in her face, and Shirley pouring a pitcher of water over her. He also stated that he saw Archie Baugh strike Mrs. Carli in defendant's presence and that whenever the defendant heard about these things, she did nothing about it and "laughed a little bit" when her children would "pop [Mrs. Carli] on the head."
Bertha Arbuckle, another neighbor, testified to seeing bruises on Mrs. Carli, as did Frances Parascholl, who also testified as set forth above about the photographs taken before Mrs. Carli came under defendant's care.
The pattern is clear. The court first barred testimony concerning acts committed outside the defendant's presence or without her knowledge and instructed the jury to disregard them. However, as the testimony flowed on, the court allowed it on the basis of anState latitude in establishing incidents which contradict the position of the defense in this area within reason," each of the witnesses did testify to acts of the defendant herself. Willis Kennedy told of such acts; Sherry Kennedy saw defendant slap Mrs. Carli; Lee Abernathy saw rough treatment by the defendant; Keith Leloup saw almost endless abuse by the defendant and in her presence; Michael Sexton saw a slap by the defendant; George Hughes saw Archie Baugh strike Mrs. Carli in defendant's presence. Many of these witnesses were impeached, but their credibility, as always, was a jury question. Their testimony of direct acts by the defendant, coupled with the autopsy photographs, was more than sufficient to sustain the verdict. The prosecutor emphasized in his closing argument and in rebuttal