After two years, man gets bail in daughter’s death

By TODD LESKANIC | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 23, 2010

Jeffrey Spohn

DADE CITY – Jeffrey Spohn was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy.

He has no criminal history.

He and his wife, Heather, have been married for more than a decade. The couple were living in Wesley Chapel in 2006 when they adopted two little girls from Kazakhstan, Ryanne and Macie.

In March 2007, a few months after the children settled into their new home in the Seven Oaks neighborhood, Ryanne died of a head injury. Spohn told investigators his 18-month-old daughter struck her head on the floor when she fell from a baby gate.

Investigators didn’t believe him. They charged him with first-degree murder in November 2008.

At the time, prosecutors told a judge that Spohn wasn’t entitled to bail. They pointed to an associate medical examiner’s unchallenged assertion that Ryanne died of cerebral trauma resulting from a battering.

Two other doctors backed up the opinion, saying the force needed to inflict the child’s injuries wasn’t consistent with Spohn’s story.

The judge declined to set bail for Spohn. But he hadn’t heard the whole story.

Pasco Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa was given a more complete picture at a bail hearing that began in April and finished up Wednesday.

Among other things, he heard that Julie Claar, the radiologist who examined Ryanne’s brain scan, opined that “the age of the blood is consistent with a single event. Typically diagnostic of child abuse would be subdural hematomas of different ages or different stages of hemorrhage, which is not present in this case.”

Also omitted from the initial bail hearing but included this time was that neurologist William DeWeese told investigators that “even falling on carpeted floor could have caused injury.” Brian McCarthy, a pathologist, opined that the manner of death “would be accident, not homicide.”

Siracusa also read a report completed this month by Michael Baden, a former chief medical examiner for the City of New York. According to the judge’s order, Baden’s opinion was that “the events do not support a diagnosis of battering or child abuse or shaken baby syndrome or homicide.”

Also missing from the initial proceeding but heard by Siracusa was the psychological profile of Spohn done as part of a dependency court action. The profile was not consistent with those of known child abusers, according to the administering doctor.

After hearing the additional evidence and other testimony about Spohn’s good character and strong community ties, Siracusa set his bail at $50,000.

Several hours later, Spohn, 35, posted bail and left the Land O’ Lakes Jail.

He could not be reached for comment.

Siracusa also ordered Spohn not to have unsupervised contact with children younger than 15, including his surviving daughter. He cannot leave the state or drink alcohol.

He must appear at all court hearings. His next one is Jan. 4.

Reporter Todd Leskanic can be reached at (813) 731-8098.

Source:

http://suncoastpasco.tbo.com/content/2010/dec/23/after-two-years-man-gets-bail-in-daughters-death/