Son's trial ends

Friday, March 27, 2009

The trial of a Chesapeake Beach man accused of beating and strangling his 80-year-old mother went before a jury in the Calvert County Circuit Court this week.

Geary A. Cox, 57, stood trial for first- and second-degree attempted murder and first- and second-degree assault for the alleged beating of his mother, Virginia Cox, now 81, which occurred on June 11 at her home, and left her with "life threatening" injuries.

Testimony in the case was completed late Wednesday afternoon and the jury deliberated until 9:30 p.m. and started back up Thursday morning, yet to decide a verdict as of noon Thursday.

Assistant State Attorney Kathryn Marsh presented several witnesses, detectives and health professionals, who testified to the extent of Virginia Cox's injuries and also testified that she told them that her son Geary Cox caused the injuries.

During testimony and in closing arguments Wednesday afternoon, Marsh showed the jury several photographs of Virginia Cox's injuries that were taken in the hospital on June 12. The photographs depicted facial bruising, hemorrhaging of her eyes, lacerations on her arm and around her mouth and bruising on her chest and back.

"These pictures scream out loud of what happened to Virginia Cox. They say 1,000 words of the agony that she suffered at the hands of her son," Marsh said as she laid the photographs in front of the jury.

Family members also took the stand for the prosecution, but responded to numerous questions by Marsh about the events of June 11 and 12 with, "I don't recall" and "I don't know."

Marsh tried to refresh their memories by playing interviews recorded by Calvert County Sheriff's Office detectives in June.

Geary Cox's brother, Mark Cox, who called 911 on June 12 for an ambulance for his mother when he went to visit her, repeatedly said he did not remember as Marsh questioned him about what he said that day. Marsh said that Mark Cox told the 911 operator that his brother beat his mother and that she was "black and blue from her eyes to her mouth." Marsh also said Mark Cox told police that his brother beat his mother, but Mark Cox said he did not recall saying that. Marsh asked Cox to review a restraining order that he wrote and signed on June 12 stating that Geary Cox punched, slapped and kicked their mother, and the court granted the order to restrain Geary Cox from being near Virginia Cox.

The defense attorney, Rex Fuller III of Chesapeake Beach, said in closing arguments that the state did not prove it was Geary Cox who caused the injuries. During questioning of witnesses, Fuller implied that the injuries could have been caused by other family members or by Virginia Cox falling numerous times. Fuller also said that there was no evidentiary evidence presented and detectives did not investigate the scene or other potential suspects in the case.

"They assumed that Geary Cox was guilty," he said of detectives. They stopped investigating and did not search the house for evidence or inspect other family members' hands, which had the opportunity to cause the injuries of Virginia Cox, he said.

Fuller also mentioned the photos showing Virginia Cox's injuries and said, "Those photos don't show who was involved or whether it was a single injury."

After a handful of witnesses testified that Geary Cox was a "peaceful" person, he took the stand on his own behalf recalling the events of June 11, saying that when he arrived home his mother was on the floor from a fall, and she had fallen several times the week and a half before as well. He said one fall hit her "square in the eyes" and "she raccooned up," referring to her two black eyes that rounded down to her cheeks. He said she may have hit her walker on another fall causing the bruising around her neck. Cox also spoke about his mother looking at photos of his children, but said he did not get angry at her for discarding the photographs and said she "throws away things all the time."

When Marsh cross examined Cox's testimony she pointed out numerous conflicting statements of his and from what other family members stated on the stand and conflicting statements in his own testimony.

Marsh said that Cox testified that his mother got her "raccoon eyes 10 days before," but his sister, cousin and nephew testified that Virginia Cox had no injuries to her face before noon on June 11.

Marsh called on Dr. David Melville, chief of emergency medicine at Calvert Memorial Hospital, as an expert witness. He spoke extensively about Virginia Cox's injuries, pointing out evidence of hemorrhaging of her eyes, injuries to both sides of her neck and a tracheal fracture in the front of her neck that "strongly suggest strangulation." Her neck injuries may have shut off her airway and are "markers to potential life-threatening injuries," Melville said.

During witness testimony, Marsh played a June 12 recorded interview of Virginia Cox taken by Detective Cpl. Vladimir Bortchevsky. She said in the interview that her son was angry with her for throwing a picture of his children out, and that he pushed and shoved her and "tried to hold me to the ground," but she said he did not try to strangle her. Virginia, who had a rough, scraggly voice on the recording, asked Bortchevsky what happened to her voice. Bortchevsky said that her throat was sore because "Geary tried to choke you" and Virginia echoed back, "Choked."

When Virginia Cox, who uses a walker, testified for the prosecution, she said she did not remember that she told detectives and doctors that her son hit, kicked and strangled her. She agreed with Marsh when Marsh said, "You don't want anything to do with this," "You don't want to be here testifying," and "You just want the family back together."

Fuller used medical records of Virginia Cox to paint her as forgetful, senile and as having an anxiety disorder and said her story was made up or a fantasy.

"She does not understand with the same degree of clarity as you and I do," he said.

Marsh said that he only read portions of the medical records from when she had pneumonia with a high fever or when she had allergic reactions to some of the medications she was given in the hospital. Marsh urged the jury to read through all the medical records and stated the portions he read were after her injuries. Her primary care physician said she had no symptoms of dementia and that her cognitive processes were fine up until she was injured.

charvat@somdnews.com