"I found that indeed, there was a large amount of unaccountable sodium in Mindy's stool and urine .... She was losing about five times the amount of sodium she was receiving." In the British Medical Journal for April 1976 there appeared an article by Rogers, et al., entitled Non-accidental poisoning: an extended syndrome of child abuse. When he told her that under the circumstances it was his obligation to call the Child Protective Services, appellant became downcast and said, "Then I'll be a suspect." (See People v. Flannel (1979) [6b] But appellant made no such request; instead, she flatly denied the conduct of which she was accused and presented psychiatric evidence designed to negate any inference that she was suffering from any mental illness or disorder whatever. Deeply upset that she could not have another child, especially a daughter, appellant and her husband decided to adopt a Korean infant who had been found abandoned on the streets of Seoul. On March 6, Dr. Taniguchi informed appellant that all of the diagnostic tests were complete, that the results were normal, that the ear operation was successful, and that she planned to discharge Tia within 48 hours. On July 28 she was discharged.
This instruction was given again at the conclusion of the case, along with CALJIC No. Appellant points to no statutory provision which would preclude the prosecutor from introducing otherwise admissible psychiatric testimony relevant to motivation on the ground that the defendant had not placed his or her mental state in issue. Tia "really did very well" and had normal body functions. He argued, "There's been no substantial evidence that the defendant is in one of those three categories. George Deukmejian, Attorney General, Robert H. Philibosian, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Edward P. O'Brien, Assistant Attorney General, William D. Stein and Linda Ludlow, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. She once was wedded to Roger Waters. View phone numbers, addresses, public records, background check reports and possible arrest records for Pricilla Phillips. Sodium levels were abnormally high. BAD 1 - 2 POOR 2 - 3 FAIR 3 - 4 GOOD 4 - 5. On July 14 or 15, while still at the San Francisco hospital, appellant suggested that Tia be given solid foods. Polizzi declared that he "forgot about it completely and also didn't give any thought as to whether the defendant brought sodium bicarbonate to the hospital in liquid form and, in fact, never even mentioned it to anyone." THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. PRISCILLA E. PHILLIPS, Defendant and Appellant.
They had a son named Jack Fletcher. No. Dr. Blinder first testified as to his qualifications and his familiarity with medicine, psychiatry, family therapy, child abuse, and a group of symptoms called "Munchausen syndrome by proxy." She died on February 3. Several months after Tia's death, appellant and her husband adopted another Korean infant whom they named Mindy. She "seemed fine .... She did not have any more diarrhea at all .... She ate well, she was happy ...." Dr. Boyd Stephens, Coroner of the City and County of San Francisco, testified on the basis of his observations that the cause of Tia's death was sodium poisoning, and that the amount of the sodium was so high that it had to have been administered into the gastrointestinal tract. 2.80, concerning expert testimony generally. Dr. Blinder had not examined appellant, nor had he treated patients who displayed the syndrome which was the subject of his testimony. Subscribe to Justia's Appellant argues, "The trial court abused its discretion and committed prejudicial error in permitting expert opinion testimony, in answer to a hypothetical question, on Munchausen syndrome by proxy, where the facts of the question related specifically to appellant and the named victims, where appellant's mental condition was not at issue, and where illness attributed to appellant was not recognized by medical profession."