Judge allows ME testimony as murder trial hinges on Colon woman's cause of death

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — A circuit court judge ruled Tuesday that a forensic pathologist can testify in the murder trial of Michael Lafler.

Judge Paul Stutesman qualified forensic pathologist Dr. Amanda Fisher-Hubbard as an expert witness after the defense attempted to stop her from testifying.

More:Lafler to go to trial for murder of Chelsea Wallen

Lafler, 36, is charged with open murder in the 2021 death of his girlfriend, 33-year-old Chelsea Wallen.

“It is a question of fact of who the jury will believe," Stutesman said. "There are two sides to this autopsy report and to the toxicology report. There are 12 independent people of St. Joseph County who will decide.”

The judge also denied a motion to suppress her testimony during the August preliminary examination.

Defense attorney Anastase Markou attempted during a 90-minute cross-examination of Fisher-Hubbard to discredit the doctor's opinion as to what Wallen's cause of death was: Fisher-Hubbard says it was strangulation; the defense says it was drugs, alcohol or a combination of the two.

Fisher-Hubbard, the deputy medical examiner from the Homer Stryker School of Medicine at Western Michigan University, performed Wallen's autopsy. She reaffirmed her conclusion that Wallen died of asphyxia — when the body is deprived of oxygen — on the night of Oct. 15, 2021.

Fisher-Hubbard, who has performed over 1,200 autopsies in her career, said the physical examination of Wallen showed there was strangulation or possibly suffocation. She could not exclude suffocation due to injuries to her face and mouth.

The defense focused on whether Fisher-Hubbard considered the possibility of drugs or alcohol.

Toxicology reports showed Wallen's blood alcohol was at .135 at the time of her death. There also were traces of opioid hydrocodone, a central nervous system depressant that can slow breathing and heartbeat. Wallen also had cocaine in her system, which can cause heart irregularities.

“Just because it is there doesn’t mean it is the cause of death,” Fisher-Hubbard testified. "You cannot look at these numbers and determine if this is an overdose. People walk around all the time with ethanol and hydrocodone in their system. That’s just the way things are.”

“Based on my experience and training, with a reasonable degree of medical certainty, I opined the cause of death was asphyxia, strangulation,” she said.

More:Judge rules Lafler murder case must start over

Markou highlighted that cocaethylene was found in Wallen’s body — a chemical created by the liver when alcohol and cocaine are present — and that the chemical can be lethal.

The forensic pathologist said the toxicology results did not change her opinion of the cause of death.

“I felt I had enough to determine the cause of death,” she said.

Markou argued that Fisher-Hubbard failure to consider other possible causes of death, which should invalidate her opinion.

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St. Joseph County prosecutor David Marvin told The Journal in August that the trial was "going to be a battle between experts.”

Police were called to Wallen’s Colon home Friday, Oct. 21, 2021. The sergeant on scene said Lafler admitted he and Wallen had been arguing that that Wallen slapped him. Lafler told police he went upstairs, and later found her on the kitchen floor.

Lafler said he slapped Wallen to wake her up and shook her by the neck. When police noted bite marks on Lafler's right hand, he explained he received them when trying to get cocaine out of Wallen's mouth.

The autopsy showed bruising in the neck and a broken hyoid bone, which is attached to tongue and throat muscles. When the bone breaks and the area collapses, it can cause airway blockage.

Defense attorney Randall Levine said when a jury considers all the evidence, “I am sure they will acquit.”

Wallen supporters have placed signs around the area calling for "Justice for Chelsea." Wallen was a manager for a Union City meat processing facility.

Lafler remains jailed under a $1 million bond since his arrest in October 2021.

— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Medical examiner holds to opinion Chelsea Wallen died of strangulation in Lafler murder hearing