A controversial medical witness admitted to a Supreme Court jury yesterday the massive eye and head injuries found in Cassidy Ann Salahuddin could have been caused by shaken baby syndrome.

The testimony of Dr. Constance Richards, a former emergency room doctor and now a general practitioner continued yesterday in the murder trial of Kareem Salahuddin.

Salahuddin, 27, is charged with murdering his daughter Cassidy Ann on May 5, 2003.

Although Dr. Richard?s ability to give expert testimony was questioned during the trial this week, she told the court Cassidy?s injuries could have been caused by a fall down a hill.

Salahuddin claims that he lost his footing while he was carrying Cassidy in a pumpkin seat on an asphalt hill. He claimed he fell to the ground and the pumpkin seat with his daughter strapped inside tumbled between 15 and 20 feet down the hill.

The infant died in the early hours of May 6, 2003. Shaken baby expert Randell Alexander and forensic pathologist Valerie Rao, who examined Cassidy post mortem testified that she died of shaken baby syndrome with impact.

This week Dr. Richards told the court that five rib fractures found in the infant could have been caused by prolonged CPR procedure.

Yesterday, during cross examination by Prosecutor Kulandra Ratneser, Dr. Richards told the court that bleeding inside Cassidy?s brain was different from symptoms exhibited by children who suffer from general accidents.

?Studies show that injuries a child has suffered in accidental falls are different than shaken baby syndrome? ? said Mr. Ratnseser.

Dr. Richards accepted the statement. She also agreed the bleeding inside Cassidy?s brain was a result of trauma.

?Short distance falls rarely cause skull fractures not associated with brain trauma? ? questioned Mr. Ratneser.

He also pointed out that the hallmarks of shaken baby syndrome included brain haemorrhaging and bleeding in the eyes and fractures of long bones, ribs and the skull.

Dr. Richards also agreed with this testimony, although she questioned the court?s view of a short fall. She stated that anything over four feet would not be a short fall.

?If a baby is in a pumpkin seat and turns over there?s no way it would have suffered a fracture from that fall,? said Mr. Ratneser.

Dr. Richards agreed with the statement. She also agreed that injuries seen in Cassidy were consistent with having been caused in the time frame between 4.30-7p.m. on May 5 when the baby was in her father?s care.

Although Dr. Richards maintained that Cassidy had an abrasion on her right leg, Mr. Ratneser questioned how she could properly see through a piece of medical tape covering the spot on the infant?s right leg and then clearly identify the mark as an abrasion.

Earlier this week Dr. Richards said the bruises on Cassidy could have come from falling down a hill, however, she stated that she would have expected to have found abrasions on her forehead.

Dr. Richards, who was not at the hospital the night Cassidy was brought in and was not present at the post mortem examination, eventually accepted that she could not see the child?s skin although the tape was transparent to a certain degree.

Salahuddin is a type two diabetic and maintains he was dizzy and lethargic in the lead up to the day in question.

Police took him to the emergency room in the days following the incident due to his refusal to eat. Dr. Richards, who examined the defendant once in 1999, said his blood glucose readings in the days after Cassidy?s death showed he was not caring for his diabetes properly.

However, Mr. Ratneser pointed out that if a person is able to handle their diabetes through diet and exercise and do not taken insulin regularly they are not entirely insulin dependent. ?There could be a lapse of memory? ? asked Mr. Ratneser. ?However, he did recall what happened.?

?Yes, but this is usually the case with hypoglycaemia,? said Dr. Richards.

?However, he did recall what happened in detail,? continued Mr. Ratneser.

Queens Counsel John Perry asked Dr. Richards to clarify her understanding of the eye and body injuries found on Cassidy.

He questioned whether shaken baby syndrome could be the only form of trauma to result in the massive haemorrhaging in the infant?s eyes. She said if the baby had a blood disease a fall could have aggravated the bleeding.

Mr. Perry asked if bruises found on Cassidy?s left and right shoulders could have been caused by a fall. The defence also maintains that as Cassidy rolled down the hill, the wobbling motion of her head could have resulted in shearing (or rupture) of blood vessels in her brain. Dr. Richards agreed with these statements.

The trial continues on Monday before Chief Justice Richard Ground.