The emergency room doctor who treated a woman severely beaten on a city bus in December testified in juvenile court yesterday that it was highly unlikely - but not impossible - that her injuries existed before the attack.
Nine Robert Poole Middle School students have been accused of attacking Sarah Kreager, 26, and Troy Ennis, 30, aboard the No. 27 bus in Hampden on Dec. 4. Cases against five of those students began this week and are scheduled to resume tomorrow.
Some defense attorneys argued that Kreager's injuries resulted from an earlier fight with Ennis, and not what witnesses described to 911 dispatchers as "a riot" involving men who "jumped off the bus and started beating" Kreager.
"There was a storm on that bus, but the only storm was a drug-fueled dysfunctional relationship between Miss Kreager and Troy Ennis," said defense attorney Garland Sanderson during his opening statement.
Dr. Mahajabin Ali of Sinai Hospital said repeatedly yesterday that bruises are "highly variable" injuries and can swell or transform color rapidly. She said she only noted "significant" injuries in her report, which included two fractures to the bone around Kreager's eye and damage behind it.
"I did not find any indications that her injuries occurred any earlier" than the reported assault on the bus, she said under re-direct examination. But under cross-examination, Ali said prior injuries were "possible."
