Defense's expert says victim didn't die before the fire
NORWICH – A toxicology expert testified in the Franklin murder trial Thursday, disagreed with the findings of the medical examiner, and said there was no way the victim was dead before the fire.
Ernest Franklin II, 36, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence.
Prosecutors say at around midnight on March 1, 2017 Ernest Franklin and Heather Franklin worked together to kill their 16-year-old disabled son, Jeffrey Franklin, and burned the evidence at their home at 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford.
According to retired Monroe County Chief Forensic Toxicologist Dr. Jeanne Beno, Jeffrey was alive at the time of the fire. Beno said it's possible that burning materials commonly found in construction would release higher levels of cyanide into the air, causing Jeffrey to die.
She added that it's possible to have high levels of cyanide but low levels of other toxic gases, which would match up with the medical examiner's report.
"I'm talking about a fire that burns hot and spreads out relatively rapidly," said Beno. "There isn't scientific evidence that cyanide can be sucked out of the air and into a dead body."
She said while cyanide levels in Jeffrey's body were found to be around .8 percent which isn't in the fatal range. She added that he was only .2 percent away, and the medical examiner took three weeks to analyze Jeffrey's blood for cyanide levels, which was long enough for a significant reduction in cyanide.
"You absolutely could not infer that he was dead before the start of the fire based on the toxicology report," said Beno.
According to Beno, cyanide levels in a blood sample could be over 50 percent lower the amount of time it took the medical examiner to have them analyzed.
On cross she said a flash fire would cause Jeffrey to have high levels of cyanide but lower levels of other toxic chemicals.
Earlier in the trial Chenango County Bureau of Fire Investigator Kavin Winton testified that there wasn't a flash fire in Jeffrey's home.
When asked about this case not being a flash fire, Beno responded, "I really should not have used that term in this case, I should have just described the kind of fire I was referencing."
Former Broome County District Gerald Mollen delivered the cross-examination of Beno.
"Let's see if we can agree on something," said Mollen. "When medical examiners are looking to see if someone died in the fire, they ask one: is there charing in the windpipe, and two: what are their carboxyhemoglobin levels, right?"
Beno said that those are things a medical examiner would consider when attempting to determine a cause of death. She added that Jeffrey didn't appear to have either of those indicators.
"Is there any way for a person to specifically choose which gases they breath in," asked Mollen.
Beno responded that there wasn't, but that she also isn't any way to determine what gases were actually in the air at the time of Jeffrey's death. She said that the majority of the fire death cases she's worked on had high carboxyhemoglobin levels, but Jeffrey's didn't.
When asked how many cases she had seen where the person had low carboxyhemoglobin levels, but high cyanide levels, she said she couldn't recall any.
Ernest Franklin II, 36, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree arson, and tampering with physical evidence.
Prosecutors say at around midnight on March 1, 2017 Ernest Franklin and Heather Franklin worked together to kill their 16-year-old disabled son, Jeffrey Franklin, and burned the evidence at their home at 457 State Route 8 in the Town of Guilford.
According to retired Monroe County Chief Forensic Toxicologist Dr. Jeanne Beno, Jeffrey was alive at the time of the fire. Beno said it's possible that burning materials commonly found in construction would release higher levels of cyanide into the air, causing Jeffrey to die.
She added that it's possible to have high levels of cyanide but low levels of other toxic gases, which would match up with the medical examiner's report.
"I'm talking about a fire that burns hot and spreads out relatively rapidly," said Beno. "There isn't scientific evidence that cyanide can be sucked out of the air and into a dead body."
She said while cyanide levels in Jeffrey's body were found to be around .8 percent which isn't in the fatal range. She added that he was only .2 percent away, and the medical examiner took three weeks to analyze Jeffrey's blood for cyanide levels, which was long enough for a significant reduction in cyanide.
"You absolutely could not infer that he was dead before the start of the fire based on the toxicology report," said Beno.
According to Beno, cyanide levels in a blood sample could be over 50 percent lower the amount of time it took the medical examiner to have them analyzed.
On cross she said a flash fire would cause Jeffrey to have high levels of cyanide but lower levels of other toxic chemicals.
Earlier in the trial Chenango County Bureau of Fire Investigator Kavin Winton testified that there wasn't a flash fire in Jeffrey's home.
When asked about this case not being a flash fire, Beno responded, "I really should not have used that term in this case, I should have just described the kind of fire I was referencing."
Former Broome County District Gerald Mollen delivered the cross-examination of Beno.
"Let's see if we can agree on something," said Mollen. "When medical examiners are looking to see if someone died in the fire, they ask one: is there charing in the windpipe, and two: what are their carboxyhemoglobin levels, right?"
Beno said that those are things a medical examiner would consider when attempting to determine a cause of death. She added that Jeffrey didn't appear to have either of those indicators.
"Is there any way for a person to specifically choose which gases they breath in," asked Mollen.
Beno responded that there wasn't, but that she also isn't any way to determine what gases were actually in the air at the time of Jeffrey's death. She said that the majority of the fire death cases she's worked on had high carboxyhemoglobin levels, but Jeffrey's didn't.
When asked how many cases she had seen where the person had low carboxyhemoglobin levels, but high cyanide levels, she said she couldn't recall any.
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