Accused murderer Karim Salahuddin maintained yesterday that he was framed by Police and that his former lawyer, Larry Scott, watched yet did nothing to protect him.

Salahuddin is charged with the murder of his infant daughter, Cassidy Ann. The 27-year old father rushed Cassidy to hospital on May 5, 2003 after she sustained injuries while in his care. The baby died early the next day.

Medical experts for the Crown have testified Cassidy died of shaken baby syndrome, however Salahuddin has testified he fell while carrying the child in a pumpkin seat up a hill, and she tumbled to the bottom.

Police statements record Salahuddin as confessing to shaking his daughter, then later claiming that story is ?fake?, and that he fell while carrying her in the pumpkin seat.

The defendant has claimed those statements are fabricated, and that Police lied about a reconstruction which took place at his house on May 6. Two of his statements were made in the presence of his lawyer, who at the time was Larry Scott. Mr. Scott was also at the reconstruction.

?And again, all this was done in the presence of your lawyer,? Crown counsel Kulandra Ratneser said yesterday of the reconstruction, when Salahuddin claims Police put him into incriminating poses and then photographed him.

?He was there,? Salahuddin agreed.

?And he did nothing.?

?He did nothing.?

The defendant?s lawyer, John Perry Q.C. asked Salahuddin when Mr. Scott?s services as his lawyer were terminated. Salahuddin replied he was unsure if it was Friday, May 9, when he was charged in Magistrates? Court, or the week after. The first lawyer to go into conference with him was Elizabeth Christopher, he said.

Mr. Scott did not give Salahuddin any notes regarding the time he was the defendant?s lawyer, Salahuddin said.

During the cross-examination Salahuddin continued to assert that Police had fabricated some of his statements, taken others out of context, and left some as they were. At times, Mr. Ratneser took him through the statements sentence by sentence. ?Some of these questions were put to me, some were not,? Salahuddin said.

Mr. Ratneser questioned the fact that the defendant obeyed Police unquestioningly, particularly during the reconstruction, despite his accusations that they set him up.

?You must?ve realised, you?re an intelligent young man, that there was something sinister about what the Police were doing.?

?I didn?t know,? Salahuddin replied. ?That was not a usual routine for me. They tell me to do something, I?m going to do it. I?m not going to think they?re trying to set me up.

?I mean, they?re Police officers,? he said later. ?You?re supposed to be able to trust Police officers. I didn?t know they were trying to set me up. Like I said, they?re the Police. You?re supposed to trust them ? well, you?re supposed to.?

In at least two of the photos of the reconstruction, Salahuddin was pictured with a teddy bear representing Cassidy facing him. Police have asserted that the photos were taken after Salahuddin was asked to demonstrate how he struck his daughter. Salahuddin has asserted the photos were poses the Police ordered him into before taking the pictures.

In the photos, Salahuddin had his right hand to the left side of the teddy bear?s face. He is wearing a ring which is turned the wrong way around so the crown is facing inside his hand, not out.

Autopsy photos of the infant show a curved wound just below her right eye.

The ring, with the crown facing inwards, was sharp, Salahuddin testified, ?If I was to slap her with my right hand, I would?ve cut her face.?

He did state in one Police statement that the injury to Cassidy?s eye ? which he said was caused when she fell on her musical ball ? was on the left side of her face. ?How did you make that mistake?? Mr. Ratneser asked. ?I don?t know,? he replied.

Salahuddin agreed he arrived home with Cassidy shortly after 5 p.m. on May 5, and left some ten minutes before 7 p.m.

Mr. Ratneser questioned why he did not eat any food in that time. Salahuddin, a Type II diabetic who had not eaten since 10 a.m. on the day of the incident, said between caring for his daughter and answering the phone he did not have time.

However Mr. Ratneser suggested that in fact Salahuddin did not eat because he was engrossed in a DreamCast game ? and that when Cassidy interrupted the game, he assaulted the baby. Salahuddin denied the suggestion.

Mr. Ratneser ended the cross-examination by asking Salahuddin to describe how he fell with Cassidy on the hill once more.

Salahuddin stated again that he lost his footing on the hill while carrying Cassidy in front of him in the pumpkin seat. As he fell, he said, the pumpkin seat went down with him.

?You and the pumpkin seat together fell and it started to roll,? Mr. Ratneser asked. ?Yes,? Salahuddin replied.

?Which was more important to you, your game or your child?? Mr. Perry asked the defendant.

?My child,? Salahuddin replied.

The trial is expected to continue tomorrow morning before Chief Justice Richard Ground.