parking lot asphalt, and upon impact, his brain shifted to the right side of his head, hitting the front of his skull. He said the injury to his brain was caused by it hitting the right, frontal lobe of his skull, and there were no signs of an injury to his brain at the site of impact.

He told the court this type of injury indicates he could not have been hit on the left side of his head by any sort of object since there was no sign of damage to his brain under the skull fracture.

“If you’re struck by an object in that area, you wouldn’t see that type of damage or injury to the brain,” Nelson said. “You would instead see the damage where he was struck.”

Nelson’s report on the type of injury Red Elk’s brain sustained stayed consistent with the two doctors who operated on Red Elk the night of the alleged crime on June 14, 2009.

However, the question still remains what could have caused Red Elk to fall and hit his head in the first place.

“It’s unquestionable that’s what caused his death. But how that occurred? It could be a number of things,” Nelson added.

Along with the complex head injury, Nelson added, Red Elk was also found to have sustained a rib fracture and hemorrhaging around that rib fracture.

It was also discovered Nelson found levels of THC, amphetamines, and alcohol in his system based on the toxicology report.

He said there was no way of knowing how long before the incident the THC and amphetamines had entered his system.

Follow the trial minute by minute on Twitter: @KaitlinLoukides