The final government witness in the capital murder trial of former Schofield Barracks soldier Naeem Williams completed her testimony for jurors Thursday.
Defense lawyers will begin their presentation Tuesday.
Williams, 34, is on trial for the July 16, 2005, beating death of his 5-year-old daughter, Talia. He is facing the death penalty for killing a child through child abuse or as part of a practice and pattern of assault and torture.
Board-certified forensic pathologist Dr. Kanthi De Alwis was Honolulu’s chief medical examiner when she performed Talia’s autopsy in 2005. De Alwis testified March 21 that it was an inflicted head injury that killed Talia.
The government says Williams punched his daughter in the chest, causing Talia to fall backward and hit her head on the floor of the military family quarters she shared with her father, stepmother and infant half sister on Wheeler Army Airfield.
On Thursday, De Alwis dismissed other possible causes the defense is expected to raise.
Talia had a puncture or pinpoint laceration to her cecum, the area connecting the large intestine to the small intestine, a laceration to her liver and 10 rib fractures.
De Alwis said all of the injuries were in the healing stage consistent with having been caused two to three weeks before Talia died.
Delilah Williams had previously testified that she stomped on her stepdaughter eight or so times on June 29, 2005, and stopped after she felt or heard something cracking under her foot.
Defense lawyers are expected to argue that infection from the injuries Talia suffered in the stomping ultimately lead to the girl’s death.
De Alwis said emphatically that, based on her examination and having performed more than 8,000 autopsies over 30 years, Talia’s internal injuries did not cause her death because there was no sign of infection.
"Absolutely not the abdominal injuries," De Alwis said. "It was the head injury that killed Talia."
The jurors will return to court Tuesday.
Lawyers for both sides and Naeem Williams are to appear in court Friday for the defense’s obligatory request for acquittal based on a claim that the government has not proved its case.
Defense lawyers have told the court that their presentation will primarily comprise testimony from the defendant and expert witnesses.
