BEDFORD – During Friday’s testimony in the trial of Scott Blattert in Lawrence County Superior Court I, Dr. William Smock testified that Blattert’s daughter who is depicted in an explicit video being beaten by Blattert was at serious risk of death a number of times during that beating.
Dr. Bill Smock is the Police Surgeon and directs the Clinical Forensic Medicine Program for the
Louisville Metro Police Department. He is an internationally recognized forensic expert and trains nurses, physicians, law enforcement officers, and attorneys in multiple fields including officer-involved shootings, strangulation, gunshot wounds, injury mechanisms, and motor vehicle trauma.
Dr. Smock is also the Police Surgeon for the Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and St. Matthews, Kentucky Police Departments. He also serves as a sworn tactical physician and detective for the Floyd County Indiana Sheriff’s Department.
Blattert’s oldest daughter was able to capture the beating of her younger sister on video. The jury has viewed the graphic video numerous times.
In the video, Blattert is seen smacking the child with a belt 27 times, slamming her face down into the couch cushion, telling her “You are a rebellious, wicked animal” and then slamming his elbow into the back of the child’s neck. The oldest testified on Wednesday she was able to only capture a small portion of the beating on video.
Blattert, of Springville, is facing felony charges of aggravated battery when the assault possesses a substantial risk of death, strangulation, three counts of domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, and five counts of domestic battery with bodily injury on a person under the age of 14.
Dr. Smock testified as an expert witness. He said during the beating, Blattert applied pressure to the child blocking the oxygen and blood flow from getting to the child’s brain during certain portions of the beating.
Dr. Smock said there were three times in the video that were life-threatening to the child.
One was when Blattert threw the child face down on the couch cushion and held her down. In the video, you can hear the child say she could not breathe. This caused positional asphyxiation. Another time was when Blattert did an elbow drop on the back of the child’s neck. Dr. Smock said this could have fractured her spine and done underlying tissue damage to her arteries. The third time is when Blattert is seen in the video placing his hand around the child’s neck strangling her on the ground.
“These are 100 percent risk of death,” he added.
Dr. Smock also spoke about the children being locked in closets, having Tabasco sauce poured down their throats and not allowed to drink afterward, as well as having food withheld as forms of punishment. These things were discovered during forensic interviews with the children.
Dr. Smock also testified the bruising left on the children was not from contact sports such as playing football or basketball but from being struck with linear objects like wooden spoons, glue sticks, or dowel rods.
After Dr. Smock’s testimony, the state rested its case.
