During the second day of the Ian Clark trial in Kosciusko County Circuit Court today, the jury heard the 911 call from Matara Muchowicz.
Clark, 35, is on trial for murder and battery resulting in death in connection with the May 25 death of Samantha Muchowicz, age 2. Samantha died from blunt force trauma at the Ridinger Lake home her mother, Matara, shared with Clark.At the time of his arrest, Clark told police the child's injuries were the result of a fall.
Kosciusko County 911 Director Tom Brindle played the call that came in at 1:59 p.m. May 25.
During the call, a male voice, believed to be Clark's, can be heard saying, "She fell on her head," after Matara asked what happened.
Matara can be heard on the tape screaming, "She's not breathing," and "Hurry. My God, please hurry."
The jury also heard from Ed and Shelba Dewells, who lived across the street from Clark and Muchowicz's residence. Both of the Dewells stated they heard yelling come from Clark the morning of Samantha's death.
Then around 2 p.m., Shelba and Ed both stated they saw Matara carrying Samantha in a blanket while Clark yelled from the home, "I didn't do anything, Tara, I didn't do anything."
During the cross-examination of Ed late this morning, defense attorney Bryon Berry tried to call his memory into question due to morphine Ed stated he takes daily for back pain.
On Monday, a jury was selected and opening statements heard during the first day of Clark's trial.
With Judge Rex Reed presiding, more than 40 prospective jurors were interviewed by Clark's defense attorney, Bryon Berry, and Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney R. Steven Hearn.
By the time court broke for lunch at 12:30 p.m. Monday, 11 jurors were chosen while another juror and two alternates were selected in the afternoon.
Following jury selection and preliminary instructions from Judge Reed, Hearn and Berry gave their opening statements.
Hearn informed the jury that they would be hearing from a number of witnesses, including police and fire personnel.
The prosecuting attorney then went on to tell the jury that Samantha's mother left the child in the care of Clark, went to work, and then a relative's home and McDonalds, and that when she returned to her home around 1:50 p.m. that day, her daughter was lying lifeless, wrapped in a blanket on top of Clark on a couch. Hearn said the younger Muchowicz sustained four lethal blows to her body and that one caused a hole in a piece of drywall, 70 inches off the floor.
"When (Matara) got up that morning, it was a normal morning," said Hearn. "She woke her daughter up, fed her breakfast, put on a movie for her and kissed her goodbye and went to work. (Clark) was to be taking care of Samantha."
In Berry's opening statement, he pointed to no history of violence with Clark toward either of the Muchowiczs and said Matara told police and hospital officials several of the marks found on Samantha were from prior incidents.
Berry told the jury that alcohol abuse played a factor in the events of that day, and noted Clark's blood alcohol content as of 6:30 p.m. on the day of Samantha's death was .125. As a point of reference, the legal limit to drive in Indiana is .08. Berry also stated that a doctor determined that Clark's BAC was closer to .18-.20 at the time of Samantha's death.
"(Clark) got up to get a lighter, went outside and noticed Samantha at the door. He called to her and picked her up. And as he was walking with her, fell," said Berry.
Berry also claimed Clark stated he dropped Samantha another time after getting up from a couch.
Berry stated his client's actions were wrong but didn't constitute murder.
"I'm not going to be asking for sympathy and I can't play to emotions," said Berry. "When we're done, I'm going to ask you to return a verdict of not guilty. It was horrific and wrong, but the evidence will show it wasn't murder."
Several potential jurors were dismissed when they stated uncertainty on whether they could view graphic autopsy and crime scene photos.
Warsaw Community Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Haworth was a prospective juror who was dismissed.
Of the 12-person jury, all the individuals are white and two stated they were recovering alcoholics. Berry stated that excessive alcohol consumption by Clark played a factor in the events on the day Samantha Muchowicz died. Clark is also claiming insanity, which in part states that Clark was "unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of conduct." Whereas the burden of proof on guilt or innocence lies with the prosecution, with insanity the burden of proof lies with the defense.
One male juror said he was the father of an 11-month-old child while another juror, a female and the final juror chosen, said she was a nurse in Plymouth.
After the jury was dismissed, Berry re-entered an objection to the composition of the jury. Berry had entered this objection before jury selection began Monday morning. Berry noted earlier that 28.7 percent of the jury pool had some sort of connection to law enforcement.
Reed overruled this objection, citing their jury selection system is random and state-approved.
The trial is expected to last four more days with the state and Berry presenting evidence.
