Douglas Kennedy's attorney aggressively looked for whatever flaws he could find when he examined Northern Westchester Hospital nurse Anna Lane during the second day of Kennedy's trial for child endangerment and harassment charges. Specificially, they included the integrity of the hospital's policies and Lane's job performance during the incident.
Lawyer Robert Gottlieb, during his Tuesday morning questioning in Mount Kisco Justice Court, repeatedly brought up what he saw as lapses in Lane's performance as a nurse and probed for any gaps between what she told Mount Kisco police following the alleged Jan. 7 scuffle over Kennedy's newborn son, Bo, and her descriptions more recently.
In his questioning, Gottlieb questioned Lane on whether she checked up on Bo after Kennedy fell backwards after allegedly kicking fellow nurses Cari Luciano after he left through a stairwell exit on the materity ward floor. As an example, he got her to acknowledge that she checked on Luciano while Kennedy headed for the stairs, where he was met by hospital security.
"You're not looking at the baby, are you?" Gottlieb asked?
"At this point, no," Lane replied. The nurse, when she first took the stand on Monday, described infant safety as important to her.
Gottlieb also took issue with what he saw as inconsistent statements between her discussion with police and later on. Examples he brought up included specifics on how Kennedy held Bo, not mentioning a brief conversation she had with fellow nurse Angela Adamo and that she did not disclose having post-traumatic stress. Gottlieb also asked Lane whether she received any bruises from Kennedy allegedly twisting her left arm to remove her hand from the stairwell door knob, and to which she replied that she did not.
The defense lawyer also focused on the altercation timeline, demanding answers from Lane on how many seconds some of the incidents occured, such as Kennedy's fall after allegedly kicking Luciano.
At multiple points, Gottlieb raised his voice and quickly made a demonstration for how fast seconds would pass during examples he brought up. In one instance, he quickly looked at his watch and counted to five.
"Does that shock you?" he replied to Lane
Gottlieb also made aggressive attacks on the infant removal policy of NWH and Lane's performance in the context of it. He got her to answer that the mother, whom she referred to as "the primary caregiver," is the one who can consent to removing a baby against medical advice, rather than the father. Additionally, Gottlieb also asked Lane whether she checked with Kennedy's wife Molly about his request to take Bo outside for fresh air. Lane replied that she did not.
Gottlieb ended his examination of Lane by early afternoon, when Mount Kisco Village Justice John Donohue called a lunch break.
This is an ongoing story. Check back for updates.
